Alan Wake is a unique and immersive survival horror game, that's worth checking out
Alan Wake isn't your typical video game hero. Alan Wake is a famous novelist that's had a bad case of writers block for the past two years. At the peak of this writers block Alan decides to take a vacation with his wife Alice to the small mountain town of Bright Falls. It's not long after he arrives that things go sour and Alan finds that a week has passed by and he can't remember any of it. On top of that Alice is missing, and it all appears to be because of the work of his latest novel, which he can't remember even writing.
Alan Wake's story has many twist and turns, which makes it really hard to predict. The story is very well done and will keep you interested throughout. But the story-telling in the game is also excellent. As you play through the game, Alan narrates everything that is happening as if it's coming straight from the novel itself. If you want to get even more story details, you can pick up pages from the novel, that ether foretell events in the story, or go into greater detail on events that have already happened.
The storytelling goes beyond this. Strangely enough you'll find TVs all around Bright Falls. On many of the TVs you'll find a TV show called Night Springs. Night Springs is Alan Wake's version of the Twilight Zone. These are all entertaining, and while they don't exactly draw direct links to the game's story, they do have very interesting connections. There are more TVs around Bright Falls that give more insight to the game's story. As if that weren't enough, there are also radios that are spread throughout the game that have talk shows on them that go into detail about events going on while you're in Bright Falls.
The biggest theme in Alan Wake is light against darkness. As Alan Wake you will walk through dark woods to achieve your goals. At night, it appears that darkness has literally taken over just about everything in Bright Falls. While walking through the woods you'll be able to see the impressive lighting that has been done here. The lights and shadows look unlike anything you've ever seen in a video game before. This lighting creates an intense and creepy atmosphere, which makes fighting the games enemies even more terrifying, since they have no trouble finding you in the dark. This is a very atmospheric game world, which will suck you in and it'll be hard to leave.
The theme of light and darkness also works its way into the game play. Throughout most of the game, you'll carry a flashlight. This is arguably the most important item in the game. The enemies in Alan Wake are covered in darkness, so you will have to use your flashlight to weaken the enemies in the game. Once you uncover the darkness, you can finish them off with whatever gun you're holding. You can also use power generators, flash bangs, and anything that creates lights to use on your enemies. Using the light has a strong feel to it, and finishing off enemies feels powerful.
While the game play is really satisfying, it is also the game's weak point. For most of the game the combat is intense and fun. But there isn't a great variety in the enemies, which also means there isn't a great variety in the combat. For the twelve hour story, you'll only fight about four different types of enemies. This leads to the combat feeling like it's just dragging on by the end of the game. Luckily the story is good enough that you'll want to keep on playing anyway.
As a game, Alan Wake is intense and really fun. But as an experience Alan Wake is amazing. This is an incredibly atmospheric and intense game that's hard to put down. While the game play may not be the game's strong point, it's still great fun. For anyone looking for a new and unique horror game, Alan Wake is a game that should not be missed.