Game Info
GAME NAME: Alan Wake
DEVELOPER(S): Remedy Entertainment
PUBLISHER(S): Microsoft Game Studios
PLATFORM(S): Xbox 360, PC
GENRE(S): 3rd person shooter, psychological horror
RELEASE DATE(S): May 18, 2010
Alan Wake. It took about 30 years to make it, but it’s out. And it’s incredible. Remedy Entertainment, I salute you! Typically, a game that takes 5 years to get to us – minus all Blizzard games, of course – can’t be worth the wait, or the hype. This is an easy exception.
The story behind this monstrosity of gaming excellence is strong, lush, and incredibly imaginative. Alan Wake and his wife travel to Bright Falls to vacation and hopefully get some of Alan’s writing mojo back. They’re sucked into the influence of a dark, evil presence who feeds off of artists and their creations. So Alan fights back and writes himself into his own story to combat the darkness. I shouldn’t say too much else, but the entire presentation and flow of the game’s story is stunning. There is a lot to do – collecting coffee mugs and manuscript pages (which in turn tell you what’s coming up in the story, and provide you with events happening simultaneously involving other characters), and finding hidden chests with supplies.
In Alan Wake, prettymuch everything revolves around light and dark. You use your flashlight to weaken The Taken. Your weapons include flare guns and flashbangs, and they’re actually WEAPONS, unlike other games in which they’re simply items to be used. The combat is tense and satisfying, and I freaked out every time the camera would switch to a view showing Alan being pursued, with an unnerving musical pull to heighten the fear.
Alan Wake sports a kick-ass soundtrack, with an incredible score, and very fitting music picks (David Bowie, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Poets Of The Fall, and the like). The voice-acting is excellent, especially Alan Wake’s. Everything is very believable and genuine-sounding. And I’ll tell you what. Some of the things The Taken say are terrifying in their banality. “You can learn about the forest and yourself!” is something a possessed park ranger might say. Some characters rattle off factoids about fatty acids. The reason that’s so scary is that they’re just so… gone that that’s all their bodies can say. The game is creepy as all, and I enjoyed every second of it. It looks gorgeous, too. Bright Falls is a idyllic town, and that comes across very well. The lighting effects are superb, which is good in a game that revolves around light so much.
Alan Wake is one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had in forever. I would give this a perfect 10 out of 10.
