Alan Wake is probably best described as an action-adventure/psychological thriller; its a third-person shooter with elements of The Twilight Zone, The X Files and — perhaps most importantly – Twin Peaks. The game follows an author with writer’s block, the eponymous Mr. A. Wake, as he struggles to find his wife and wrap his head around a number of strange visions that plague him shortly after his arrival in the town of Bright Falls. Despite its strange premise, the storyline is brilliantly crafted and actually makes some weird kind of sense — it also leaves you wanting and asking questions, which is no doubt how Remedy intend to sell the upcoming DLC.

This is not a game you should ever consider playing if you are the least bit afraid of the dark.  Ever.  During the day, everything is fine — as Wake, you are able to explore Bright Falls and learn more about its inhabitants.  At night, however, everything changes and the very darkness itself comes alive, corrupting people and inanimate objects alike.

Oh Deer.

Oh Deer.

This is where Alan Wake‘s major game mechanic, using light as a weapon, comes into play; anybody “taken” by the darkness is protected from harm until you have worn down their defenses with your torch.  As simple as this sounds, it makes things very tense — even if your shotgun is full of ammo, it’s useless if your torch is out of batteries.  The only sensible alternative, running away, is of no use either; the darkness is everywhere.  Only in light can you be sure you won’t be ambushed.

The other thing that makes the game stand out is the manuscript pages that Wake is tasked with collecting.  The events that befall Wake eerily reflect his newest novel, which he doesn’t remember writing, and so these pages offer a glimpse of what’s going to happen next.  Removing the element of surprise sometimes makes a few of the game’s reveals less exciting, but mostly they increase suspense.  For example, one page ends with “… and then I heard the chainsaw”; with no way of telling when the chainsaw is coming, it’s difficult to relax.  It also encourages you to keep playing — though you know what is going to happen, you often don’t know why.

So where does it go wrong?  Well, Alan Wake‘s biggest fault is probably that it seemed to have been delayed forever.  For anybody who, like me, pre-ordered the game three years ago, there is absolutely no way that it will ever be able to live up to what it could/should have been. It is impossible to wait that long without developing unrealistic expectations.  There were a few things that got to me, but I’m probably being really picky…

The first complaint relates to one of the many diversions from the game’s main storyline, namely the ability to watch a series of Twilight Zone-esque programs called “Night Springs”.  These live action shorts are quite entertaining, but they don’t feel very polished.  For some unknown reason, Remedy employed two separate groups of people — voice actors and “likenesses” — which results in everything looking (and feeling) fake.  It is bad enough that the lip sync is out, but the fact that facial expressions do not match vocal delivery is impossible to ignore.

It’s also difficult to understand why the game both punishes and rewards you for exploration.  As mentioned previously, the darkness is everywhere, and straying too far off the beaten track usually results in an ambush.  When running low on ammo, or when growing bored of fighting, it’s often tempting to stick to the paths and run towards the next light. On the other hand, ammo caches, radios, TVs, coffee thermoses and manuscript pages are always well hidden; if you want to collect everything, you should be prepared to shine your light at every wall, explore every nook and cranny, and fend off more taken than you can shake a torch at.

Finally, I found myself growing increasingly annoyed with Alan’s inability to read his own manuscript pages with any believability.  As he is an author, I would have expected his story-telling skills to be a little better; it is unfortunate that each page is read in dull, monotone voice. Whether it be a prophetic revelation, suspenseful build-up or a shocking detail about his wife’s fate, Wake reacts in exactly the same way (ie not at all).

Despite these three points, Alan Wake remains enjoyable and, at times, shit-your-pants-on-the-edge-of-your-seat.  Furthermore, it seems as though it will have a great deal of replay value, as at least half of the manuscript pages can only be found on the Nightmare difficulty.  Having not read them yet, it is difficult for me to comment, but I imagine that they will offer more insight into the game’s events (and presumably its finale, to boot).

In short, this game is a definite must-have for anybody with a taste for the extra-ordinary.  The psychological thriller aspect may not be to everybody’s taste, however, so the uncertain should try before they buy.