Alan Wake Review

Remedy's psychological action thriller raises the bar in more ways than one.

When Alan Wake was first announced at E3 2005 my interest was definitely raised in the title and its potential. After nearly five years of development time Alan Wake has finally seen the light of day, after completing the game I can say wholeheartedly that the wait was definitely worth it.

Alan Wake tells the story of the titular character, a best selling author who is suffering from writers block hence unable to complete his upcoming book. Persuaded by his wife Alice, the two take a vacation to Bright Falls, a remote fictional town located in Washington. Shortly after arriving, Alice goes missing and Alan after having a blackout wakes up in a crashed SUV on the side of a cliff with no recollection of how he arrived there. Alan begins to find manuscripts written by him which he has no recollection of writing, the manuscript writings then begin to come to life as Alan searches for his wife. From beginning to end, Alan Wake's suspenseful story will keep you intrigued with much enthusiasm, with various plot elements the game is no where near short of surprises.

The chemistry between the characters is truly something to behold, the way they interact with each other and the environment really helps set the mood. The game is full of many memorable characters, I was a bit disappointed that some couldn't have been developed further simply due to how the story plays out. Finding certain manuscript entries that hint at backstory for these characters only exaggerates the feeling.

Alice suffers from a severe case of what can be described as nyctophobia or a fear of the dark, while it is common in children there are rare cases where adults also suffer from the condition. The phobia and those adults who suffer from it are rarely mentioned by society, some researchers believe adults who suffer from the phobia generally have a more severe case of it than children. There have been games in the past which have painted females characters in a role where they are weak or constantly need someone to save them. Despite needing help in the dark, Alice differs from these characters because she is a victim of a phobia she has little to no control over but attempts to conquer with support from Alan.

The story spans across six episodes formatted like a TV show complete with cliff hanger endings and “previously on” introductions to fill the user in. Comparisons can be made to Atari's 2008 Alone in the Dark which used a similar format to tell its story.

On the visuals front, Alan Wake is beautiful. Many of the characters are modelled after real people with the most prominent being Finnish actor Ilkka Villi who is the face of Alan Wake. Facial animations however could use a little work, in certain cutscenes they don't seem to work as well as they should, this is a problem developer Remedy has acknowledged and is said to be fixing for future episodes. There are also a few clipping issues with Alan's jacket when he is holding a rifle or a shotgun, some minor motion blur may also appear although nothing major. The light effects are spectacular, the way the flashlight reacts in different scenarios, the glow from a lit flare, and the indoor lighting effects to name a few are all things to behold.

The engine powering Alan Wake is a technical marvel one should definitely experience, the draw distances produced and level of detail are simply breath taking. Standing at the top of a hill and look at Bright Falls is mesmerizing and at times made even more so when the fog sets in. The framerate never drops even with the added fog effects which can be seen as taxing elements on a system.