A labour of love by developer Remedy for well over half a decade, Alan Wake could most simply be described as an incredibly solid 3rd person survival horror game. However what separates Alan Wake from its survival horror contemporaries and in fact most of the games from this year are its storytelling and presentation. The story of Alan Wake revolves around the vacationing horror fiction writer Alan Wake who must face a world of his own creation, as the terrifying events happening in Bright Falls are from a book he hasn’t even written yet.
A dark presence in the town has kidnapped his wife and enslaved the townspeople, turning them into murderous shadowy monsters by night. Alan’s weapons are sources of light – flashlights, lanterns, flares, etc to drive the darkness away so he can dispatch each enemy and make his way forward. It’s a unique (and beautiful) gameplay mechanic that requires a lot of tense strategy to make it from one lit refuge to another, especially on higher difficulties. You might think twice about walking through the woods at night again.
Alan Wake gives much reverence to horror fiction and television and is presented in that very fashion. They way in which each episode begins with a “Previously on Alan Wake” recap then builds its action and story to a show-ending cliffhanger and ending song is right out of a show like Twin Peaks or Lost. The game is full of excellent characters and writing to drive the story as you discover the many little stories of Bright Falls. Amazing use of atmosphere and foreshadowing, light and darkness as well as sound and inventive level design draws the player in hard and doesn’t easily let go. As much as the Uncharted games might make one feel as if they are playing a big budget adventure movie, Alan Wake makes you feel you are playing an episode of a creepy horror television show, perhaps more so. It is a game well deserving of its spot on Sidequesting’s Top Ten Games of the Year list.
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