Alan Wake Review
Alan Wake is a psychological action thriller developed by Remedy Entertainment for the Xbox 360. This game was in development for several years and at one time thought to be canceled. Despite a long development cycle and a few minor flaws, Alan Wake is a great game every 360 owner should consider playing.
Alan Wake takes place in the small town of Bright Falls where Wake's wife takes him to vacation and clear his mind. Wake is a famous writer who has a bad case of writer's block and frustration is setting in. As soon as he and his wife enter the town things get weird. Before you know it Wake's wife has been kidnapped and a “dark presence” is starting to take over the town at night. And to top it all off Wake is finding pages to one of his latest novels describing his eery situation. But get this, he doesn't remember writing it!!!
The game play consists of several different mechanics that come together very well. By day you speak with the various townsfolk around Bright Falls. You will learn more about themselves and the town during these conversations. Its a nice change of pace during the game to interact with the residents in Bright Falls. Everyone you meet is interesting and has a story to tell. The voice acting is very well done and also adds to the story's depth.
But this game is not all about the goings on during the day but rather the creepy, unsettling events at night. Right away you don't just see, but feel the atmosphere. You will find yourself in the dark, dank forests of Bright Falls where you will see and hear all sorts of things that make you feel ancy. This game really makes good use of a surround sound setup so good for you if you have one. The “dark presence” takes over the people of Bright Falls producing the aptly named Taken enemies. The Taken have a dark shield, if you will, surrounding them. Light is needed to take this protective cover away. Only when this is done can bullets from a firearm do damage to the dark enemies. So an encounter with a single enemy involves shinning the light from your flashlight, or flare, on them until the “shield” is blown away. Then you can use your firearm to finish them off.
This concept of light against dark works very well and as the game moves on Alan will have even more powerful sources of light to use against the Taken. At times it feels like an action game but a survival horror as well. For instance you will spend a few moments disposing of a few enemies but then you will get bombarded with a ton of Taken enemies. Running to a lighted area is your best bet here.
One of my gripes is that fighting at times feels a little cheap. Wake is no Marcus Phoenix or Nathan Drake. So don't expect to feel like you can take on the world. But at times enemies will gang up in a way that just felt unfair and the situation turned into a quick “die and reload” kinda deal. But the feeling of vulnerability causes tension and dread as you embark into the darkness to find your wife. This is a good thing.
This game is very unique in that it is broken up into six episodes. Just as if you were watching a season of a prime time TV show. Remedy really goes all out with this even to the point of ending episodes with cliff hangers, closing music and starting the next episode with a recap of the last. This helps the pacing of the solid story and really gives gamers good stopping points to refresh.
A few extras are included to put some meat on the whole experience. You will get involved in collecting manuscript pages from the mysterious novel, coffee thermoses, finding radios to listen to the local radio personality, to name a few. There are even televisions that, when turned on, play a Twilight Zone-esq show called Night Springs. This little show features creepy episodes to give you a little entertainment while you take a break from fighting through the dark presence.
Overall Alan Wake is a very good, entertaining game. My only other gripe is the visuals and animations seem a little dated at times. As stated before this game has been in development for at least five years if I'm not mistaken. While its not a deal breaker by any means, it just isn't on the level of a lot of the games out there right now. But its no big deal and the game will still suck you in despite. Good things come to those who wait. Waiting for Alan Wake has been a worthwhile endeavor. Great story, interesting characters, engaging game play and good replay value make Alan Wake one of the best games to play in 2010.
