Review: Alan Wake

With the recent release of Alan Wake for Microsoft's Xbox Live On Demand service, I wanted to take the chance to review the game and DLC. While the game has been well received by many critics, many gamers are either unsure if this is a game for them or completely unaware that this game exists. If you are a fan of The Twilight Zone or the works of Stephen King, I think you'll really like this, so read on to find out more about Alan Wake.

Developer: Remedy Entertainment

Platform: Xbox 360

I was late to the Alan Wake party. Maybe it was the 5+ years of development and release delays or maybe the marketing campaign which showed little gameplay and very little action.

Whatever it was, I had immediately written off Alan Wake as a game of interest, which is unusual for me, as I’m willing to give most games a try. I’ve been laid up from a recent injury and having finished most recent game releases, I decided that Alan Wake would at least pass the time. Fortunately, Alan Wake turned out turned out to be a fantastic thriller and one of the better games I’ve played this year.

Developed by Remedy Entertainment of Max Payne fame, Alan Wake was originally announced in 2005. Since then, many aspects of the game have changed, including the release date (multiple times), the idea that this would be an open world sand box game (now completely linear), and the plan to release this on the PC (now an Xbox exclusive). All of changes have allowed Remedy to turn Alan Wake into a unique cinematic-like experience that is closer to an interactive movie or TV show than a traditional game.

You play as Alan Wake, a bestselling author who is suffering from writer’s block and has gone on a vacation with his wife to Bright Falls in an attempt to get away from everything. Once there, it is apparent that things are not what they seem and before Alan has time to get out, he is forced to square off against a dark force that has a hold on both Alan, his wife, and the town of Bright Falls. Like many good thrillers, the less you know about the plot, the better off you are. As over sites have covered the plot extensively in walkthroughs and other reviews, I will pass on posting them here.

Alan Wake is a third-person action thriller, split into 6 TV show-like episodes, each with their own closing music, previous episode recap, and cliffhanger endings. The developers don’t shy away from the fact that Alan Wake is influenced, sometimes heavily, by Stephen King, Alfred Hitchcock, and The Twilight Zone, among others. In fact, the narration from Alan specifically mentions Stephen King and Alfred Hictchcock by name.  Fans of The X-Files, Twin Peaks, and LOST will also instantly recognize the influence of these shows on the game and development team.

The game is referred to as a “psychological action thriller”, so don’t expect this to try to scare you with gore and disturbing images. Instead, Alan Wake has carefully crafted scenes that aim to scare by what they don’t show, more than what they do. You spend most of the game in the forest, trying to reach areas of safety or your objective. Preventing you from reaching your destination is possessed or “taken” members of the Bright Falls community. Combat is relatively simple, but a variety of enemies, an increase in the number of enemies, and a variety of weapons at your disposal keep combat tense and fresh as you play through the game.

If you break it down to its most basic elements, the story and gameplay in Alan Wake is not revolutionary, but it is the presentation here that makes a world of difference. You can easily tell in some other games that the developers spent the most time on the first level, because it is the level with not only the most detail, but the most scripted events. Alan Wake, on the other hand, feels like the Remedy spent an incredible amount of time carefully planning the scares and events that unfold in each episode. Keep in mind that due to the type of game this is, the planning doesn’t just require scripted events with characters, but audio scares, music cues to build anticipation, and weather effects.

The sounds and graphics in Alan Wake are very good for the type of game this is. From the flashlight effects, to ghost whispers and anticipation building music, the game does a very good job of keeping you on the edge of your seat and always giving you the feel of impending doom.

Remedy has done a great job at immersing you in the world of Alan Wake and keeping you hooked from episode to episode. They have done such a good job, that I instantly purchased both DLC episodes that have been released. Titled The Signal and The Writer, both DLC episodes serve as episodes 7 and 8, continuing the story from the boxed copy of the game. Each DLC episode is about the same length as the individual episodes 1-6 and the quality of each DLC episode is on par with episodes 1-6 as well.

I think this Alan Wake and the DLC releases make a great case for episodic gaming.  With a bigger budget at their disposal, I think Remedy could have kept Alan Wake going for more than just the two additional downloadable episodes that were released. Rarely do I purchase DLC content, but Alan Wake’s DLC was reasonably priced and kept my interest.

While I thoroughly enjoyed Alan Wake, this type of game isn’t for everyone. The game may prove to be too difficult for casual players to tackle on their own (unfortunately for new gamers, there is no easy setting) and if you are someone that needs gore or constant shooting in order to enjoy the game, this one isn’t going to interest you.

However, if you enjoy the slow building tension of Alfred Hitchcock films, the storytelling of Stephen King, or the twists of The Twilight Zone, you are going to enjoy Alan Wake. It isn’t a perfect game, but very few games have captured my attention like this one has. It isn’t likely that I’ll forget this one any time soon, and I look forward to seeing what Remedy can do with a sequel.

4/5 Stars