Are You Afraid of the Dark? The "Alan Wake" Review

I finished playing "Alan Wake" this week, and, figuring that I promised to review it, here it is. I said before that "Alan Wake" is pretty much "Twin Peaks." Upon playing it until the end, I can safely say that I was mostly wrong. Mainly because "Twin Peaks" makes sense by the end of the series. I'll come back to that.

The gameplay is simple in theory: use a flashlight to weaken bad guys, then shoot them. All goes well until you get swarmed by five guys, then you have to run like hell. It also gets more complicated as you have to dodge thrown objects, weaken living objects, and manage enemy spawning all at the same time. It never gets too overwhelming, though, and harder moments are kept at a minimum to not hinder the games decent pacing.

While the graphics are good and the acting is passable, the one big graphical glitch this game has is the lip synching. The localization team needs to be slapped for forgetting this important aspect of making a game like this. Still, the lighting is some of the best I've seen on the XBox 360, and just a step below the amazing lighting of the Uncharted series. This may also be because everything in this game is dark, making it all the harder to judge. On the voice acting, I just wished that some of the minor players read the script before they voiced their roles.

So, it has good gameplay, good graphics, and passable voice work, with some flaws. Why did I wait so long to review it? Because the story isn't what it was made out to be. It starts as your typical "wife gets kidnapped" story, and ends up being entirely too "movie-wannabe" for its own good. The ending is left to interpretation, but even then, it makes you wonder what happened. For a story that was supposed to unfold over the game, with DLC episodes to expand on it, it sure leaves you with a lot of questions, mainly the big one that hurts the game the most: What was the point? If you can answer that question after playing this game, let me know.

While it's a good game, I can't say that I really suggest it to anyone. The story is just too convoluted and doesn't go anywhere. If you want a game that has a good detective story, play "Deadly Premonition." Play "Alan Wake" if you want to play a game, and that's it.

B-

+ Good Graphics

+ Great Lighting

+ Passable voice work

- Save for some minor characters

- Really, what is the point?