Alan Wake

Neraly everything about this game is awesome. The story is great, the gameplay is great, the characters are interesting, the horror is just about scary enough. When playing this game you feel like playing a movie, just without to many cutscenes. Looking for clue as you advance through the game is perhaps a pshycologic cliche, but nevertheless important as ever. It is important to know that this is not a scary game as Amnesia or Slender. And it's not a very good shooter game as anyother FPS. So imagine you have a bit of both. This is also not a game for people who dont like Sthephen Kings stories, like objects that comes to life. But if you can see through that minor problem, then it should be some well spent money and hours.

The gameplay is a bit clunky, but fairly easy to get a sense of, once learnt, it comes naturally. Mainly though, it works for its purposes. Alan Wake, more than any games I've played since I was young and dumb and Halo 2 launched, just has that something which makes an experience memorable. The story is captivating, the characters enjoyable, but realistic, the art style is great and the music is unrivaled. The songs at the end of each chapter each fit in perfectly. The graphics, when turned up a bit aren't the newest around, but they won't be dated for a good while yet either. Bright Falls, the small american mountain town where most of the game takes place, seems as alive as most towns out in the real world, and a fair bit more than some. Twin Peaks instantly leaps to mind (the superb setting of series, not the abysmal quality of its writing), but Bright Falls definitely has character of its own as well. The picture of the sun setting over the small town is quite simply something that stays with you. The title of my review is slightly misleading. Alan Wake isn't just the best game I can remember playing, it's also the best story, in any medium, I've experienced in at least a year. Probably more. If you can, try it out, but beware, it's hard not to talk to your friends about this game, and you'll probably come off as a massive geek to your social circles while you play through this treasure. It's worth it though, a true example of how games can be great works of art.

Alan Wake was such a pleasure to play through. One of the strongest points of the game is the immersing story, and the way it unfolds. It kept me guessing, and begging for more. The scenery of the game was breathtaking, and while there were quite a lot of "forest" areas, every single one of them was paired up with an astounding view of a valley, or beautiful mountains in the distance. Combat in Alan Wake was nice and refreshing. It was a nice touch that you simply can't shoot your enemies, but have to decide how to take on a pack. While the selections of weapons in the game was modest, you could use them to great effect. I fell in love with the way dodging works in this game, and it made defensive evasion - something that people often overlook in favor of brute force - a pleasant skill to practice. This game was long, and it was good. It is definitely one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had in a long time.

The game is very good, but not without issues. I'd rate it 4,5 if it was possible. The strongest part of Alan Wake is story progression and also it holds its biggest flaw: gameplay may seem tedious and repetitive at times when you want to know what happens next, but you have to go through action sequence after action sequence. Other than that the game deserves praise: characters, graphics, soundtrack... I still listen to the songs from the game from time to time. Some songs are incorporated into the story, so they may contain spoilers if you listen to them before finishing the main game. Sadly, since the main attraction of Alan Wake is story and you know it after finishing the game, it has little replay value. However if you haven't played it yet, chances are you'd not regret buying it.

If Alan Wake has flaws, then it only has two. Firstly the game is a bit easy compared with similar games like Resident Evil. Other flaw is the ending may be predictable, although they do a fantastic job of trying to throw you off just before the reveal. It's also SLIGHTLY too long, but not that much so that you will not sit down and play this through in a couple of nights - and by the way you should play this with the lights off as the atmosphere is top notch.