Alan Wake is a title that for many years served only to occupy the tail end of release lists and always with an indeterminate date.  For all that time I thought little of the title.  Surely it would end up in development limbo and probably never see the light of day.  Suddenly, it resurfaced at E3 2009, and my interest in Remedy’s mysterious title continued to grow  until it was finally released on May 18, 2010.  Was the long development cycle worth the wait?

Absolutely.  Alan Wake is one of the most addictive solo games I have experienced in a long time.  The game’s driving strength is its narrative, which drew me in from the get-go.  Wake, a best-selling author, and his wife Alice are vacationing in the fictional Washington village of Bright Falls.  When Alice disappears, Wake’s search for her uncovers pages from a manuscript he does not remember writing.  A dark presence breathes life to these pages, and Alan must solve the mystery of Bright Falls and the manuscript in order to save Alice.

Wake narrates as you play the game, which drives the story forward without being overdependent on cut scenes.  Wake himself is a well developed protagonist, and the characters surrounding him are more than mere cardboard-cut-outs.  Manuscript pages, which you collect as you play, serve to expand on the narrative.  These pages delve into past events and serve as a gateway into the interior monologues of just about all of the key characters.

Of course, there is more than just a story to Alan Wake.  There is enough action and to keep both trigger fingers working.  In the darkness you fight “the Taken”, creatures that can only be defeated by light.  The left trigger controls a flashlight and the right your gun.  Other weapons include flares and flashbangs.  The flashlight actually serves as the aiming reticule and does the job well.   Combat takes some getting used to, especially dodging, but is pretty straightforward.  The camera borrows from the more recent Resident Evil games in its over-the shoulder placement.  The difference is in this game you can sidestep and shoot while moving.  What I did miss from Resident Evil is the ability to do a quick 180 degree turn.

The daylight hours are spent exploring the community of Bright Falls and the beautiful landscape surrounding the seemingly peaceful city.  These sections mostly include interactions with other characters, simple puzzle solving and driving.  The driving sections feel very grounded and more realistic than Halo or Grand Theft Auto.  Just like real life it doesn’t take much to total your car.  Also, the car’s high beams are a perfect weapon when driving at night!

Structurally, the game plays like a science fiction serial TV show.  It borrows and even parodies shows such as The Twilight Zone and The X Files while building itself up more like a season of Lost.

Visually, this game is a gem.  Fully detailed environments feel alive and the use of light ranks among the best of any game this generation.  Character models are a tad dated but passable.  Their animations are also good with the glaring exception of the facial animations whenever they speak.  The dialogue is good but sometimes it’s like watching a dubbed Godzilla movie.

Item hoarders will have a field day with all the collectible goodies, but you may want to bring a checklist with you for those coffee thermoses.  All the hidden items make for some decent re-playability, especially the manuscript pages that are only available on Nightmare mode.

For me, the biggest problem with the game was that it felt anticlimactic from a game-play standpoint.  Story-wise, it wrapped up well and hopefully will segue way into the new content smoothly.  The first downloadable episode, “The Signal” will be released by the time you’re reading this.

Overall, Alan Wake is a solid package.  Fans of survival horror and strong narrative in games will enjoy it.  It’s short, but I can see myself replaying it every so often just for the story.  For the average gamer it’s at least worth a rental.

Finally, my apologies for the lateness of this review.  Between work and acting in two stage productions I find I have little time to do much else, and I’d rather be spending that little time gaming than writing