This game is brutal. No-win scenarios will happen, at it will feel bad. Being a badger in general will feel good. The graphics and style of the game however, are a bit to weird for my tastes. Way too brightly lit too. The game doesn't offer much in the way of variation either. Being a badger, though, is pretty neat, so my two hours in this game didn't really feel wasted either. There are plenty of other games I'd rather be playing though, and as such I'd rate this one 3/5.
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.
