Alan Wake

It's finally here. Fans of Remedy's former masterpieces and of story-driven thriller games have been waiting for a development cycle spanning into the last generation for the adventure of the eponymous writer to make his journey not just into the night but into the inner workings of his mind, coming alive before his eyes in a psychological horror/shooter crossover that is bound to make you think as much as it gets your heart racing. If you like your games with beautifully written storylines, gorgeous visuals and that spark of originality in the gameplay, then look no further - Remedy Games have quite frankly done it again.

It's hard to describe the spot that Alan Wake manages to hit so well that makes it such a thought-provoking and, as the subtitle of the game suggests, thrilling experience. Storylines in games are rarely found so well crafted in games, and it would be easier to compare Alan Wake to a TV show like LOST or Heroes. What is happening to the protagonist (or protagonists) begins seeming supernatural and inexplicable, and often worrying, until the events slowly unwind during the course of the story and reveal bit by bit the whole truth, complete with shocks and cliffhangers all the way through. This is even shared in the format of the game, with it being broken up into six 'episodes' with roughly 50 minutes of gameplay in each; and every single one filled to the brim with action, emotion, mystery, and hidden clues for the player to find that may give extra back-story to characters and happenings.

Upon beginning the single player story, you are thrown right into the deep end in one of Alan's nightmares which, little does he know, is a foreshadowing of the events to come. Having given you this hook, Alan awakens to find himself entering Bright Falls which he is visiting on a holiday with his wife to get away from his busy lifestyle as an author, and it is here that the game then treats you to one its best features: the visuals. The setting is that of a mountainous lake district assumed to be in the Columbian/Alaskan area, and it is probably the most beautiful game world I have ever seen, taking full advantage of the Xbox 360's processing power to give its many vistas a crisp, warm feeling with incredible use of HDR rendering in daylight, and at night making your friendly torch pierce through the shadows in the most realistic way you'll have ever seen. After a short beginning which involves meeting some of the locals of Bright Falls, and you will certainly notice there is something eerily wrong with many of them, you are taken to the scene which kicks off the main story - the sudden disappearance of Alan's wife into the darkness after an argument. It's hard to explain much more, partly at the risk of spoilers but also because writing out the plot simply doesn't do justice to playing it out. Expect along the way to find the same things that made the stories in the Max Payne games feel so alive: appropriate TV shows to watch, things to pick up and read, answer messages to be listened to and messages on the walls that remind you that this isn't a troubled character going through an ordinary world, this is a troubled character going through a troubled world.

As the enemies you fight are shrouded in the darkness that possesses them and gives them their power, light is your friend. As such, the combat system is based on mixing shooting and the use of light combined. Generally speaking, the method of killing an enemy is to shine light on them until their 'darkness shield' is eradicated, leaving them vulnerable to conventional bullets. However, you won't just be using a torch. While throughout the game you can slowly upgrade your normal light source to heavy-duty torches and lanterns, you also have the use of flares, flare guns and flashbang grenades, and will have to make full use of environmental sources of light, including car headlights, streetlights and ultra-powerful searchlights. This adds a new dimension to the usual survival-horror shooting system found in games like Resident Evil, as it requires to think about both the ammo in your gun and the batteries in your torch, and how you can use your surroundings to your advantage. The result of this is often a frantic and frightening fight in the dark that doesn't just vividly describe Alan's plight against darkness but also humanity's general fear about what it cannot see.

It must be noted, however, that amongst all Alan Wake's strengths, the enemies are probably one of the weak points. The combat system is great, but when it comes to it, it will be a rinse and repeat process with enemies and the only real variation is their strength and what weapon you are using. There are some 'bosses', often in the form of huge inanimate objects or vehicles like bulldozers, but really these are just big enemies and usually only require more light to defeat them. With most of the bosses I encountered I could simply throw a couple of flashbangs and finish off with a torch within twenty seconds or so and this was a little disappointing. Also, while I found most of the characters to be completely unique and well scripted, their facial movements in cutscenes rarely did them justice, particularly with Alan's wife Alice, who I found difficult to actually want to find when she looked quite so stupid in cutscenes. This sounds odd but it really is hard to be sympathetic to a damsel in distress when their mouth hardly moves during sentences. This is especially annoying when contrasted with other characters, such as Doctor Hartman, who were superbly animated. Other small nitpicks I have with the experience were the relative ease of the game, and the length being just around 8 hours with no other game mode, though I understand more content is in the works, and with the standard of the current game I expect more incredible additions for the future.

Alan Wake is, simply put, another fine work of art in the gaming industry's exhibition. It rightly joins games such as Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain in terms of masterful story telling, and Half-Life 2 for its cutting-edge graphics. Any Xbox 360 owner who isn't completely multiplayer-oriented shouldn't hesitate to pick this up and witness what Remedy do best. 9/10.