Remedy brands Alan Wake as a "Psychological Action game", and I think that's an important distinction to make right off the bat - it is not, strictly speaking, a "Survival Horror" game in the vein of Silent Hill or Resident Evil. Can it be scary? Oh yes, it certainly can be - especially when playing alone in the dark at night. Are you constantly fighting for your life with ammunition at a premium? Most certainly not. And while the game certainly can be scary, it isn't always. Sometimes it's downright funny.
This is not a bad thing.
People who go into the game expecting "Survival Horror" (and everything that genre entails) seem to be disappointed by Alan Wake - but that's not the type of game Alan Wake ever claimed to be. What it IS, though, is a third-person shooter action game presented with a strong, psychological thriller narrative - and that narrative is key. Alan Wake is presented in the format of a television show, divided into six "episodes". Each episode chronicles more of Alan's journey to the heart of the bizarre occurrences in Bright Falls. During the day, Alan meets with townspeople and struggles to make sense of the situation he's found himself in; at night, he struggles against dark forces and the shadowy figures he comes to know as "the Taken". The writing is very strong, and it's key from the beginning that the story is paramount in this game. Although the plot itself is presented seriously, there is just enough comic relief present in the game that it maintains a nice balance of not being TOO scary, while never having so much humor that it disrupts the storytelling.
Combat in the game is twofold: because the Taken cannot be damaged normally, you must first use your flashlight to weaken their defenses. Pointing yourself and your flashlight at a Taken with the right analog stick will begin to wear it down, while "focusing" your beam with the left trigger will wear it down faster and cause it to stagger. Boosting your beam with this focus will cause your flashlight's battery to drain, however; you can find batteries scattered around at times, and in addition, the flashlight will slowly recover a small amount of battery power over time. After a Taken has had enough light on it, the shadows surrounding it will dissipate, and you will be able to damage it with your gun. In addition to a pistol, you can find shotguns, hunting rifles, flareguns, road flares and flashbang grenades to help you combat the forces of darkness. Using the right bumper, you can dodge enemies' attacks at the right moment, and you can sprint for limited periods of time with the right bumper. One of the nicest touches of the combat system is the brief "cinematic" slow-motion moments you'll sometimes encounter. It can happen as you dodge an enemy attack at just the right moment (giving you a moment to celebrate a slick maneuver) or also as a Taken sneaks up from behind for a potential ambush (giving you a moment to react and ready your flashlight).
The graphics look top-notch, and the characters themselves are very believable. The only aspect of the graphics which could've been refined are the facial movements in the game, particularly mouth movements when speaking. It can be distracting - nothing on the level of a bad Godzilla dub - but is disconcerting given the amount of detail put into the graphics and animations everywhere else.
Also amazing is the music in the game - with a gorgeous score composed by the accomplished Petri Alanko, as well as a marvelous selection of fitting licensed music (usually heard on the various radios in the game or as each episode's unique "ending theme"). I'm grateful to have gotten the Limited Edition which came with the partial soundtrack to the game, as the included songs are really wonderful, and I only wish they'd included a full soundtrack with the complete score and licensed tracks!
I've played through the game to completion on the Normal difficulty, and I genuinely felt that it was an amazing experience. The mythos and background of the setting and characters is fascinating, and the Alan Wake Files book and Bright Falls miniseries go a long way to show Remedy has something big in mind for Alan Wake as a whole. With inspiration from things like David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" and the writings of Stephen King, Alan Wake crafts a brilliant thriller that keeps players both on the edge of their seat and wanting to press onward to see what happens next.
9/10 - Highly Recommended
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