Quick note, This post will be split into three segments. The first will detail gameplay, graphics, sound, and basic story while avoiding spoilers as much as possible. The second segment will be clearly marked and contain in depth details about the story, Including MAJOR spoilers. Finally The third segment will be a conclusion and once again be spoiler-free.
Alan Wake is a new franchise coming out of Remedy Entertainment (creators of Max Payne). The game is labelled as a psychological thriller, But for all intents and purposes is a survival horror game with an above average story. The basic idea of the game is an author with writer's block goes on holiday only for his wife to go missing and horrible shadow monsters start attacking him at night. The game is split into multiple "episodes" and presented much like a tv series. The episodes are a nice length and make good suggestions for when to take a break, But with each episode ending on a cliffhanger i wouldn't blame you for wanting to play right through. Graphically the game is nice with character model's looking fairly detailed and amazing lighting effects. The soundtrack for the game is great with very eerie scoring during levels that add to the tension of the game, Plus some good songs used to bring each episode to a close. One complaint i have though was with the syncing. I don't know if it was just my Xbox or whether it's the actual game but the character's mouth movements and their speech was often out of sync and just ends up looking ridiculous. As for the actual gameplay, The controls are relatively simple and apart from some odd camera movements you should get confident with them in maybe 30 minutes. Combat requires you to shine a set amount of light upon an enemy to remove their veil of darkness before being able to physically damage them. At first i didn't think this would work too well but it's actually pretty good. The flashlight operates much like a sight and having to target an enemy for a few seconds before you can shoot him really makes you think about strategy and which enemies to target first. Overall the game will probably take 6-10 hours to complete depending on difficulty level and skill, but a heap of collectibles and an extra difficulty level that must be unlocked add some replay value, but probably the main drawing point for Alan Wake is... The Story.
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SKIP THIS SEGMENT IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THE EVENTS OF THE STORY
Alan Wake is the story of an author with writer's block. His wife convinces him to go on a holiday to Bright Falls, But is actually trying to get him to visit a doctor who specialises in helping artist's re-find their inspiration. Shortly after arriving in Bright Falls however, Alice (Alan's wife) goes missing and Alan loses a week of his memory. You're then thrown into the shoes of Alan as he tries to find Alice and figure out what happened during the missing week. Apart from the main plot, Alan also discovers pages from a book that he supposedly wrote and many of these pages depict events that soon come to pass. All together the game manages to cram in a surprising amount of info and builds a really strong story that it manages to pace well by using the episodic structure. The ending is a very odd one, leaving things open for interpretation and promising that Alan Wake will be back for a sequel. Supernatural themes are everywhere here with local townspeople going missing then returning as shadow monsters called 'The Taken' to attack Alan plus dark forces, a demon possessing someone else's body and a complex web of inter-related stories going back to the 70's. Alan Wake doesn't try to hide it's supernatural side and that's a good thing because it does it well. With twists that you definitely won't expect, Scares coming out of nowhere and a steady build up of tension until the bizarre and breathtaking finale, This is the type of story that you don't see in video games very often.
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Alan Wake may not be the first game to use any of it's particular elements, But it IS the first game to throw them all together and not suck. The story is solid, The gameplay is simple enough to learn but exciting enough to keep you playing and the game just generally flows well and doesn't really lack in any department. I definitely recommend everyone try this out, But do try to give it an hour or two before passing judgement to let it's story telling really kick in. We'll have to see what the rest of the year holds, But so far, Alan Wake is my Game of the Year
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