Alan Wake

   Okay lets be honest, when Alan Wake launched on May 18th some of us went to the left and purchased this game on day one while a lot of us (Including myself) went to the right and got our itchy hands on Red Dead Redemption. Now personally, I don't regret my choice of saddling up in RDR first and lassoing me up some bad guys, but that doesn't mean that Alan doesn't have more than a few energizer batteries up his suit-jacket sleeves...I mean the guy has a Verizon wireless phone too...
 

The Big Picture

  If you haven't guessed it yet you assume the role of Alan Wake (surprise!). An incredibly successful crime fiction novelist who's been stranded on an unyielding writers block for a grand total of two years now. Alan and his wife Alice decide to take a vacation down to the somewhat small and scenic town of Bright Falls in attempts for Alan to get away from his celebrity status life, along with the pressures of his creative juices failing to flow. 

Unfortunately, this stellar vacation lasts, if anything, a grand total of a few hours before all hell breaks loose and he finds himself  in a wrecked car; his wife missing, a whole week of his life gone without any explanation, and mysterious manuscript pages floating around that he wrote without any memory of writing that can foretell events about to happen. With no other true options Alan goes flashlight and flare-gun blazing into the unknown to figure out just what the hell is going on and where his wife is, only to be sucked even further into the world of the Stephen King-like paranormal. 

Oh, and heads up, this game does get Twin Peaks weird but that isn't a bad thing right? Right?

 
 

 

Gameplay

     So now its time to clear a few things out of the air if they haven't been already for you...

1. Alan Wake is not an open world game. We all know Remedy (the minds behind our beloved Max Payne series) wanted it to be as such but it just didn't work out. What you do have though is a linear game that for the most part, gives you quite a bit of breathing room to explore and snag those ever so lovely coffee thermoses and manuscripts scattered throughout the story.
   
2. The game is stretched over a course of six episodes. Each flowing kind of like a TV show containing a gripping cliffhanger and an perfect fitting song right out of its genius soundtrack as it fades to black. Even though Remedy was going for a television-esque feel to the game, the credit-less ending to each episode feels kind of desired , but then again, like everyone else we would just end up skipping right through them and heading on to the next chapter containing a "Previously on Alan Wake" opening. Call me crazy, but I felt this added an even more personal touch to the game than it already had. 
3. Yes, there are collectibles as mentioned above that involve you going not too far out of your way to obtain and if you ended up like me, you eventually wanted to naturally go off the obvious path and see what you and your flashlight could spy. Not to mention the hidden chests that your flashlight can reveal the location to.

   

       4.   The driving seems pretty solid when the game calls for it or when you have the option to, resulting in you mowing down those same pain inflicting enemies with glee, but the one qualm I had with the driving system was the way the camera would somewhat whiplash back to the center whenever you changed the angle giving me a small headache.

 
 
 
 

    
Now even though some people see this as a survival horror, it is what it is, which is listed smack dab on the box cover "A psychological Action thriller" so if you're hoping to get Dead space weirded out in the world of Mr.Wake put those expectations back in your pockets kids. But don't get me wrong though, that doesn't make this any less of an astonishing ride as you use any means of light to fight away what is known as "The Dark Presence." 

   The mechanics of the combat system work out almost seamlessly, but do grow bearably tedious as you first fry away the shadowy shield protecting the fellow flannel shirt wearing enemies , then wail away on the fire button with whatever firearms you have, ranging from a simple revolver to a super efficient pump action shotgun. And yes, you even get flash bangs! But don't take that as sarcasm, Alan Wake probably is the first game to make the lonely flash bang the most powerful weapon in a game next to its hand-held cousin the flare-gun.

  Also, there's a catch to the whole flashlight thing so you cant just keep using your high-beams and breezing right through every axe wielding possessed citizen you come across. You need some batteries to keep that charade up my boy, and luckily energizer is right there behind you to keep Alan nicely fulled along his entire story. But a bonus to the flashlight is that you wont forever be limited to the pathetic battery guzzling one you start off with. There are about three tiers; the first being the basic one you have, the second being heavy duty, and the third being the ever-so nice flashlight Lantern. You know, those bulky yellow ones your dad would bring on trips out to the mountains when he left you to fend of a pack of wolves own your own?

   BUT one last side note to the gameplay is the dodging mechanic, which when done right lays out a satisfying slow motion scene of your narrow escape, yet can be somewhat clunky, especially when you get overwhelmed by three or four guys each being able to hit you multiple times. This probably was one of my biggest qualms with the game. 
Either that or I just suck...
 

Final Throwdown:

The Great:

 

•   Alan wake simply has a fantastic atmosphere to it that makes you want to take a trip up to the mountains yourself and go looking for coffee thermoses in the dead of night...or maybe that's just me...
• The story. If anything, its the one thing that will keep you tuned in to see what befalls Alan next along with getting a little more insight by collecting manuscript pages found all over the place.
  
• The little things in the game. Such as the Twilight-zone inspired show found throughout the story called "Night Springs" which makes finding every television in the game bearable.
• The Characters and their development within the tale of Alan Wake. I don't recall any character falling out of place or being worthless. Each plays a key role in either helping Alan or trying to use him for their gain. Or just wanting him plain out dead.
  
• Now here is where some of you will call me just insane if you've decided to read this review down to this point. (So get those tomatoes out and fire at will.) I liked what they did with the ending. I wont go into detail or spoil anything for those of you who haven't jumped in yet, but a majority of the players found it to be confusing and left almost everyone full of questions. In my opinion that's a good thing. It means that the guys down at Remedy left a cliffhanger to keep you curious enough until the squeal comes around, otherwise known as season 2.
  

....Oh yeah....there's gonna be more Alan for those of you who cant get enough of him.
 

The Not-so Great:

•  The lip-syncing of the cutsceens could've been a little more spot on. Its not so horrible that it takes away from the story at all, but its one of those things that you notice and cant stop noticing once you do.
  
• Achievements are pretty easy to come by, most you get from just playing the game. Even though I'm an achievement bagging guy myself it would've been nice to have a little more effort put forth to earn some of them, although most achievement descriptions are entertaining once you get them. (could I possibly use the word achievement any more than I already have?)
• The Combat doesn't really change after you get the hang of it in the near beginning of the game. Sure you find a variety of guns and other shadow fighting tools but that's about it.
  

        Apply. Rinse. Repeat. etc...

• Verizon and Energizer are kinda not so discrete about helping Remedy out. From the batteries that you pick up the throughout the game that obviously say Energizer to the in game achievement for watching a Verizon Wireless phone commercial during a time in the game when a vortex of darkness is after your rear. I mean really? I don't even know what to say about the drifting commercial they play before the Verizon one.
  

 

The Things That aren't great at all and just leave a bad taste in your mouth:

 

• The occasional overwhelming of bad guys. I found myself being just pure screwed over when the "Taken" (the fancy word they used to describe the shadow possessed citizens) would either two-hit combo me twice or when one of the bigger boys would not even appear on my screen but would sledgehammer me out of nowhere leaving Alan knocked the crap out and done for.
• Sometimes the game can leave you with that frustrating feeling when you get left with nothing more than a battery and 5 bullets in your revolver. especially when you're extremely close to finishing an episode.
• Alan's running stamina is HORRIBLE! I know if I were being chased by a vortex/tornado of pure darkness I would not stop running till I knew it was safe. Alan has the lungs of a chain smoker sadly.
  
• The easiness of the last boss. I'm not going to give anything away as mentioned before, but the only reason I died during the final boss was because Alan didn't jump to the next platform correctly due to his weird stumble run when he starts off. Not that I want a pain in the neck boss like Seth from Street fighter IV but a little bit of a challenge that gives you a satisfaction of defeating it would be nice.
  

 

Curtain Call Closing Comments:

   Without a doubt Alan Wake is a truly unique experience that should not be overlooked. With memorable characters, a well-crafted story, awesome soundtrack, and little things scattered about such as the Night Springs television series. Alan Wake is worth all the minor bumps along the road you'll face sporadically and if anything will leave you like me excited to see what happens next. Now I just need to get my hands on that soundtrack....