User Review : Alan Wake

Alan Wake, Worth the wait?

Alan Wake was one of my top five games of 2010, it went largely unnoticed however for most of the year largely in part to it releasing the same day as Red Dead Redemption.

The game itself was in development for over five years by a small company called Remedy, originally intended as a Multiplatform release on the Xbox 360, PS3 and P.C. Microsoft swooped in and saw the potential and made Remedy an offer they couldn't refuse, which earned them the games exclusive rights for the Xbox 360 console.

I was excited for the game myself but I must admit I didn't buy the game on release day. It seems more often then not I only purchase games with a multiplayer aspect on the day they release. I was definitely interested in the game though, I contemplated breaking my rule to purchase it.

I ended up buying the game around six months later, I made sure to purchase the game new as to support the developer and
to show my support for a new and interesting IP. I must admit the game new was only $19.99 and it came with free DLC that really helps complete the story. Though it comes with the first DLC, you will need to purchase the second and final DLC to really finish the story. Well worth the $5 though as each new DLC adds a whole episode to the game.

The game takes place in episodic formate, the first is sort of a back story that sets up the rest of the game. You play as Alan Wake, a famous writer who is battling writers block and so you decide to take your wife Alice on a nice trip to the country to recharge and clear the cobwebs. You head to a small town called Bright Falls to stay at a local cabin. While there your wife turns up missing and you end up a prime suspect, what you start to realize is that it was no ordinary missing persons case, your wife is missing due to supernatural means....but it's not exactly what you would think.

Along the way in the game you find page after page of a manuscript that your character wrote, but the thing is, he doesn't remember writing them, the pages ring hauntingly true and become more and more cryptic. I don't want to give away too much more about the plot because it would truly spoil one of the most genius story lines I've come across in a game to this date.

The story does require you to actually pay attention to what is going on, you cant just pop the game in and play through it without paying close attention to the story, even the ending, which you might try to guess (You would be wrong) isn't cliché in the least.

Alan Wake isn't your typical survival Horror game, it's something fresher and different. The controls are tight for one thing. Everything works as it should, you are running around mostly in the dark and get attacked by different "Phantoms" and the only defense you have is a gun.
There are different guns to get throughout the game, but unlike other survival horror games, you cant just start shooting the phantoms, you first have to shine them with your flashlight.

There are different flashlights along the way,as well as different collectables, some of the flashlights are more heavy duty, but you have to be careful, you can run out of batteries rather quick if you don't pay attention. Once you've managed to shine the enemy in the face, which is no easy task because they cover their eyes a lot of the time,you can shoot freely and kill the evil possessed phantoms.

Along with the guns and flashlights available there are also flares as well as flare guns that come in handy when you get overrun with enemies, which happens often.

There is a "Dodge" mechanism as well in the game that comes in handy, you will get attacked in the dark from behind a lot, sometimes you learn to feel the pressure and dodge the enemy as a result. The camera angles are also very tight and well done.