Review: Alan Wake
In a time when games are churned out right and left in less time than it takes to walk the dog around the block, some titles like to take their time. Some even become legendary for their long turnaround time and some simply never materialize. Remedy's Alan Wake seemed destined to become one of the latter, but fortunately steps were taken to make sure it saw the light of day. Or the dark of night, as it were.
Alan Wake is a fine example of taking your time to create a product you are happy with despite the griping of press and fans to just "Get it done." It's not perfect by any means, but there is certainly a lot to like here. And it's clear that the folks at Remedy put a lot of love into a game that draws liberally from many sources including Twin Peaks, Stephen King, and Clive Barker. But even in all its borrowing from varying sources, Alan Wake still manages to be its own unique game.
The plot is simple enough and seems as if it could have sprung directly from the mind of Stephen King. In fact the plot shares many similarities to King's The Dark Half and King himself is quoted in the game's opening moments.
Alan Wake is a novel writer who is plagued by writer's block. In an attempt to get past it, he travels with his wife, Alice, to the great North West and the town of Bright Falls for a bit of R & R. Once there, Alice is kidnapped by forces unknown and his attempt to find her encompasses the main gameplay. Of course, in Bright Falls, nothing is quite as it seems and Wake finds himself following the plot of a novel that he himself has penned yet can't remember actually writing. The pages of this manuscript can be found scattered around the town and become one of the game's collectibles.
Where Alan Wake really shines is at night. Most of the game's levels or "Episodes" take place in the dark with only a few lighted areas to guide you on your way. You are armed with a flashlight and weapon pick ups include a revolver, various shotguns and rifles, flare guns and flashbangs. The flashlight is an important part of the combat as enemies who attack you are cloaked in darkness. Using the flashlight, you must burn away the darkness and once it is gone, go at them with your weapon of choice. Weapons that include both light and a killing element, like the flare gun and flashbang, are particularly effective when you find yourself surrounded by enemies.
Being surrounded by enemies on all sides seems to be a particular favorite device of the Remedy team. While I thoroughly enjoyed the "burn and shoot" method of dispatching the enemy, it was often difficult to fight without being blindsided from the back or side. And the rather clumsy dodge mechanic doesn't really help matters. More often than not you'll find yourself running smack into an approaching enemy while trying to doge from the axe wielding maniac in front of you.
The enemies themselves are rather disturbing and provide a lot of the game's tension and scares. Characters who were normal in earlier parts of the game return in their darkness forms, spewing lines of dialogue they used in life to chilling effect. Couple these with your random axe and chainsaw carrying scary lumberjack types and you've got quite the scary fight on your hands. In some cases, your enemies will even be inanimate objects, controlled by poltergeists. It's hard to make it through that abandoned coal mine with refrigerators and electrical cable spools flying at you right and left. And don't get me started on that giant, killer tractor. Yikes!
As with most games that are in development for an extended period of time, Alan Wake shows its age in a few places, most particularly in the area of the cut scenes. At a time when character models are becoming more and more advanced, Alan Wake's characters often seem to have that vacant look behind the eyes and mannequin-like faces that recall the early Silent Hill games. This rather detached look worked well for the SH franchise, but doesn't quite do the same for Wake. It's hard to really feel for a character when they have the look of the weird zombie children of The Polar Express.
The daytime scenes in Alan Wake are similarly stunted. So much love and attention has been paid to the night time scenes that the daytime environments seem to have been cheated a little. Some of it is acceptable but some of it is just downright unacceptable for a "now gen" title. In some places you might feel as if you've been thrown back on to an original Xbox game.
However, for all its flaws, Alan Wake is a solid title. Its good elements far outweigh the bad and when it's on, it really hits the target. The plot, writing and action are all spot on which is what you want from a heavily story driven game. And while the odd ending may leave you with more questions than answers, you will feel a certain sense of satisfaction is finishing the 14+ hour title. To dismiss Alan Wake based on it's few flaws would be a mistake, this is a game that needs to be played. If Remedy can address the few bumps in the Alan Wake road, the way could be paved for a really spectacular sequel.
Fruit Brute
Posted to Hot Stuff, Reviews, Video Games on 10 May 2010
· Comments (1)
Other stuff like this: alan wake, microsoft, remedy, xbox
I didn't have much desire to play this game but now I will have to pick it up. I'm a sucker for a good story-driven game.