Ah, Alan Wake. It was a long time waiting since the announcement; played through most of it on the Xbox 360 perhaps half a year after release, only just checked it out again on PC out of curiosity for what I missed.

This time around, though, I'm coming up with mixed feelings.

Alan Wake is a somewhat compelling action game that's sometimes a little too cinematic for it's own good. Much as I find the story engaging (and I'm not even a Steven King fan), the story segments and gameplay segments are fairly clearly divided; and this only really works if one finds the story compelling, and admittedly it's not *fantastically* written, although the voice acting and dialogue are convincing and certainly a cut above the average, essential in a story-driven game.
Alan's fairly common monologues are an interesting take on the presentation of a vidyagaem protagonist, but oftentimes I found them a little too eager to divulge my objective and interesting points to the setting and situation that could have been more subtly presented; and subtlety is something this game could have done with.

It's like the oft-mused-upon differences between, says, Japanese horror and American big-budget horror. American horror tends to be loud, showy, and dammit, not very scary. This is one of Alan Wake's core difficulties. It's not scary. Though thankfully it doesn't constantly push jump scares in one's face, it does at least go some way towards building an interesting - if not totally unique - atmosphere. But not particularly terrifying or discomforting. Again, referring to Alan Wake as 'survival horror' is kind of a misnomer. 'Stephen King themed Action Game' would seem more appropriate, and going in expecting more of a cinematic action game would likely improve one's disposition towards it.

In terms of the actual gameplay; a player used to the more expansive older titles on offer on GOG.com (or indeed older titles in general) may be a little disappointed. It's aggressively linear at times, mostly taking place on fenced-off forest paths. Much as exploration is rewarded with collectables and incidental details (the not-twilight-zone show 'Night Springs' that can be watched on scattered televisions is an amusing highlight), it doesn't allow the player to stray far from the path. The combat is perhaps another sticking point. Aside from a few rather spectacular and engaging setpieces, the combat between Alan and the shadowy 'taken' shows little variety; though being outnumbered can get a little hairy, one essentially undertakes the same steps to defeat them, and after that there's no real threat, they become simply an obstacle between the storytelling; and that's a shame, more than anything else, a few new ideas would have gone a long way in this.

Mechanically and graphically, the game is fairly well-polished; it looks simply fantastic on maximum settings (admittedly), and the controls - while a little too fond of jerking the camera away when dodging enemies - are fairly responsive and smooth. There's even a key for changing the side on which the camera hangs, which I thought was a nice touch. I highly recommend playing with the HUD disabled.

Alan Wake is ultimately a compelling action game, but admittedly some would find disappointment in it's linear and somewhat repetitive mechanics, and personally I can see little replay value beyond reading a paltry number of extra manuscript pages on 'nightmare' difficulty'. For $19.99, the majority might feel a little ripped off considering the restrictive gameplay and limited replay value, and I can't really blame them; but I can't deny it's an enjoyable experience, especially for fans of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or any modern suspense bestsellers. It's just not really scary and can sometimes reek of missed opportunities and underdeveloped ideas.

I liked it. But then again I picked it up in a Steam Sale for £3 or so.