A game that took nearly half a decade to make and actually lives up to it's hype.
I've had my eyes fixed on this game since it was announce all them years ago -being a big fan of the development team behind this game, it was an easy assumption that my expectations for this were high. After the constant delays i got a little worried, but i should have known better, shouldn't i?
This game is an absolute treat to play. It's tense, inovative and above all: great fun to play. You play as Alan Wake: a sucessful writer on the edge of a break-down. So decides to go to the sunny town of 'Bright falls' to left off some steam. But things quickly take a turn for the worst when Alan finds she has fallin into the lake. Alan jumps after her, and next thing he know's, he's in a crashed car and has lost a week of his life, and he finds out a horror story he's wrote is coming to life.
I've been reading up on alot of reviews on this game, and many (including gamespot) think the story is a little to close to the safe zone. In a way i agree with them, but there's no denying the story is highly engrossing. I also found the ending a fitting way to wrap things up.
Gameplay is great. Using light as your weapon: you weaken your enemy with the light, then when there weak you shoot them. The controls are a dream, things feel really natural to pull off. And when the enemy attacks there's a dodge button that when sucessfully pulled off, gives you a cool slo-mo effect. They put in a few driving section's that break up the gameplay nicely, but the majority of the game is the tense action. When your fighting several enemy's at once your ar*e begins to twitch: because you have to weaken your enemy with the light first, while hoping not to get a sickle to the face.
Graphics: There stunning. Probably the best lighting effects i've ever seen. Character models are brilliant and the background scenery is jaw-dropping. 9.
Sound: One thing Remedy do extremely well, is a great selection of brilliant voice-actors and a brilliant dialogue. Think Max Payne's dialogue and your in the right direction. 9.5
Gameplay: Brilliant pacing, great controls and very tense gameplay. With a load of charasmatic characters -Barry in particular is brilliant. 9
Sh*te Box: A little on the easy side. Even on the harder difficulties.
Replay Value: Tons of things to collect in the game that will bring you back to it. But even if it didn't, you would just for the great game in general.
Overall: It's rare a game that takes this long to make ends up being good. But Remedy pulled it off. It's innovative, fun, tense, thrilling and well worth the wait. If you like your films, books, games like Twin peaks, Silent hill, H.p Lovecraft/ Stephen King. Then look no further.