Remedy's Thriller Masterpiece Delivers One Heck Of a Ride

When I first sat down to play Alan Wake I didn't really know what to expect. Was I going to be playing an action game with horror elements, or a plot heavy thriller filled with scares? The game falls somewhere between the two, but is exhilarating nonetheless. The brilliance of Alan Wake is in its pacing and the way it presents its expertly crafted story to you. The game is set up episodically, and it really does feel like you are playing a serialized tv show at some points. The pacing always keeps you on your toes, and it is an insanely hard game to put down once you start playing. The story is the thing that keeps the pacing up and, in a word, it is an incredibly intriguing yarn. Mysteries are answered and always present new questions, and the ending is something people will be debating for a long time. Remedy has promised a slew of downloadable content and I, for one, will be right there to see what the future holds for Alan Wake. Even with all this emphasis on story, gameplay does not fall by the wayside, and it is actually where most of the scares in this thriller jump out. Alan always carries a flashlight and either a revolver or some type of two handed weapon, and using the flashlight as your aiming reticle was a smart move that fits the game perfectly. Most enemies must be weakened by light before being taken out with the guns, and you can focus the beam of the flashlight, but it drains the batteries quickly, requiring you to change batteries often. You really need to manage your batteries and ammo, which is an obvious way in which the game was influenced by the survival horror genre. The game provides some heart pounding moments when you are whittling down an enemies defenses as they bear down on you with an axe, and when you are hit from behind by an enemy you didn't see, it will make you jump. Sometimes the game varies up the combat a bit, giving you a flare gun and flashbangs that act like small vessels of death against your light-shunning enemies, or throwing poltergeist objects at you that can only be hurt by the hard stare of your flashlight. Alan Wake is six episodes long, and it will take between 8 and 12 hours to beat depending on difficulty. It provides some excellent set pieces along the way, including driving down back woods roads and a scene slightly reminiscent of Left 4 Dead 2 (you'll know when you get there). Alan Wake is also no slouch technically, as it is one of the best looking games on the 360, with some of the best lighting and layered weather effects I've ever seen. Overall Alan Wake is a tense ride that is only tempered by it's somewhat short length.
Final Score 9.0 out of 10

-Smith