So during my crazy game buying spree, my friend told me of a certain horror game that was a true gem. So, I decided to take his word for it and buy this game. And after that, I can assure you, I will never take game recommendations from my friend ever again. And this horror game classic is the game known as Alan Wake, a game that… well…. I find to be overrated.
I can already tell this game isn’t gonna have much just from the front cover alone. If you look at it, you will notice that this game says it is rated T for Teens. So I guess I won’t be seeing any underlying messages of murder and rape in this game, but oh well. So since it seems that I have already gotten myself one step closer to being publicly executed, let me say that there are some things about Alan Wake that I like. Hell, there are things about this game that I love. But then there are things about this game that I don’t like… And then… there are things that I hate. But first, let’s talk about the plot. The game follows renowned thriller writer, Alan Wake, a man who hasn’t been able to write another book in two years, and travels to the small town of Bright Falls for vacation with his wife, Alice. When they get to their cabin, Alice is taken by a sort of entity and Alan must do what he can to find her, but it seems that parts of the town, as well as something paranormal, is doing it’s best to stop him, and even use him in a sort of way. So, throughout the game, you must play as Alan Wake and do what you can to find out the truth and discover what is going on in Bright Falls. Now, I can start off this review with some of the positives, and those positives are that the story is really good. And I mean really damn good. It never feels cliched, it never feels dumb, and it always manages to surprise me and it always seems to come up with unique kinds of ideas that I never thought were possible. So, hey, I gotta say that the story is good. And I’ll come back to the story soon, so don’t worry. We’ll talk more about it later on.
Another thing I like about this game are the characters. It could have just been a group of bland characters that only exist to be killed off, but they really put effort into these characters and make them believable and enjoyable. Alan could have just been a cold main character, but he manages to have a variety of emotions, even though his constant monologuing of things can get silly at times. I like how his personality changes throughout the story. His intentions are good, his character is very believable and how he goes about the nightmares that go on in the game are so good. He’s easily one of the better protagonists in horror games. Barry, Alan’s agent and best friend, is also pretty good. He sure as shit ain’t Barry Burton, but he manages to get things done. Also, his banter sometimes is kinda funny, and he is never annoying, but I can see some people getting bothered by him. But at least he is able to hold his own sometimes. Sarah the town sheriff could have just been any old sheriff in a horror game. Constantly ignore and antagonize the main character, but she manages to be much more believable and actually have good reasons to, while not antagonize, but disagree with Alan. I remember first seeing her and thinking, “Oh boy, how is this character gonna be a huge detriment to everything”, but was happily surprised to see how good she was. Then again, the asshole authority figure probably went to the FBI agent, who would constantly yell and even attempt to murder Alan. Even when he was unarmed. Especially when he was unarmed. The only character I didn’t find too interesting was Alan’s wife, Alice. She really was just there to give Alan a reason to be in the story. All she really did was just get kidnapped. And in her underwear, no less. And the side characters are also very entertaining. Pat Maine, the radio host who also can’t stand the FBI agent. The Anderson Brothers, who are huge Norse Mythology fans and are members of the rock band, Old Gods of Asgard. And even Dr. Hartman, who I don’t even want to spoil his motives.
Another thing that I really love about this game is how important light is in this game. Throughout the game, you will face enemies known as Taken, humans who have become possessed by the Dark Presence and are unable to be saved and must be destroyed. You must use a flashlight to get the darkness away from them, and thus, allowing you to harm them with a firearm. You don’t have to rely on just a flashlight, however. Using flares will keep them away for a short time as you try to reload or change your flashlight battery. Flash grenades are used to kill them instantly. The flare gun is the best weapon in the game, as it can wipe out an entire group in seconds. If you don’t have any weapons on you, the best thing for you to do is run to a light from a light post. Enemies cannot go into it and they will retreat while you hide underneath it. It is easily the safest place to be. Light is a very important tool in this game, and they prove it by having all of your objectives lit by some light source. And to show just how threatening the darkness is, they make the game REALLY dark. Thank god for there being some light sources in this game, as it would be impossible otherwise to take on the Taken. Oh, and speaking of The Taken, these enemy designs are fucking terrible.
Okay, so now let’s talk about the things I don’t like. First off, the Taken themselves. I get it, they are just once people who have been consumed by Darkness. And I get that it is a T rated game. You aren’t exactly gonna get Silent Hill and Resident Evil levels of enemy design. Resident Evil 4 had enemies that were just normal (ish) looking people. But in Alan Wake, they are just people with black over them, and that’s it. Resident Evil 4, they could always have their heads explode to look like some sort of abomination and you never knew which one would turn into one until it happened. Plus, there were more enemies than just the Ganados. There were bugs, wolves, and the god forsaken Regenerators. Alan Wake just has skinny dark guy, fat dark guy, and fast dark guy. But I guess I don’t mind the designs of the human Taken too much…. The bird Taken, now that’s what’s awful. I won’t hesitate to say the bird Taken are the worst horror game enemies I’ve ever seen. Not only are they uninspired and bland, they are annoying as hell. They come in at the worst possible times and can swoop down at any spot, and they come in packs. If you aren’t looking at them dead on, they will run into you and hurt you. If you do manage to spot them and shine your flashlight at them, the second group will just come up to hurt you. It’s annoying every time. And speaking of annoying, the Taken really start to lose their fear factor whenever they just keep ambushing you and the game slows down every time to show you. Yeah, I get it, it’s to warn me, but can’t it use something else. How about a music cue, or maybe subtle sounds like footsteps or leaves rustling. Don’t constantly show a slow down of the enemies coming at me. It was used so much, I started to just groan every time it happened. I wasn’t feeling like I was traversing a nightmarish hell hole, I felt like I was going on a long and boring tour.
Now it’s time to talk about something that I really fucking hate! The objectives most of the time, are awful. They are terrible! Alright, so let me explain. Most of the time, in this game, you will have to make it from one destination to the next. Sounds simple enough. But of course, every time you have to do so, you will always find a bridge that is knocked down, so you will always have to take the longer and more dangerous “short-cut”. And that short-cut is usually filled with Taken ready to gang up on you more than the local thugs in my town do, all with slow-mo, because of course. But the worst part, and I mean the worst part, is that most of the time, there will always be a door locked. Sometimes, Taken will be possessing a gate and you will have to shine a light on it. Sometimes you will have to operate a crane to move a piece of wood to make a bridge. Sometimes, you will have to go and find a generator just a few feet away because someone always keeps turning them off at random. But the worst ones, and I mean the worst ones, are when you have to go and find a key for something in order to unlock a locked door. And the key is always just in the room a few feet away. Those piss me off more than they should. Why in the hell did I have to go do all that? Why do I have to shine a light on a door that will only take a few seconds but will most likely get me killed by enemies since I am low on ammo? Why do I have to constantly go and turn on those generators when I could just easily find a way across? Why are there so much damn shit that keeps me from getting to my destination? Why is the door locked when the key is just in the other goddamn room!? Why does this game waste so much of my time?! All this game is is trying to solve a stupid puzzle for one roadblock so you can go through slow-mo of enemies in order to reach the next roadblock. This game is nothing but roadblocks! Everything is a goddamn roadblock and it pisses me off. All of these times, traversing through the forests, and having to constantly deal with enemies coming and irritating me because of how dumb they look and how they keep doing the slow-mo just pisses me off. Look, there are some good things about the gameplay. The light being a sanctuary is good, the use of a flashlight is phenomenal, having the location being just a small town is amazing. I love those small town settings in… anything, not just horror. That always gets me excited. But this game is just so much tedium that I can’t see how it can be compared to other games. But, I Can at least say that, while this game lacks… massively, in gameplay, it makes up for it in the story.
Like I said, Alan Wake’s story is amazing. The characters are great. The twists are wonderful. The setting is a real pleasure to see. Alan Wake is very good, and I think it works well… as a TV show. Alan Wake tells it’s story like a show, having episodes, telling you what happened in the last episode, and always having a To Be Continued after each episode. It’s like Alone in the Dark, expect good. And it did have a show…. Kinda. It was a mini series that was a prequel to Alan Wake and tells the story of the town and how the Dark Presence came to be, and it seems to be good, according to what other’s say. So, it’s not hard to see a show of Alan Wake, and maybe a good one at that. Alan Wake has what it takes to maybe be the next Twin Peaks (Even though Twin Peaks has returned, but that’s not important). But as a game… I’m sorry, but the gameplay is just not for me, even if the story is really good. Take care.
I can already tell this game isn’t gonna have much just from the front cover alone. If you look at it, you will notice that this game says it is rated T for Teens. So I guess I won’t be seeing any underlying messages of murder and rape in this game, but oh well. So since it seems that I have already gotten myself one step closer to being publicly executed, let me say that there are some things about Alan Wake that I like. Hell, there are things about this game that I love. But then there are things about this game that I don’t like… And then… there are things that I hate. But first, let’s talk about the plot. The game follows renowned thriller writer, Alan Wake, a man who hasn’t been able to write another book in two years, and travels to the small town of Bright Falls for vacation with his wife, Alice. When they get to their cabin, Alice is taken by a sort of entity and Alan must do what he can to find her, but it seems that parts of the town, as well as something paranormal, is doing it’s best to stop him, and even use him in a sort of way. So, throughout the game, you must play as Alan Wake and do what you can to find out the truth and discover what is going on in Bright Falls. Now, I can start off this review with some of the positives, and those positives are that the story is really good. And I mean really damn good. It never feels cliched, it never feels dumb, and it always manages to surprise me and it always seems to come up with unique kinds of ideas that I never thought were possible. So, hey, I gotta say that the story is good. And I’ll come back to the story soon, so don’t worry. We’ll talk more about it later on.
Another thing I like about this game are the characters. It could have just been a group of bland characters that only exist to be killed off, but they really put effort into these characters and make them believable and enjoyable. Alan could have just been a cold main character, but he manages to have a variety of emotions, even though his constant monologuing of things can get silly at times. I like how his personality changes throughout the story. His intentions are good, his character is very believable and how he goes about the nightmares that go on in the game are so good. He’s easily one of the better protagonists in horror games. Barry, Alan’s agent and best friend, is also pretty good. He sure as shit ain’t Barry Burton, but he manages to get things done. Also, his banter sometimes is kinda funny, and he is never annoying, but I can see some people getting bothered by him. But at least he is able to hold his own sometimes. Sarah the town sheriff could have just been any old sheriff in a horror game. Constantly ignore and antagonize the main character, but she manages to be much more believable and actually have good reasons to, while not antagonize, but disagree with Alan. I remember first seeing her and thinking, “Oh boy, how is this character gonna be a huge detriment to everything”, but was happily surprised to see how good she was. Then again, the asshole authority figure probably went to the FBI agent, who would constantly yell and even attempt to murder Alan. Even when he was unarmed. Especially when he was unarmed. The only character I didn’t find too interesting was Alan’s wife, Alice. She really was just there to give Alan a reason to be in the story. All she really did was just get kidnapped. And in her underwear, no less. And the side characters are also very entertaining. Pat Maine, the radio host who also can’t stand the FBI agent. The Anderson Brothers, who are huge Norse Mythology fans and are members of the rock band, Old Gods of Asgard. And even Dr. Hartman, who I don’t even want to spoil his motives.
Another thing that I really love about this game is how important light is in this game. Throughout the game, you will face enemies known as Taken, humans who have become possessed by the Dark Presence and are unable to be saved and must be destroyed. You must use a flashlight to get the darkness away from them, and thus, allowing you to harm them with a firearm. You don’t have to rely on just a flashlight, however. Using flares will keep them away for a short time as you try to reload or change your flashlight battery. Flash grenades are used to kill them instantly. The flare gun is the best weapon in the game, as it can wipe out an entire group in seconds. If you don’t have any weapons on you, the best thing for you to do is run to a light from a light post. Enemies cannot go into it and they will retreat while you hide underneath it. It is easily the safest place to be. Light is a very important tool in this game, and they prove it by having all of your objectives lit by some light source. And to show just how threatening the darkness is, they make the game REALLY dark. Thank god for there being some light sources in this game, as it would be impossible otherwise to take on the Taken. Oh, and speaking of The Taken, these enemy designs are fucking terrible.
Okay, so now let’s talk about the things I don’t like. First off, the Taken themselves. I get it, they are just once people who have been consumed by Darkness. And I get that it is a T rated game. You aren’t exactly gonna get Silent Hill and Resident Evil levels of enemy design. Resident Evil 4 had enemies that were just normal (ish) looking people. But in Alan Wake, they are just people with black over them, and that’s it. Resident Evil 4, they could always have their heads explode to look like some sort of abomination and you never knew which one would turn into one until it happened. Plus, there were more enemies than just the Ganados. There were bugs, wolves, and the god forsaken Regenerators. Alan Wake just has skinny dark guy, fat dark guy, and fast dark guy. But I guess I don’t mind the designs of the human Taken too much…. The bird Taken, now that’s what’s awful. I won’t hesitate to say the bird Taken are the worst horror game enemies I’ve ever seen. Not only are they uninspired and bland, they are annoying as hell. They come in at the worst possible times and can swoop down at any spot, and they come in packs. If you aren’t looking at them dead on, they will run into you and hurt you. If you do manage to spot them and shine your flashlight at them, the second group will just come up to hurt you. It’s annoying every time. And speaking of annoying, the Taken really start to lose their fear factor whenever they just keep ambushing you and the game slows down every time to show you. Yeah, I get it, it’s to warn me, but can’t it use something else. How about a music cue, or maybe subtle sounds like footsteps or leaves rustling. Don’t constantly show a slow down of the enemies coming at me. It was used so much, I started to just groan every time it happened. I wasn’t feeling like I was traversing a nightmarish hell hole, I felt like I was going on a long and boring tour.
Now it’s time to talk about something that I really fucking hate! The objectives most of the time, are awful. They are terrible! Alright, so let me explain. Most of the time, in this game, you will have to make it from one destination to the next. Sounds simple enough. But of course, every time you have to do so, you will always find a bridge that is knocked down, so you will always have to take the longer and more dangerous “short-cut”. And that short-cut is usually filled with Taken ready to gang up on you more than the local thugs in my town do, all with slow-mo, because of course. But the worst part, and I mean the worst part, is that most of the time, there will always be a door locked. Sometimes, Taken will be possessing a gate and you will have to shine a light on it. Sometimes you will have to operate a crane to move a piece of wood to make a bridge. Sometimes, you will have to go and find a generator just a few feet away because someone always keeps turning them off at random. But the worst ones, and I mean the worst ones, are when you have to go and find a key for something in order to unlock a locked door. And the key is always just in the room a few feet away. Those piss me off more than they should. Why in the hell did I have to go do all that? Why do I have to shine a light on a door that will only take a few seconds but will most likely get me killed by enemies since I am low on ammo? Why do I have to constantly go and turn on those generators when I could just easily find a way across? Why are there so much damn shit that keeps me from getting to my destination? Why is the door locked when the key is just in the other goddamn room!? Why does this game waste so much of my time?! All this game is is trying to solve a stupid puzzle for one roadblock so you can go through slow-mo of enemies in order to reach the next roadblock. This game is nothing but roadblocks! Everything is a goddamn roadblock and it pisses me off. All of these times, traversing through the forests, and having to constantly deal with enemies coming and irritating me because of how dumb they look and how they keep doing the slow-mo just pisses me off. Look, there are some good things about the gameplay. The light being a sanctuary is good, the use of a flashlight is phenomenal, having the location being just a small town is amazing. I love those small town settings in… anything, not just horror. That always gets me excited. But this game is just so much tedium that I can’t see how it can be compared to other games. But, I Can at least say that, while this game lacks… massively, in gameplay, it makes up for it in the story.
Like I said, Alan Wake’s story is amazing. The characters are great. The twists are wonderful. The setting is a real pleasure to see. Alan Wake is very good, and I think it works well… as a TV show. Alan Wake tells it’s story like a show, having episodes, telling you what happened in the last episode, and always having a To Be Continued after each episode. It’s like Alone in the Dark, expect good. And it did have a show…. Kinda. It was a mini series that was a prequel to Alan Wake and tells the story of the town and how the Dark Presence came to be, and it seems to be good, according to what other’s say. So, it’s not hard to see a show of Alan Wake, and maybe a good one at that. Alan Wake has what it takes to maybe be the next Twin Peaks (Even though Twin Peaks has returned, but that’s not important). But as a game… I’m sorry, but the gameplay is just not for me, even if the story is really good. Take care.