Let me start by saying i have never played Max Payne 1 or 2 so this is my first remedy game,with that out of the way Alan Wake is one of the most innovative survival horror games to come out and ranks pritty highly up there with games like Dead Space and Residen Evil 4,what sets this game apart from others is its unique combat mechanics, if youve seen any video of the game you already know what im talking about,Light. yup thats right what is usualy just a flash light in other similer games that is only used to luminate an area or create atmosphere,in alan wake your flashlight plays a major role both in combat and in the story because every enemy you incounter is valed in a curtin of "the Darkness" whitch must be removed in order to actualy damege "the Taken" whitch are unkillable while coverd in this shadowy mist,once the shield of darkness is removed you can dispatch them with any weapon whitch range from revolvers to hunting rifles, ammo is easy to come by and your never realy forced to run from fights exept in some scripted events.
but the combat isent the only unique thing about alan wake because the story and atmisphere and graphics are some of the most top notche in the genra,the story although not completely original is very well done and well paced always keeping your intrest throughout the game and motavating you to keep playing till the vary end and goes something like this,you are alan wake who is a major horror wrighter who seems to have lost his tutch because his last novel came out two years ago and he hasent been able to write anything good since,so he dicides to take a vacation with his wife sarah to the twin peak-esk town of Bright Falls where he hopes to clear his head and get away from wrighting,but soon enough every thing goes to hell.
as a dark presense awakes alan wakes wrightings become real and his wife is taken by "the Darkness",towns folk turn into "the Taken" and are out to kill you and your only hope of survival is the Light,when the sun is up the unsuspecting townsfolk are tending to there every day lifes but when night falls and the town is asleep "the Darkness" awakes.
and the graphics are amazing,aside from charector modols and animations the world is well detailed from the landscapes to the forest trees,and the fog that covers the forest realy help to create atmosphere,whitch is one of alan wakes strongest points and can be discribed in one word,unsettling.
because your flashlight,flare and flashbangs are your only protection from "the Darkness" you feel very vulnerable in the dark woods as you progress to checkpoints whitch are lightpolls scatterd throughout the levels,whitch will restore your health and completly vaneshes all nearby enemies.
its hard to discribe the feeling of the game without experience it yourself,the unsettling fear while you run through the dark forest combating "the Taken" and the sense of releafe when you spot a lightpoll in the distence is truely somthing special and stuck with me long after leaving the game,and the episodic nature of the game is realy well done as every Episode starts with a "previously on alan wake" and an ending song whitch helps to realy nail the hole TV show feel,there are 6 episodes all together and eatch episode will take one to two hours to complete depending on how mutch exploration and item collecting you want to do whitch range from coffee pots to manuscript pages whitch help reveal the story,whats great about these are that alan wake reads all these pages aloud whitch realy make his charector as an horror author beliveable,plus the fact that he narrates things as you move along episodes and the narrations sound like they were pulled directly from a horror novel .
hers good news for all the achievement junkies out there,alan wake has them.
and even better they are made in a way that playing the game normally will unlock most of them so you never feel the need to have to go out of your way to get them,hers a few exsamples,kill a 100 taken with a revolver,use a flare,kill two taken with one shotgun blast and so on,now i have to admit i was always unable to get the hole achievment point craze and thought "so what? what the big deal?" so i was suprised when i was actively trying to get achievment unlocks as they were so easy and made me feel like i was acomplishing something,like battlescars or something,and this is the first game to make me do this whitch says alot, snd although i think the game should have relied completely on its light mechanic and ditched guns alltogether,is short in lingth,only took me around twelve hours,the overall experience was a dam good one and im intrested to see waht the DLC episodes bring to the table.
i give it 4 out of 5 stars and anybody intrested in horror games or third person shooters,or liked twin peaks or any horror novels in the past should definitely check this one out,its well worth your time and if not a buy its a must rent period,TACO BOY out.