What's up fellow giantbombers, it's j_drace coming at you for another blog post.  I haven't written a blog in almost a year and even then I just deleted it, don't ask why. 
 
So, I just completed Alan Wake, a psychological thriller by Remedy Entertainment.  Before I proceed with the blog I just want to get a few things off of my chest about the game.  I have been waiting for Alan Wake since it was announced back in 2005 and can't tell you how excited I was that the game finally came out, but with a very busy schedule I was finally just able to finish it.  If I wasn't so hyped about it and if the story wasn't amazing I would have wished the game never came out.  For a game that was in development for five years it is very short and has way too many flaws and it was far from perfect.  These include the screen tearing at every turn of the camera, the facial expressions, the audio levels not being right, the graphics not being the best, and finally the combat system (I'm sure there are a few other flaws I forgot). 
 
The main thing about Alan Wake is that it's story driven and doesn't rely on gameplay much so it's more of an interactive movie then a game.  It's almost like an MGS game, but MGS has a way better blend of cutscenes and gameplay.  The combat system is very detrimental on the game.  It feels like the combat system is tacked on just so that they can label Alan Wake as a game and it's so shitty, but more importantly it ruins the flow of the game.  There are so many times in the game were it feels like you have to run from point A to point B in a limited amount of time before the scene switches (you really have to look and play this game out as a movie to understand this line).  Most of the time it's that you're running through the forest scenario and what happens?  A bunch of randos just pop out of no where and start throwing axes at you and when you finally defeat them another set pops out.  That ruins the flow of the game because they didn't know which moments were the right moments to spawn enemies.  Instead of spawning them when you're on a time sensitive run, the music and effects really add to this, the developers could have spawned them right as you reach point B.  There are also way too many enemies for this type of game.  The way Alan Wake flows is just as important as the story behind it, but Remedy sort of dropped the ball on this. 
 
Overall it's a very good game, not worthy of a 9 out of 10 by any means.  It's one of those games that deserves maybe an 8.5 - an 8.8, but has a cult following and would have been rated higher if it didn't have as many flaws.  I can't get past the flaws of the game simply for the fact that the game has been in development for FIVE YEARS maybe even more.  The game is not as polished as it should be and Remedy does not have an excuse.  Not even MGS, HALO, Zelda, God of War, and so on are in development for five years and they still are amazing and very well refined and polished when they come out.  I love Alan Wake and it's flaws shouldn't bother me as much s they do, but five fucking years of development time really pushes them over the edge for me. 
 
Feel free to post your thoughts and opinions.