A playable thriller that isn't much of a thriller.
As an action game, Alan Wake sticks with one game-play mechanic from beginning to end: Wander into the woods, always get ambushed by "taken" (possessed civilians) aim at them with the flashlight, soften then up them and finish them off with your gun. Pretty much this is it.
Basically you have to do the same pattern all the time: Always follow the opposite direction than the one that is indicated to pick up the collectibles, get ambushed by the taken and get back to the main path. Get ambushed again after two minutes. Search for the generator to get the power back, head for the fuse box, get ambushed by the taken, survive, switch on the lights. Keep going until the next ambush and the next fuse box.
Brief cinematic sequences with Wake's nightmares and hallucinations give you a nice short break from the action. At the beginning of each chapter, and often after some cut-scene, you start having lost all your equipment and ammunition. There are short driving sections too.
The environments are beautifully designed and atmospheric, but you will soon get a feeling of deja vu after the first couple of hours. Basically there are three of them: the woods, rural environment and country side civilian buildings. The enemies that you encounter are the typical slow moving easy target, the macho guy that takes several shotgun bullets to kill, the stealth enemy and "poltergeists". (flying objects controlled by the evil)
As a psychological thriller, at least that's how it was promoted by its makers, for anyone that has played Silent Hill, Resident Evil, or Project Zero, or has watched some classic horror films, this game isn't much of a thriller really. It tries to create a spooky atmosphere with the darkness effects and the shadowy enemies, but what kind of a thriller is this if you can always predict the exact time and place that the enemies will "suddenly "appear?
Story and characters' development have an interest, and that was my main motivation to keep playing the game despite the somewhat flat gaming experience. Nice graphics always help too.
As a conclusion I wouldn't say Alan Wake is a bad game. It has its good moments and it is player friendly, as long as you don't have big expectations from it.