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.
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!
