29.5.2012

Alan Wake is a successful novelist suffering from writer's block. He and his wife, Alice, take a holiday to Bright Falls, Washington, and rent a cabin on an island in the middle of a volcanic lake. When Alice 'surprises' Alan with a typewriter, hoping he'll feel inspired to start writing again, Alan becomes angry and storms out. He hears his wife screaming, only to find the cabin and the island have disappeared. Apparently the island was destroyed in a volcanic eruption in 1970. Wake discovers he has somehow lost a week, and keeps finding pages from a new novel he's been writing called Departure in which he himself is the protagonist. As shadowy creatures attack him and TV shows seem to reflect his state of mind,Wake must discover whether he has gone insane and attempt to track down his missing wife.Alan Wake is the creation of Finnish developers Remedy, best-known for their superlative work on the first two Max Payne games. Like the Max Payne games, Alan Wake is strongly based around a central protagonist and emphasises his character development throughout the game, giving the player more of a connection to their character and his fate. Unlike Max Payne, Alan Wake is not purely an action game. It also employs elements of survival-horror, adventure games and exploration to create something that is hard to classify. This gives the game a unique mood and feel to it, but also makes it hard to market and resulted in initially disappointing sales (although, thanks to the highly successful PC version, the game has now sold more than 2 million copies and a sequel is likely).The game is divided into six distinct episodes (with two more included with the PC version and available to optionally download for the X-Box 360) and structured like a TV mini-series. Each episode opens with Alan recapping the story so far and ends with a different song, usually on a cliffhanger. Each episode is usually divided into two sections, a daytime one where Alan investigates what's going on by talking to people and exploring the backstory, and a night section when Alan has to achieve some goal whilst under attack by the 'dark presence', a shadowy force which can animate objects and possess people using clouds of darkness.The daytime sections are, disappointingly, free of choice. You can't choose Alan's dialogue and are on rails for most of these sections as people talk to you and explain what's going on (or not, in most cases). You can move around and sometimes find bonus items for use later, but there's a limit to your freedom in these sections. For those who become hooked by the game's intriguing, Twin Peaks-lite storyline, this will be fine. For those itching to get to the actual gameplay sections, these parts of the game may feel tedious (although they're usually pretty short, and we get to the action relatively quickly).The bulk of each episode is the section set at night, during which time Alan has to fight off enemies. He can use a torch to burn away the dark presence from opponents and then destroy them with conventional firearms (oddly, the idea of finding some way of freeing people from the presence rather than killing them outright is never discussed, even when major characters are possessed). His torch can also be used to destroy possessed flocks of bird and animated everyday objects outright. Oddly, the torches in Bright Falls all have an 'intense light' mode that burns out the batteries, but will recharge if left alone (and the standard light setting doesn't use batteries at all, in contravention of the laws of physics). These mechanics result in a lot of scenes where Alan is running through the wood at night alone and having to intelligently combine his resources (lights, weapons, special weapons like flare guns which can take out entire groups of enemies) to fight off opponents. This could risk becoming repetitive, but new weapons, enemies and ideas are introduced steadily to vary things up so it never becomes boring. For example, Alan is joined by allies late in the game who fight alongside him and can provide light and weapons support from a search-and-rescue helicopter.The game is reasonably well-written (a few clunking lines aside) and has some knowing nods at the genre, with Wake starting off by warning us that good stories don't always have fully comprehensible endings. This seems to be Remedy covering their backsides in advance, but in fact the storyline and ideas behind what's going on seem pretty straightforward. Their impact in the world is often weird, sure, but it all hangs together quite well. The characters are well-realised, ranging from Alan's agent and primary ally Barry (who is occasionally annoying, but also has some amusing ideas) to the ageing ex-rock stars whose farmhouse, studio and pyrotechnic equipment can be combined into one of the game's most impressive set pieces. Alan himself can be a bit whiny at times, but given what a bad couple of weeks he's having, this is understandable. More amusing is that Alan (and his more OTT fans) has an opinion of his popular crime fiction (that it's Serious Literature) which seems to be somewhat at odds with what we see of it (which is Average Cheese). The voice acting is overall very decent as well, with Alan's internal monologuing (which occasionally threatens to go all Max Payne on us, but just about holds off) summing up what's going on quite well.The game is overall engrossing and enjoyable, with a good pace to events. It also has a great amount of content. After Max Payne 2's borderline-embarrassing 5 hour length, Alan Wake by itself clocks in at around 12 hours with another 3 hours on top for the optional extra episodes. It missteps a few times, however. Alan has a number of character animations which cannot be skipped, sometimes leading to unnecessary deaths where you're hammering the controls to fight off a horde of the possessed (or 'Taken' in the game's parlance) and all Alan is doing is ducking his head and waving his arms uselessly. The concluding section of the main game (Episode 6) and the second of the 'special' episodes also go on for way too long, with combat sequence after combat sequence that ultimately becomes tedious. The fact that the ending is sequel-baiting is to be expected (what isn't, these days?), but there is also a lack of closure to several other character arcs outside of Alan's experiences, which is disappointing. In addition, the optional episodes taking place entirely within the 'dark place', meaning that the laws of reality can be dropped altogether, may results in some excellent and inventive set pieces but this also results in the situation where you may find yourself not caring too much, if none of it is 'real' on the game's own terms.Still, Alan Wake (****) is overall a very strong title. It's richly atmospheric, with excellent graphics and music. The story is interesting and, for a computer game, rather different and original. The combat is satisfying, if occasionally frustrating, and despite the weird and offbeat storyline most things are explained and make sense. The PC version features vastly superior graphics and control options and, as it also includes the two extra episodes for free, gets an extra half-star from me. The game is available now via Steam and in the UK (PC and X-Box 360) and USA (PC and X-Box 360).

8.6.2012

I am not a massive fan of linear, repetitive, mindless shoot 'em up games with no real story, no character development, and obvious lack of effort by game developers to rush something out to the shelves in order to make a quick sale.Alan Wake is none of the above.I happened upon this game accidentally, while looking for other XBOX games for my new console. It was a suggested title after researching Deadly Premonition, which apparently has hints of inspiration from the TV series Twin Peaks, one of my all-time favourite TV shows. After further research, I find out that the same is said for Alan Wake.From the start of the game, you are thrown into a kind of compulsory tutorial in the form of a dream sequence,giving you a hint of what you will be facing throughout the course of your adventure. This gives you an idea of how to handle the combat scenarios and how to deal with your surroundings in general.The characters that you soon go on to meet are all extremely diverse - cliché small town American inhabitants, but diverse and interesting nonetheless. Stay on your guard though, some will have your best interests at heart - others will not.The primary focus of the game is the search for Alice, Alan's wife who disappears under mysterious circumstances, and the game's developers have done a great job in making sure that you actually care about your main goal, by adding enough character traits that make you warm to her, and by adding enough mystery and intrigue surrounding her disappearance.The game comes in episodic format, a six-part adventure which feels like you're playing part in a TV mini-series. The wonderful result of this means that there are often gripping cliffhangers at the end of each part. After playing an "episode" to the end, with the intention of coming back to the next one later, I found myself glued to the game and playing it well into the next part.There are a number of high adrenaline scenes, which really do get your heart pumping, as you are surprised by one enemy, or relentlessly attacked by several. Playing this game by night, with the lights off, is not for the faint hearted, but is guaranteed to increase the atmospheric impact.The only minor problem I would be bold enough to note is that the battle sequences can sometimes become a little repetitive, and you may find yourself longing for the respite of daylight. What would have made this game perfect in my eyes would have been the addition of more puzzles to solve along the way. However, there are enough variants of enemy to keep the fight scenes interesting, and enough different weapon types to give you a variety of ways to defend yourself against the hordes of mysterious attackers.Overall, Alan Wake is an inventive, well written, imaginative, creepy, and fascinating adventure with stunning graphics and an outstanding soundtrack. I urge anyone who is interested in this genre to grab their copy immediately. After researching this game before purchase, I was so confident that I was going to enjoy it that I bought the Limited Collector's Edition. There is also a Prima guide available to help you along, and avid collectors may be more interested in the two-book bundle version, which comes with an extra book detailing background information behind the five year development of this excellent game.As with all popular releases, further merchandise is available, such as a book based on the game, and the full length eighteen track soundtrack available on CD. The CD that comes with the Limited Collector's Edition of the game is only ten tracks long, and gives you a mere taster. The same can be said for the soundtrack CD that comes with the Limited Edition of the PC version of Alan Wake, which is only thirteen tracks long.Alan Wake is a game that will keep you coming back for more, and after completion, you'll want to play it again, possibly on one of the higher difficulty settings if you're feeling masochistic. The two downloadable content episodes add further depth to the story (The first one is available free with the Limited Edition Pack for XBOX, and both are available free with the Limited Edition for PC), and the recent release of the stand-alone game Alan Wake's American Nightmare, makes me think that there are still many more good things to come from the world of Alan Wake.

13.5.2010

After a very long wait, Alan Wake has finally been released and i am really pleased to say, it has been worth all the time in development - which is an achievement in itself considering it was first announced back at E3 2005! Don't get me wrong though, it isn't a perfect game by any means but has lots and lots going for it.First of all, the storyline is something that grabs you straight away through Alan and his wife arriving in the sleepy town of Bright Falls. Alan is a writer but has been suffering from writers block for the last two years. He has come to Bright Falls to get away from the pressure of his work, and to enjoy being with his wife.But straight away you are thrust into a thriller-type plot line,when his wife disappears and Alan is left to fend for himself. For at night, monsters live in the darkness and the only means Alan has to defend himself, comes in the form of light - be it a torch, flare, or even a lamplight! These will weaken enemies, to the point where a gun can finish them off.The plot then starts to pick up as you find missing pages to a novel, written by Alan seemingly - that he can't remember writing, but is coming true! There are clues left dotted all over the place in the form of missing pages that can be collected to help piece the mystery together.And that is all i want to say on the plot, as i think it is worth experiencing all the twists and turns for yourself.The game plays very well and the in-game graphics are top notch - especially the way the whole thing is lit. You really do feel immersed in your environment with the shadows leaping out at you, and from time to time you feel yourself spinning round wildly with the torch to try and track down any noise you imagine you have heard. Alan is rendered nicely, as are the other characters and enemies you encounter.The music is very atmospheric too, and compliments the story, gameplay and 'feel' of the game really well.There is a good pace to the game too. There is lots of action fighting the monsters of darkness, and then it is broken up with some character interaction and more plot developments, which is all good - it doesn't get too frenetic in the action segments, nor does it slow down too much in the quieter moments. The game comes in chapters too, which makes it feel episodic and gives you the feeling that you are part of the action, and that each cliffhanger in the plot wants you to play on that bit longer.The controls are simple to pick up, and easy to master - and you will have to master them pretty quickly. And this simplicity makes the game great fun to play - other games have made their controls overcomplicated and this can sometimes ruin the enjoyment, whereas Alan Wake gets the balance just right.The extras within the game are good too - finding radios playing the local station, and televisions playing a weird programme called Night Springs (which is a cross between the Twilight Zone and Twin Peaks).A lot has been made of the games inspiration coming from Stephen King, and you can definitely feel the influence on the game, but Alan Wake doesn't take itself too seriously, or pay undue adulation to King - though to many fans of Stephen King there will be a few characters, locations and references that will be familiar. But for me that was all part of the enjoyment of the game.There aren't many bad points to this game, but one flaw is the fmv sequences and cut scenes. Some of them are not of too good a quality and are in some cases, worse than the ingame action. Couple this together with some of the worst lip-synching you will ever see in a game and you often think that the developers failed to put that final polish to this game.Having said that, it is a minor quibble in the context of a great game that is well put together, and is fun to play.Who is going to like this? Well, i was a huge fan of the Silent Hill series and this game feels very much like a Silent Hill game, with a Stephen King plot bolted onto it. And when i say it reminds me of a Silent Hill game, i mean it reminds of my favourite game in that series

14.3.2012

I love this game I bought it for 360 when it first released and enjoyed the atmosphere very much,so much infact that I am going to buy it again for my PC. I havent seen the PC version in action but in my opinion the 360 version still looks really nice with lots of lighting effects and fog that gives Alan Wake a really unique look eg it doesnt look like the typical unreal engine game. The combat has a unique spin from other games ,ie the enemies have been possesed by this force that is harmed by light. You have to shine your flashlight on them to harm the dark force before shooting them.If you shoot at them before chaseing the darkness they become bullet sponges.

5.1.2018

Wow what an a,amazing game. fans of Twin peaks and Steven king and Silent Hill etc will love playing this. The package is a master piece in itself. A lovely collectors item. It opens up and inside are the game DVD Rom and an Extras DVD and the soundtrack CD and inside a compartment there is another Bonus DVD and a novella sized book and the game manual and some post card things. Excellent value for the price.Now onto the game itself. The first level is the most gripping and frightening thing you will ever play and it will blow you away. The graphics are absolute;y increadible and life like. The game is set in this Twin peaks modeled town of Bright Falls.

19.3.2012

What is Alan Wake? I never played the console version and I remember being really disappointed when they dropped the PC support two years ago. Alan Wake for the PC is a game which delivers in every possible way though, making up for the wait. It is what you might expect it to be - an 3rd person action adventure game in the finest tradition of the genre. Games which come to mind: Silent Hill, Alone in the Dark, Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit). The story is compelling and original and will greatly appeal to Stephen King fans. I think the biggest benefit of getting this on the PC are the graphics. Although SLI support is still in the works (shame, but I'm sure Remedy will fix this soon in a patch [Update: SLI support available as of 20 March 2012)

17.7.2016

So I completed this game a few weeks ago. Doubtless if you've got this far you'll know what the game involves, but I'll add that it's a mix of shooting possessed axe-wielding humans and running from possessed objects. You use your torch to strip away the darkness and follow up with some lead from your trusty revolver. Granted, the game has a bit more variety than that, but it's what you'll be doing with most of your play time.The game has a dodge mechanic as opposed to a cover system as few of the enemies have ranged attacks. It generally works well with a nice slow motion effect as you dodge a knife at the last possible second, but it never feels overpowered.Generally the pacing is good,

21.5.2010

For the game itself i'm sure you have all read many positive reviews already and well deserving so because this game is a labor of love and it shows. Instead of focusing on the game i won't to speak about the actual Collector's Limited Edition since this is what's on sale here. This is by far the best C.E. of a game i have bought so far on the Xbox 360! Why? Firstly the quality of the items on offer and the attention to detail is incredible - trust me the official picture floating on the net does not do it justice at all. Inside the typical carton slip there is a superb looking thick book replica which serves as the C.E. case. The case looks and feels excellent and it has the Alan Wake logo on it embossed in silver.

21.3.2012

Alan Wake is a very good third-person shooter with a few nifty twists, made by the people behind the first two Max Payne games, Remedy. In many ways, not a lot has changed since Max Payne 2, so if you loved those games (as I did), you'll like this one. There are even smart little references to Max (I caught a couple, I bet there are more), and of course it has a cheesey title too.But here's the challenge - the weakest part of Max Payne was the dream sequences, and Alan Wake is one long dream sequence. It's impossible to know what is real and what is fictional, and even after I've finished the game I'm not completely sure... But what a dream! Well, nightmare.Alan Wake is a horror writer who turns up at an isolated town,

18.5.2010

A splendid edition for a fascinating game. Dealing with themes of identity, the line between fiction and fact, and creativity, this game filters them through tv shows like Twin Peaks, the novels of Stephen King, and throws in references to Edgar Allan Poe, amongst others, to great effect.Not intended to be seen as a shoot-em-up style game, this is one for adventurers who like a well-crafted puzzler of a plot, and rewards paying careful attention to the events therein. There are few puzzles, which in fairness is probably more realistic than otherwise, but the game packs absolutely loads of atmosphere, from the wind blowing through the trees, to the distant sound of crows circling overhead,

19.5.2010

Alan Wake it's one of the biggest masterpieces for XBox360 of all time. Incredible graphics, great soundtrack (included in this Collector's Edition), and a Story that will surround you.The graphics are really detailed: The landscapes are huge, the people are very realistic (even their clothes). May be the face expressions are not as good as the rest of the game, but are more than acceptable.The Story... now the story is one of the best you will ever experience. It will hook you up from the begining. Its a mixture of Stephen King with X-Files, from a certain point of view. And it takes that and mixes it with the best "surreal" moments from Max Payne,

19.7.2011

This is a really well thought out exclusive to the xbox 360, It has a well detailed story which you play the protaganist alan wake, now he isn't a war hero like mastercheif from halo who uses his guns and muscles to sovle the problems, alan is a normal writer who got mixed on in dark supernatural forces who uses his brain and his logic to tackle the dangerous tasks that lay before him.Gameplay..... 8/10The overall gameplay is fantastic,its a third person prespective so you can see things more clearly, but at times when you are playing on the harder diffcultiy it does get annoying when you are ganged up by enemys and the occasionally traps,

20.6.2014

A there are plenty of reviews of the game itself already published on here, I thought it might be useful if I add a short one confirming the differences between the two PC versions (as for me this is more than a little misleading here on Amazon).The so-called "Special Edition" is actually the "Standard" PC version for starters! (reminiscent of when new albums comes out and for some odd/annoying reason the record labels put a holographic "Special Edition!" sticker on the jewel case... when it's just the standard issue of the album inside!).Inside the "Special Edition" you get:- Game DVD-rom disc- Manual- Stickers sheet- Poster (approx. A3 size,

8.4.2012

This game is the best game I have ever played for multiple reasons. The graphics are stunning. The gameplay is fast paced and thrilling, occasionally making the player jump as an axeman made out of darkness screams something random e.g. 'Omega 3 is good for your heart' in a freaky voice as he smashes down a door in front of you when your not expecting it (its better than it sounds). The game also has some variety in gameplay, for example you can drive round in cars, use your torch on words (you will understand that if you play it) and a lot of other various gameplay elements. The game is the most polished game I've ever played with random entertaining pages/radio's/tv show's scattered around the game and from collecting those pages in the game,

22.4.2012

Remedy's Xbox Action thriller has made it to the PC. Writer Alan Wake travels to the Bright Falls (a fictional town in a scenic area of the US) with his wife Alice for a holiday. Soon after arriving at their cabin, strange events start to occur leading to the disappearance of Alice. From there Alan must find out what has happened to her. The game mostly takes place at night with some day time periods as part of the story.The graphics are very good and include some eerie special effects.The gameplay is quite original, involving shining your torch on the enemy to remove their dark shielding and then blasting them with the gun.

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