Review: Alan Wake

A game centred around an author suffering from writer’s block might not sound like a contender for Xbox game of the year but Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment has come pretty darn close with Alan Wake.



It doesn’t quite pioneer a new genre (see interview) but it borrows from TV drama and merges horror, first person shooter and psychological thriller to create an experience that is unique in gaming. Each of its six stages is called an episode, wrapping-up with a cliff hanger cinematic ending much like a TV drama. The next episode launches with a short “previously on Alan Wake” recap, setting the scene for what’s to come.

But that unique episodic structure has nothing to do with what makes Alan Wake great. Unlike many games that borrow from the horror genre, Alan Wake has a well executed plot that’s believable despite its fantastical nature. Protagonist Alan Wake – a bestselling author suffering from writer’s block – travels to the small fictional town of Bright Falls for a holiday with his wife Alice. Soon after his arrival Alice goes missing, apparently kidnapped by a haunting dark presence. As you play through the game, doing everything in your power to find Alice, the desire to discover the truth of what has happened to her often overrides the pure joy of battling the poltergeists and shadowy creatures, known as The Taken, that stand in your way.

At its centre, the game plays on people’s deep rooted fear of the dark and the feeling of safety brought on by light. Much of the game is spent in the dark, Wake brandishing a torch or rushing to the safety of a streetlight to escape the taken. Many scenes involve trying frantically to hand crank a generator into life while minions of the dark presence bear down on you. Light is used to burn away the darkness that protects these creatures, making them vulnerable to conventional firearms like pistols, shotguns and hunting rifles.

Overall it’s a linear experience, but there’s still plenty of room to stray from your primary goal to explore different buildings and areas. There are physical barriers which prevent you venturing too far off course but it’s often the brilliant atmospheric effects, musical score and fear of what may be lurking in the dark that scare and discourage you from venturing off into the bush or into that old abandoned mine shaft.

Shadows are integral to a game about light and dark and those in Alan Wake are among the best ever rendered. Everything you shine a light on casts a shadow, whether it’s a nasty enemy wielding an axe or a stationary bedpost. Those shadows grow in size or shrink with unbelievable accuracy depending on your distance or angle of approach.

The shadows are just one of the many impressive graphical effects in the game. Dodging enemy attacks utilises a slow motion effect similar to the bullet-time used by Remedy in Max Payne. By pressing the dodge button and an appropriate direction, you can perform a slow-motion duck or sway to avoid an axe being swung at your head, or a throwing knife honing in on your throat. The mist in the forest areas where much of the game takes place is well done, as is the glistening of light on the water as you shine your torch over a river or lake. Unlike many games set in the dark, effects used by Alan Wake’s artists really do create a creepy atmosphere that feels dark without making your screen so dark that you have to strain your eyes to play.

These effects are backed up by a musical score which goes a long way towards creating the right emotional response in the gamer at every turn. With nothing more than a few well-timed notes, Remedy has you spinning around with your torch, searching for something deadly in the darkness that may or may not exist.

If ever there was a game that will bring your childhood fears back to life with full effect, this is it. Hitchcock and Stephen King would be proud.

Alan Wake
R16
Developer; Remedy Entertainment; Publisher; Microsoft Game Studios
Better than: Heavy Rain
Worse than: Resident Evil 4

Almost flawless, keeps you coming back for more.

9/10