Just what's going on here anyway?
Alan Wake, a struggling writer, goes to Bright Falls with his wife hoping for some inspiration. He gets a little more than he bargained for...
Is it FUN?!
I, Alice, am a big fan of horror. I'm also sort of attention deficit and have a hard time watching movies or TV for any length of time. I need to be a little more engaged. Alan Wake was perfect for me because it's like not only watching a horror movie, but being a part of it yourself. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next and what was the truth behind Alan's story. Fun? Maybe not the right word. Interesting? Well, that's the next section of the review.
Is it interesting?
Have you ever watched a horror movie and wanted to be one of the characters? Do you like suspense, drama, and things that go bump in the night? Alan Wake is a good story told in a way that blurs the boundaries between reality and imagination. The main mechanism of the game is the age-old primal fear of the dark. Bad guy coming at you? Shine light on him. Don't know where to go? Run toward the light. Dark is bad, light is good, and that's all you really need to remember in this game.
There are essentially two different modes in the game which, again, follow the dark vs. light theme. When it's daylight you will be talking to people in a world which seems quite normal. I have to admit that I, Alice, am not a big fan of games making me do things like make coffee. I play games so that I can avoid real life, not emulate it. That said, the game doesn't make you do a whole lot of those things and much more of the story takes place after dark, when you will be running and fighting for your life in a nightmare world where shadows can attack and enemies lurk behind every tree.
The story itself is narrated by Alan and you find manuscript pages throughout which are worth reading if you care about the story at all. It is a good story; not Shakespeare, but it would certainly do for airplane reading or for some other situation in which you're looking for a diversion.
Will it make me want to throw my controller across the room... again?
Your defensive weapon in this game is a flashlight, which will (mostly) keep the bad guys at a safe distance from you or at least slow them down and weaken them. Your offensive weapon is a gun. There are also flashbangs which function much like grenades and which you will grow to love. The one big problem I had in this game was dodging, which requires you to press left button and then move around. This can be a bit difficult during a fight as your left finger is usually pretty busy on left trigger boosting the flashlight beam.
Alan is just an ordinary guy, and a writer at that; he's not too strong. He can't sprint for long distances or jump very high. He can, however, open doors... a talent so many otherwise super heroes seem to lack in video games.
It is very easy to find your way around. Aside from the yellow dot constantly showing you which direction to go, there is usually only one direction you can go in anyway, one button you can press or switch you can throw, so it's not usually too hard to figure out where you're meant to be going.
Will this game consume my life?
Once you play through the story then you're pretty much done. There's no multiplayer and not much replay value unless you want to go for achievements or trophies or unless you're the sort of person who likes watching horror movies again even after the surprises have been revealed. There are a few little things you'll notice on a second playthrough that you probably missed the first time around, but on the whole, it's not the sort of game that you'll likely want to play for months on end.
Do I want to spend that much of my life with these people?
Alan is a pretty grim protagonist, but hey, if my wife had been kidnapped, all the people around me kept turning into psychotic axe murderers, and the forces of darkness were throwing boats at me, I'd probably be grumpy as well. He's definitely hot! The rest of the characters have enough personality to make them interesting. Barry is annoying but occasionally good for a laugh (the Christmas lights, in particular, made me chuckle), Sheriff Breaker is suitably strong and competent, and the Anderson brothers are probably my favourite video game characters in quite some time.
Is it worth it?
The game might be a bit difficult for casual gamers, but isn't that what walkthroughs are for? If you love horror and suspense, this is the game for you.
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