Alan Wake

Atmosphere: it's one thing that so few games can capture well. The dense fog of nighttime, the quaint nature of a town, the looming darkness that surrounds the supernatural, even the texture of your coat... These are all things that Remedy proves they are masters of with Alan Wake. In this third-person shooter, you play as the titular Alan Wake, a popular horror fiction author (akin to a younger, hip Stephen King) who is traveling with his wife to the Pacific Northwest. The goal? Wake needs to finish his new book, and he has writer's block. Hoping that the small town of Bright Falls and a trip to a secluded cabin will help relieve this stress, Alan finds himself spiraling down a wormhole of insanity, madness, and supernatural hoodoo that threatens to take away everything that matters to him, including his wife, Alice. The gameplay...or should I say gunplay...in Alan Wake is fairly simple, but with a unique twist. Rather than shooting willy-nilly at everything in your path, you'll need to rely on your trusty flashlight to eat away at the darkness on your enemies before pumping them full of lead. This helps add an extra layer of strategy to the combat while not overcomplicating it. Don't get it twisted: this is still very much a third-person shooter. While the controls aren't nearly as tight as something like Max Payne (Remedy's previous game franchise before this one), they have a contextual feel that fits with the weight of the game. Again, it all comes down to atmosphere. That is what makes the game click, in all honesty. Without the attention to detail that Remedy created in the dialogue, the mannerisms of characters, the nuances of facial gestures, and especially the environments, this game would've been nothing special. The game plays out like episodes of a serialized TV show, and there are plenty of quirky characters that create memorable and lasting impressions on you. Alan Wake wasn't a runaway hit, but it's a cult classic for a reason: it's a solid game.

Alan Wake is an interesting game. The gameplay is pretty basic, action shooter in a way and there isn't much complexity about it. The best part of the game is the story and the way it is told. It is delivered in quite an interesting way, by ways of foreshadowing and even spoilers, yet it's not predictable. It's not logical, yet i makes sense. A wonderfully crafted narrative!

Atmospheric and engrossing like a really good book that you can't put down even when your low on batteries.

recommended

Average game by any possible definition. Alan Wake isn't bad, actually it has good combat and a rather good story, but nothing to write home about. The enemies aren't very varied and you'll find yourself fighting the same 2 enemies type over and over. Nor very varied are the game situations, for what it matters. The story is also a mixed bag, never really exciting despite being enjoyable enough. It also fails as a survival horror because it's not very scary, when compared to masterpieces of the genre like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. It's more of paranormal thriller than a horror. I played it to the very end despite being bored hoping for at least a satisfying final, but the game ends with an annoying cliffhanger and no sequel is planned due to the poor sales, so not even the story is a good reason to play the game. A thing that bugged me a lot is that the setting is interesting and original enough to make you interested in exploring the surroundings, and most of the game is pretty open and lets you explore a lot, but you'll find absolutely NOTHING by exploring. I've heard this is due to the fact the game was initially planned as a MMO game, and Remedy changed the scope of the game on-the-fly. Anyway, whatever the reason behind it, the result is that everything looks so empty and boring. All in all, this game is nothing but a big pile of wasted potential, which i find even more sad then a completely bad game.