An Alan Wake Review

Alan Wake is as the title suggests; a "psychological action thriller", blending a good amount of creepy atmosphere with a decent approach to combat. The game starts off by quoting Steven King, where it accurately sets the mood for the rest of the game. Our protagonist, Mr Wake himself, is in a bit of a slump. He is a best selling crime fiction novelist who hasn't been able to write in over 2 years. So Alan and his wife Alice decide to take a vacation and head out to Bright Falls, and idyllic place for this kind of story; little old town vibe, with little coffee shops, farms and trailer parks with cabins by the lake. This is where it all begins.
One thing I'll say I enjoy off he bat is the fact that this game is episodic. There are six chapters all feeling like a mini-series of a television show. Every time you get to the end of the chapter, there is a cliffhanger leaving you yearning for the next episode like your watching something like "Lost" or "Heroes". It's a nice spot to stop if you wanted because before you start the next chapter, the game gives you a recap in the same way; delivering it like your tuning in to next weeks episode. I thought this was a neat twist on the 'episodic formula" and was broken up nicely. The Narrating is also what made this game very interesting from the get-go. While the story is intriguing for the most part, the thing that I really liked was the way Alan would narrate not only what was happening in the story, but the thoughts he had about the situation. If you were sorta lost on what you needed to do, instead of a hud or text telling you what to do, Wake's thoughts would be your guide, blending very well with how the story is told throughout. Which speaking of story, a lot is in the manuscript pages you find throughout the game which not only give you a lot more insight on characters and such, but also sometimes tells you the future, adding to the plot of "I wrote a book and its becoming real!" It doesn't feel like spoiler material either; most of the time I couldn't wait to find out how that part played out. So to me, the narrative is really the driving force behind this game; the mood and setting, the manuscript pages, the way Alan Wake narrates thoughts and story - it all ties together incredibly well.
The combat was interesting to boot. It had that "Resident Evil" style of over the shoulder third person shooting (but you can walk don't worry) but with a twist. Your enemies were filled with the darkness that was consuming Bright Falls and you had to use any light-source available (mainly just your flashlight) to break the shadowy shield around them and take them out with guns. It was interesting for the first few chapters, adding an intensity to the situation, but thats all the game has to offer outside of shooting a beam of light at farm equipment (no joke). So, suffice it to say, it gets old. Not horrible, just old.
Graphics where good, sound and voice-acting where nice; my only complaint was the bad mouth animations. They were pretty horrible. Alan Wake, however, is a great game and definitely overall one of the best games this year. Try it out and have fun in Bright Falls.
-Eddie
p.s.
I thought of this just a bit after reading this, but I kept laughing at all the slow-motion jumps that they made Alan Wake do. Not only because they were ridiculous, but also because his face had a really silly face because of the bad mouth animations. You'll see what I mean, its just kinda silly.