Waking up a monster of a game.
At a time when shooting terrorists or killing dragons to save the world is standard, Remedy and Microsoft throw us a curveball designed to test our views on what is reality and what is fiction. Alan Wake is set in the remote town of Bright Falls, en eerie community with a dark a turbulent past. The main character, Alan, and his wife Alice are visting the town in order to get some much need R&R for Alan, who is suffering from a two year case of writer's block. Upon entering the town, Alan stumbles across a creepy woman in funeral attire who claims that she has the key to the property where the Wakes would be staying. However, the woman turns out to be a manifestation of the darkness that has been contained in the towns lake for decades. In order to free itself completely, the Dark Presence must use the creative power of artists to escape the prison that holds it. To coerce Wake into helping it acheive it's goal, the Dark Presence takes Alice hostage, forcing Alan to write the story that will free the darkness. Wake finds himself thrust into his own story, fight off those beings touched by the Dark Presence called the Taken, and finding pieces of a manuscript he wrote that help guide him through the terrible and dangerous night in Bright Falls. His ultimate goal, saving his wife and finding a way to stop the Dark Presence before it can be released into the town completely.
There are so many positive points in this game that it is difficult to sometimes understand why it wasn't rated higher than it was. First off the story is incredible. There are so many twists and turns that it keeps the player guessing throughout the whole game and even after it is finished there are still many questions. Don't get me wrong it doesn't mean that the information isn't there, its just up the the player to interrupt how and why things ended or even if they ended at all. Next we have some of the best voice acting I have heard in a game. Each characters voice added immensely to the game and fit with the personalities really well. There was also a great diversity in the characters that you interacted with throughout the game, whether it was the tough but caring sheriff, the slightly off Cynthia Weaver, or even the fading rockstars, the Old Gods of Asgaard, each brought something new to the experience.
As far as the gameplay was concerned, I felt that this game did very well on many points. There was not an extensive array of weaponry but the player did obtain what they needed to survive. The basic tool is your flashlight in which you use to remove the darkness from your foes before you are able to damage them. Followed by that you have several other important tools that a writer needs to survive a "story gone wild" experience, a trusty revolver, a double barrel shotgun and a high powered rifle. All of these weapons work as one would normally think, point, fire, reload, repeat. These all worked very well for silencing the mass hoards of "Taken" Alan encounters throughout the story. Another great point for this game is that they took items generally useless in the gaming world and turned them into weapons of mass destruction. We have first a signal flare, which is normally nothing special. However, in Alan Wake it becomes the ultimate defense tool for keeping enemies away from you while you are free to pick them off. I mean seriously, what self respecting being of darkness would just walk up to an object producing the light of a minituratized sun? Next we have the deadly flashband grendae. Yes I said DEADLY flashbang grenade. These wonderful military issue death balls would make even the hardiest of enemies fold over instantly. They were great for taking out groups of weaker enemies and for putting massive damage on boss level enemies. Finally we have the almighty Flare Gun. Combine the too special weapons above with a rocket launcher from any Resident Evil game and you get the ultimate darkness destroying weapon. There were many times that I would this for the simple fact that it was such enjoyable overkill.
The game also featured a vast amount of cutscenes that fully added to the story and atmosphere in some way. I really didn't think that any second was wasted during the videos and that each one was masterfully constructed. Alan Wake also featured a plethora of collectables ranging from the manuscript pages and coffee thermoses to TV and radio programs. The pages obviously pertaining to information in the story was a great idea because they gave the player a vague idea of what was coming without spoiling any surprises. They also allowed for a look as scenes in which Alan wasn't present in order to get a better idea about a character or situation. On the contrary, the TV shows offered a break from the game showing many "Twilight Zone" like situations, that in their own way contributed to the creepyness of the game. Finally, the soundtrack for the game was amazing. At the end of each chapter was a full song recorded specifically for the game, that kind of summed up what happened and what was going to happen, without using any of the story at all. It's kind of difficult to explain but if you play the game you will see what I mean. The compositions for the normal game music were phenominal as well, always adding to the experience in some way
Overall, for anyone looking for a great one player experience, you need look no further than Alan Wake. This game combines the best elements of gameplay, story, characters, atmosphere, and music into a beautiful work of art. The game will leave you wanting more in a good way and each time you play it will find something you might have missed previously that will help you understand more about what is going on and why. Truly one of the best games that I have played in a long time.
