Alan Wake (Xbox 360 - 1st completion)
Blurring the line between games and the TV shows you see at night, Alan Wake is told in 6 episodes (plus 2 "specials" as DLC) that act like a TV thriller. While there is gameplay and having to move Alan safely through the story, he also narrates everything including his motives and thoughts. The main gameplay revolves around the use of light sources. It's your saving grace to combat the supernatural darkness that is everywhere. Written by Sam Lake, five years in development, and lots of allusions to other horror media including explicit mention of Stephen King, Alan Wake is slightly underrated in that you hardly hear about the game these days anymore. It got very good reviews but didn't sell as well as it should have. There was a spinoff title on XBLA/PC called Alan Wake's American Nightmare which I might check out. As Halloween is about a month away, I thought this would be a good horror game to start out with this season. I'm not sure how long it took me to complete the game plus the two DLC specials but probably about 15 hours on "Normal" difficulty. I didn't get all collectables but most of them. The first DLC, "The Signal" was a free download via a code in the game's packaging but the second, "The Writer", cost $7 plus tax.
Alan Wake is a best-selling psychological thriller author but has been suffering from a two-year stretch of writer's block. He and his wife Alice travel to the Washington state mountain town of Bright Falls for a short vacation on the advice of Alice and his friend and agent, Barry Wheeler. Before arrival, Alan had a nightmare about shadowy figures who tried to harm him but an ethereal figure interrupted his dream and taught Alan how to use light to fight the shadows. On their arrival, Alan retrieves the keys and map to their rented cabin, unaware the woman supplying the keys wasn't the landlord. Alan and Alice arrive at a cabin on an island in the middle of Cauldron Lake. As they unpack, Alan finds that Alice arranged this trip to try to break his writer's block, scheduling him to see a Bright Falls psychologist named Dr. Hartman and leaving a typewriter in the cabin for him. Alan is infuriated and takes a short walk, but runs back when Alice cries for help. He returns to the cabin just as Alice is being dragged into the lake's waters by a mysterious force. Alan dives into the water after her, blacking out as he submerges. He regains consciousness a week later, apparently having driven his car off the road, but with no memory of how he got there. He starts to head back towards town, but his progress is hampered by shadowy figures that try to harm him. He remembers his dream and finds some pages of a manuscript scattered about. The manuscript is to a work called Departure with Alan's name as the by-line, but Alan cannot remember writing this. After a harrowing night in the forest, Alan reaches a gas station and calls the local sheriff's office. The next day, Alan tries to convince Sheriff Sarah Breaker that his wife has been kidnapped, but she asserts there hasn't been an island on Cauldron Lake for years, it having sunk after an earthquake. She suspects Alan of causing his wife's disappearance and contacts the FBI for help.
To see the game's opening of Episode 1 go here or below:
Click to viewPart 2 is here, Part 3 is here, and Part 4 is here to finish the first episode.
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Graphics/Art-9
+ Excellent graphics, animation, and lighting effects. The game is very atmospheric and kind of gives that uneasy feeling at times. The forests and natural settings are pretty genuine with plants and foliage rustling with the wind.
+ The cinematics are very good and well directed.
- Sometimes the slow-motion camera doesn't kick-in and enemies can hit you from off camera and behind. Cheap!
- The game mostly takes place in the forested mountains and while there is a little variety, more would have kept things interesting. The DLC specials help in this regard (you revisit certain places but it is twisted).
Sound/Music-9
+ There are quite a few licensed music tracks in this game (check music samples below)! The regular game soundtrack is pretty atmospheric too.
+ At the end of each episode, one of the licensed tracks plays - like before or during the end credits of a TV show. Pretty cool idea.
+ Voice acting is pretty good. Great sound effects and music cues.
- Barry was cliche and irritating. You know those annoying characters in horror movies that you can't wait to be murdered by the antagonist? Barry is it!
- You cannot hear footsteps of your enemies so they can take you by surprise and even hit you from behind for a cheapshot. Totally unfair.
Music Samples:
Roy Orbinson - "In Dreams"
Old Gods of Asgard - "Children of the Elder God"
Old Gods of Asgard - "The Poet and the Muse"
Harry Nilsson - "Coconut"
David Bowie - "Space Oddity"
Poets of the Fall - "War"
Poe - "Haunted"
Control-9
+ Pretty easy controls after a little practice.
- Sometimes I fumbled with the LB and RB buttons and their use. LB is for dashing with RB is for flares or flashbangs - but sometimes I got them switched.
Gameplay-8
+ You control the eponymous protagonist Alan Wake. In the game, a "darkness" is taking over humans, animals and objects. These enemies, dubbed the "Taken", are murderous shadows that attack Wake, wielding weapons of their own, ranging from mallets and knives to shovels and chainsaws. They vary by speed, size, and the amount of damage they can take, and some can teleport between short distances. Besides the Taken, you must combat flocks of possessed ravens and animated objects. When enemies are close, Alan can perform a slow-motion cinematic dodge maneuver.
+ The Taken are protected by a shield of darkness, initially rendering them impervious to attack; they can only be injured with a firearm after exposure to light, which burns the darkness away. This puts significant emphasis on flashlights in conjunction with conventional weapons, such as a revolver or shotgun. Flashlight beams act as a reticle. The handheld lights Wake can carry can be boosted, which destroys the darkness faster, but also reduces the light's battery level. Besides the conventional shooter gameplay need for reloading ammunition, the player must also insert fresh batteries into the flashlight when they run out, or wait for it to recharge slowly. The strength of the darkness protecting an enemy can vary among the Taken. The amount of darkness remaining is represented by a corona of light that appears when aiming at an enemy, and a stronger darkness may recharge over time. When a Taken is finally destroyed, it disappears.
+ You are often encouraged to take advantage of environmental light sources and placing, and to use other light-based weapons and accessories, such as flare guns, hand-held flares and flashbangs. Wake can use searchlights to take out massive waves of Taken. Streetlights and other light stands can provide a safe haven, which the Taken cannot enter, and will regenerate your health faster. Otherwise, health regenerates slowly with time, when not taking any damage. In certain sections of the game, it is possible to use a car to traverse between locations in Bright Falls. When in a car, you can run down Taken on the road (fun!), or boost the vehicle's headlights to destroy them.
+ A major element of gameplay is the optional discovery and collection of manuscript pages from Alan Wake's latest novel - Departure. Although Wake does not remember writing this book, its storyline seems to be becoming real around him. These readable manuscript pages are scattered around the game world, out of chronological order; they often describe scenes that have yet to occur and act as warning and instructions for proceeding through upcoming challenges. Other optional collectibles include coffee thermoses scattered around the game world (100 in all), as well as discovering television sets which show different episodes of the fictional Night Springs series (think of it as a Twilight Zone allusion), radios airing talk and music from Bright Falls' local radio station, and textual signs around the town. The radio shows and signs provide a deeper understanding of the town's history and culture. The game's downloadable content episodes introduce other collectibles such as alarm clocks and video games.
+ The DLC special episodes have the same gameplay but add some fun things for you to do.
- A lot of the areas are open with lots of dead-ends that you feel that going off the beaten, linear path nets you no rewards for taking the time to explore. Sometimes it does but most times it doesn't that you wander aimlessly around. It doesn't help that Alan runs out of breath quickly when he dashes so it doesn't feel as cumbersome. You would think after running so much in this game that his stamina would increase for later episodes and he can run for longer periods.
- The way the enemies gang up on you and seemingly having these advantages over you don't make sense: like running faster than you to catch up if you run away from them, their throwing weapons seem to almost always hit their mark - like it angles in mid-air slightly to hit you on purpose even though you moved out of the way in time, and bypassing your flashlight even though it is shining right in their face which should prevent close range attacks.
- Why can't Alan use melee attacks? The game is generous with ammo but having a pipe, crowbar, etc. would have been nice for backup (even the Resident Evil series gave you a knife!).
Gameplay videos go here, here, and here. To see the beginning of "The Signal" go here, and the "The Writer" go here.
Fun/Story/Misc-9
+ The game is fun and the story quite interesting. While I didn't feel scared, the atmosphere did create some feeling tenseness.
+ The DLC specials were actually quite fun too and worth the price. It would be nice if they were a little bit longer. I'm glad the first one was a free download (It might still be if you buy the physical copy for about $20 these days).
- Some variety in the enemies and environments would keep the game more interesting as it can feel repetitive at times. The forests are cool
Total: 44/50 (Grade Level: B+)
The Alan Wake website is here and contains info. Shockingly, I cannot find the Gametrailers.com video review for this game outside of American Nightmare! WTF? Did they review it and the video eventually pulled down or did they overlook reviewing it? Anyways, the Wikipedia article is here.
Next Game: SoulCalibur IV (PS3)
Currently playing: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS) & Dragon Warrior VII (PSone)
