Alan Wake's journey through the dark is a worthwhile one.
Opening statements
Darkness always played a role in horror games, but none gave it a role as major and as malevolent as "Alan Wake" does: the darkness isn't just there to conceal the horrors around the player; they are one and the same, and Alan's biggest threat. Taking into account its long time in development, is this fresh take on one of the most important aspects in the horror genre, combined with an enticing tale of secrets and redemption, enough to rise the game above the murky waters of the mediocre, or it is doomed to sink into obscurity, like so many other games in the genre.Story
The hero of this tale is Alan Wake, a celebrated young writer with a series of best-selling books, who fell victim to the most horrible of afflictions: writers-block. To counter the effects of his new stressful life-style, Alan and his wife decide to take a vacation in the scenic town of Bright Falls, where they hope to rejuvenate both their marriage and Alan's career. At first glance the town seems to be the perfect place for a little R&R, with its quirky, yet welcoming locals and its beautiful vistas, but as Alan learns pretty quickly, something dark is lurking beneath the surface, waiting for the right opportunity. Not to spoil anything, Alan soon finds himself missing both a week and a wife, and must survive through a horror story of his own making, all the while fighting off the townsfolk who were taken by the dark presence stirring at the bottom of Bright Falls' centerpiece, Cauldron Lake.The story itself is delivered in an episodic format, complete with the required "Previously on…" that features in almost every TV series these days. The main idea behind this is to recap on past events, in case the player took a long break from the game after completing an episode, but since there is no way of stopping the game before the "Previously" video, all you really get is a short version of the last hour or two of gameplay you just experienced. It is a nice concept, and if used more responsibly and wisely in future projects, it could actually play its part in helping the player stay in touch with the game's plotline and his own progress through it.
Gameplay
The most prominent feature in the game is defiantly its use of light and darkness. Since the latter is the game's antagonist, it is only logical that the former would be the weapon of choice against it. And true to this logic, Alan's entire arsenal is centered around light (and bullets). Every enemy in the game is shielded by a veil of darkness protecting it from any form of physical damage, so in order to actually defeat them Alan must first remove said shield (using light of course), and only then unload a few bullets into them. It's a nice touch that adds a lot to both the gameplay and the game's atmosphere, forcing you to manage both ammo and batteries for the flashlight in order to survive a difficult fight. Of course there are weapons that combine both the weakening effects of light and the lethality of bullets, like the flare gun from example, but they are hard to track down, and require Alan to explore his surrounding thoroughly.Speaking of which, the combat in Alan Wake is another nice diversion from the genre's standard awkwardness. Most survival horror games suffer from clunky controls and cumbersome main characters, two traits that make combat a nerve-wracking experience. Not so in Alan Wake; the combat is fluid (most of the time), it is possible to dodge incoming attacks, and even to keep enemies at bay with a well placed road flare. The combat never feels repetitive (even if it is) or frustrating, and the many ways Alan Wake can dispatch of his enemies help keep it fresh and interesting. The only real flaw is with the dodging which is, well, kind of dodgy; it is hard to really time it correctly, and attempting to dodge too soon will often result in Alan getting hit multiple times and losing a lot of health. A few enemies have chain attacks, and once caught in one of these chains, it is impossible to escape them. The stronger enemies can deplete more than half of the life bar in a single chain, and since Alan can't really move while getting hit, he is left open for other, weaker enemies' attacks, which will probably bring him to his knees with only a few blows. Even then, the checkpoint system works in the player's favor, and you are never sent too far back when Alan dies.
Apart from the combat though, there isn't anything new or groundbreaking in this game. Don't get me wrong, it never gets boring or too cliché, but as far as gameplay is concerned, Alan Wake only reinvents some core elements of the genre, and doesn't really innovate anything. It has the right atmosphere, the right pacing and the right plot twists, but it feels like it has all been done before, in some variation or another. Although well paced, the game is noticeably short, and won't take more than a couple of day to finish. Completionists would probably want to give the game at least one more go in order to collect all the hidden manuscripts and coffee thermoses scattered around each level, but due to the game's linearity there isn't any other incentive to do so. Another weird thing about this game is the constant "name dropping", especially Stephen King's, in random point throughout the game; it may help establish the settings a bit better, but it also gives the game a certain layer of fan-fiction. It is obvious King's writings were a big inspiration for the game, but there is no need for the constant dreamy remarks about how great of a writer he is.
