Apologies for the length between posts, I'm sure you were all devastated...all two of you...
Anyways, back to form, the topics of today's discussion is Alan Wake. There was a lot of hype surrounding this game long before it came out, which would mean one of two things; it would a complete and utter flop (like Haze), or it would enter gaming history as one of the most innovative games of its time.
Surprisingly enough, neither of these are the case. Alan Wake is a psychological thriller/horror set in the small town of Bright Falls. Successful author, Alan Wake, is suffering from writers block and has decided to take a holiday with his wife to forget his troubles and relax. Relaxation is not on the cards though as dark forces soon take Alan's wife and he wakes up a week later, without any knowledge of the past weeks events, except that his wife is now missing.
Alan starts discovering parts of a manuscript titled 'Departure', what he had planned to be his next book, though he hadn't written it yet, or so he thought. It turns out that the manuscript pages are parts of Alan's book that he had written in this last week. These pages describe the events Alan has just, or is about to experience. The pages also develop the other characters so the player can get an idea of the characters around Bright Falls.
Now, I won't give away any plot spoilers, because that would be mean. Let's start with the positive aspects of this game. The storyline is one of the best I have seen within a videogame. The player becomes completely immersed into the story and, at times, it certainly feels like a movie/television series. Combine this with some pretty impressive graphics, and you have premise of a damn good game.
Unfortunately, a premise is all it is. Alan's weapon against the darkness is light. Torches, flares and flash grenades are all key to Alan's survival. At first, it seems quite a clever way to defeat enemies, and you can be quite creative. But after killing several enemies, you realise that there is a real lack of creativity. Aside from getting more powerful torches, the combat does not develop in any way shape or form. So, after the first episode (each section of the game is split into episodes), combat becomes dull and even irritating. I found myself getting annoyed every time a Taken (people controlled by darkness) attacked, I just wanted the storyline to advance and not bother killing these enemies.
Now, what really got to me, is that the final episode was just a slightly longer, even more annoying episode than the previous five. Alan needs to get to the cabin he and his wife were staying at in order to save her, and there is nothing worth noting that happens along the way. It's just the same enemies, just in greater number, from previous episodes. What is the point in that?
Then, just as I couldn't get any more annoyed...I did...majorly. Alan finally meets the woman controlling all the darkness, and we all know what this means...FINAL BOSS! Oh, wait, no...Alan's going to kill her in an FMV sequence...WHAT THE FUCK?! I got this annoying, crappy author this far, and I can't even defeat the protaganist myself?! Even if it was just a QTE, I would have been happy, at least I would have done SOMETHING.
I am sorry, but a game cannot survive on graphics and story alone. A case-in-point for me is the Half-Life games. People rage on about how amazing they are...because of the story. At the moment, I am forcing my way through Half-Life 2, only for the story. The gameplay is dreadful and I really hope I end it soon...
Games are far more than their storylines. Take Fallout 3 for example. For me, it is one of the top five greatest games of all time. I have logged more hours on to Fallout 3 than any other game I have played. The gameplay is fantastic, while the story is somewhat drab. Fallout 3 is about doing what you want, and being what you want to be, the story just seems to be an inconvenience at times. Despite the poor story, I have played it through four times, with four completely different characters, with completely different experiences. Alan Wake, however, is good for one playthrough only. Once you know the story, there is no need to re-play it, unless you're an achievement junkie who needs to increase the size of his e-peen.
The tl;dr of this review: You can buy it £20 brand new at Gamestation, which is quite reasonable these days, and with new DLC coming soon (free to those who bought it new), quite a good deal. However, please be warned that as soon as you complete it once, the chances are that it will start gathering dust on the shelf. One can only hope the devs add a LOT more variety into the gameplay for the new DLC, otherwise, Alan Wake (despite decent sales), could end up a forgotten flop
Stay safe
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