Amazing game, a must play to anyone that is into the horror genre. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is little enemy variety, in my opinion that's the only con of Alan Wake.
There are countless bad adaptations including of Stephen King's works. I think it's much more likely that we get strong end results out of this approach, where they attempt to recreate the atmosphere, and not do a direct adaptation of any individual piece of work. This could easily have just settled for references to King and Lynch(there are a number of those, but it isn't limited to that) or surface level stuff, but it dives deep. The game has a killer hook; you really badly want to get to the bottom of the mystery that it presents at the start. And while I won't give away any details I will confirm that I was completely satisfied by the end of it. If you find yourself losing interest in the third level, I urge you to give it until you reach the fourth, where it becomes incredibly interesting again, and remains that way for the rest of it. The gameplay itself is engaging. Essentially it's a third person shooter similar to the first two Max Payne games by the same developer, but without the bullet time and diving, and with a smaller and more limited weapon loadout. In addition to the straightforward point and shoot, you first have to remove the possession from your targets. Sometimes certain things you literally only have to remove the possession. You do this by pointing a flashlight directly at them, and it works especially well if you “focus it” on them(taking time). This slows down (or even stuns, for some) enemies, which leads to you juggling enemies; pointing the light at one, then another, then another, to make sure none of them are able to get close enough to attack. Much like the Max Payne games, this features several incredible standout areas of certain levels, where you're able to do something that makes sense considering what the game has set up. And on one hand you kind of wish the entire game was like that. But on the other you realize it would not sustain an entire game. The atmosphere is amazing. It truly does feel like you're in small town America.
This is a good example of a game in which the story is good, but the gameplay is meh.
I appreciate the mystories, the cliffhangers, and the episodic structure. I likde the characters, but they are unidimensionals and cliche: Alan, a popular author suffering from writer's block; Alice, Alan's wife, the damsel in distress; Barry, Alan's manager and the comic relief; and Sarah, the sherrif that helps Alan with no more than a platonic relationship.
The setting is also an hommage to Stephen King. The story happens in a small american town that has dark secrets, and the main protagonist is an author (makes me think about It).
I appreciated the episodic structure. I could play an episode by session. Episode 4 was my favorite.
The graphics are good for a 2010 game!
However the gameplay was repetitive. Some parts were added to increase the length of the game by cheap narrative tricks (eg 'oh no, the door is locked, we have to take the long way', or 'kill the ghosts while I'm trying to fix the [whatever it is]). The game could have been shorter. I was relieved in the end.
The camera is over the left shoulder by default, which is annoying, as I'm more used to play with a camera over the right shoulder.
I don't think I'll play the DLC, but I'm gonna buy Alan Wake 2 when it will be on sale. If you like horror game, buy this one on sale. Or play the second; apparently it's better. If you're just interested in the story, you can watch a playthrough.
It is more fun when you realize you do not have to waist ammo until you have completly weakened the enemies with your flash ligth. Otherwise, you will run out of ammo and some sections will become imposible tu pass.
Fun game, game play mechanics aren't hard at all. I'm pretty bad at the fighting, so I'm happy I played on easy to get the full story experience with plenty of ammo to spare. However, some scenes the camera goes crazy style on the shaking and its hard on the eyes. I really enjoyed the game so I played it in parts to not get nausea. The songs after each episodes was great, the way the storytelling went it really felt like I was experiencing a tv show with the cliffhangers. 8/10 experience. Also I really loved the little tv show within this game "Night Springs," very cute and the little pieces of radio host interviews we get to listen to :)