Alan Wake - A Remedy Game

Alan Wake is a game which was five years in the making and is the spiritual predecessor to Remedy's previous title - Max Payne. Five years in the making has kept many fans anticipating the release of the game excitedly and thus led to a huge amount of hype for it to live up to. Lets see if it satisfied those fans...

Firstly, id like to say i was not really bothered about this game before its release, i saw it as a rip off of Silent Hill and something we'd all played before in titles such as Silent Hill and Resident Evil. I eventually gave in to boredom with my current games and bought this and heres my two cents now ive finished the game:

Graphics:



Remedy have done an absolutely fantastic job in creating Bright Falls. The whole place feels organic and lived in with subtle touches such as rusting tractors and litter in the streets all adding to the sense that this place is alive. You actually feel as if you're in a real town and the supporting characters strewn throughout the town add to this sense of immersion in the environment. The character models are ok, characters clothes move with the breeze and the action animations look brilliant. My only gripe with the character models is that the faces of most characters are devoid of any expression and the synching of the speech with mouth movements misses by a mile. As you'd imagine, due to the nature of the game, the lighting effects are stunning, Light dapples through the canopy of the forest and streetlamps exude a brightness rarely seen in a game. This is extremely evident when weather casts a murk over the town and beams of light trickle through the clouds and create some brilliantly scenic vistas. Water plays a big part in the game also and the water effects are, again, great.

8/10

Story:



Theres not a lot i can say about the story without spoiling it for people but i will provide a brief background. Alan Wake is a famous writer who has writers block and hasnt written anything for a year or so. He and his wife, Alice, decide to take a vacation to Bright Falls in an attempt to inspire Alan and allow him to write again. Upon arrival at Bright Falls everything seems idyllic, the people are friendly and the local Deerfest is coming up. Things take a turn for the worst when Alice, who is afraid of the dark, disappears without a trace and Alan must take matters into his own hands to rescue her from the darkness.

This story is supported with some fantastic NPC's, my favourite of which is Barry who provides some welcomed comic relief, and the voice acting is well done and believeable and helps add character to the lesser people in the narrative. Remedy have not shyed away from their influences such as Twin Peaks, Max Payne, The Twilight Zone etc and this is shown through slow motion pieces a la Max Payne's bullet time and an in-game TV show called 'Night Springs' which includes paranormal tales, all of which are worth watching and add an extra layer to the gameplay.

The ending does leave something to be desired but i can completely see why Remedy chose such an ending as sequels will inevitably be developed...

9/10

Gameplay:



The combat in Alan Wake is intuitive and fluid. Its a simplistic combat system but it works extremely well within the game. The shadow figures that hunt Alan in the darkness have a sort of shield which makes the invulnerable. You have to use light to break this shield through the use of torches, flashbangs and flares and then fill them with lead to down them for good. Weapons are varied enough to keep combat interesting and restricted enough to learn the nuances of each over the course of the game. Light is your main combat tool though and there are times where youll be scrambling for cover as you desperately attempt to reach some flares. All of this adds up to a fluid and responsive system which works well. My only gripe with the combat is the camera as the often wooded environments you find yourself in sometimes block your view and lead to you being whacked with an axe...

8/10

Achievements:



The achievements in Alan Wake are completely doable. Most of them are story related 'Kill boss X' 'Find person Y' etc but there are the dreaded collectible related achievements which can be a pain without a guide. I used an online guide and managed to find all collectibles on my first playthrough plus finishing the game on hard and completing the smaller achievements that require combat elements to be fulfilled and my GS on the game stands at 840G's with 4 left to unlock. There is a higher difficulty level to be accessed after a playthrough of one of the lower ones which adds a handful more collectibles and an extra difficulty achievement but i cant see me doing another playthrough as the suspense of playthrough one will be gone and the story will no longer be as engaging. There are also a few tougher achievements which require you to not shoot on a certain level, progress from place X to place Y in under 30 mins and complete section without dying. I have only done the not shooting one but all are worth 30G's and i should imagine very doable on the easiest difficulty as the game allows you to return to chapters on any difficulty after completion.

A full list of achievements can be found here: Achievement List

Achievement Difficulty: 6/10

Conclusion:

While i had no previous expectations for this game i did inevitably catch some of the hype through the magic of the internet and whilst i was sceptical i can say i am glad i bit the bullet and played this game. It kept me engaged and gave a much needed break from the cliche'd stories usually found in games of this age. Its an atmospheric game at heart which offers the odd laugh and fright but doesnt try too hard to do either of these things which is a good thing. Its a self aware title that acknoledges its influences and executes itself very well. If you're a fan of survival horror games or writers such as Stephen King then i urge you to play this game. You wont regret it.

Verdict:

8/10

Good review . Makes me want to play it even more now...

I cant wait to get started on mine - im a fan of the atmospheric genre favs being Silent Hill etc. I have my copy at home - just need to max out Splinter Cell first

Good Review

nice work fella

another to buy

\o/

Nice review mate, I did have this on pre order but I cancelled it as I have so many games to play at the minute its on my list of games to buy when they go a bit cheaper and I'm bored with my current ones

Thanks guys it's great you guys read these especially when coming from someone who's not on the review team (yet)

Good work mate, I will consider you for an official review based on your work here.

Thanks Kent

I used to write reviews of games/films/CDs for the uni media mag for some extra curricular experience and I really enjoy doin them so I'm game for anything

You beat me to it by a couple of hours.

Good review though.

I've been playing this lately and I'm loving it!..the story is pretty good and makes you feel like you are part of a thriller series!

The DLC is good too as is the XBLA title but I'm an unashamed Alan Wake fan!!