Alan Wake has finally arrived on the system we all wanted to see it on, with many improvements and additions that the fans wanted to see implemented. On the 16th February 2012 we get to play Remedy’s critically acclaimed master piece which was previously an exclusive Xbox360 title, however thanks to Nordic Games we get an awesome conversion for the PC platform with all the DLC included. Download content includes The Signal and The Writer plus if you purchase the special edition you will get the Haunting soundtrack and an Illustrated PDF Book (130pages Digital Version, Retail version comes with even more). The improvements for PC version are fantastic, fancy playing in 3D you can now, loads of customisable graphic options and support for 4:3, 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios, you can also fully configure the mouse and keyboard settings or connect a gamepad the choice is yours. Also fans wanted this and remedy gave it to us “HIDE HUD” and field of view adjustability and one final thing Multithread engine support that takes full advantage of Quad core CPUs. What more can a PC Gamer ask for, I know, DirectX 11 Support, tessellation, PhysX shall I go on, that’s just me wanting more as the PC can do more.
We’ll move on and welcome you back to Bright Falls to battle the dark forces from Alan’s story, in this heart pounding story driven thriller(with a gun and flashlight). Again you get to play the writer Alan Wake, a famous novel writer from New York, who has decided to take a well-deserved break in Washington. It all begins when Alan for a split moment takes focus away from his driving and hits a man, presumably dead as Alan checks, the lights go out, Alan walks away from the body for only a second, turns around and it’s gone “Where, what”. Alan moves towards the light in the distance, and sees a lighthouse that you need to get too. As you make your way over to the lighthouse, treading quietly through dark or dimly lit areas, a figure appears with an axe trying to kill you, presumably the guy you just knocked down, however this time he is shimmering with a dark aura around him “what is going on” is this all in Alan’s Mind?. I found this section of the game more of a tutorial as it will teach you how to control the character and basic mechanics required for the game.
Moving on again “Alan” his wife calls his name; you are suddenly awoken by his wife on a ferry, heading towards the sleepy town of Bright Falls, a beautiful location surrounded by mountains and forestry. What starts as a quiet town soon turns into a fear and mystery as Alan’s characters from his book comes to life. What feels to be a movie cinematic experience or episodes from a TV series, turns in to a standard third person shooter with a trusty flashlight (disappointing). This did turn me off a little, but the story pushes you right back in, this is a game which is hard to ignore and put down.
As Alan arrived at his destination, his wife suddenly falls into the lake and from what we can see, she is being dragged under. The screen goes black, Alan jumps in after her, then bang you re appear in car accident, having driven your car into a tree “What the hell is going on” both scenarios cannot be true or can they only time will tell. This happens a lot in the game, shifting between realities, dreams & Illusions with all these twists happening it is almost impossible to tell what is real and what is not.
We believe (aka Alan) that the whole town is under the presence on The Dark, shadow entities that have the power to possess the town folk and destroy the land around them. All this ties in very well with the games narration that does a fine job keeping you at your keyboard or gamepad.
Remedy has woven together about six different types of narration, from the standard, to radio, TV, to leaflets of the games shadow key moments. One of thing I found was who to trust or should I say what to trust as even Alan says at one point you cannot trust what he sees. How can you make the correct judgement call well this is just one of the twists Alan Wake put you into.
“Beware of the Forest don’t go into the forest” how many time you heard that in a film, well tough luck in this film (Game) you have no choice. You will find yourself entering the forest on many occasions to search for the next clue or having to meet someone and the jerk decides not to say anything and decides to meet elsewhere. This in no way ruins the experience, it more or less gives the developers more of a chance to drag your butt in to more survival situations or should I say combat.
Even though Alan Wake sometimes feels more like a third person shooter, the combat is basic, but fun; with most enemies being killed by your trusty flash light (No you don’t clunk them on their head with it or club them to death which would have been fun) you shine the light at them to burn away the Dark Entity inside them, before you blast them back to hell with your trusty gun. There is not much variation, as you do end up fighting the same damn enemies many times over, you will always end up using your flash light and something that lets it down is the amount of guns that are available or even variety in ways of killing an enemy. I would have loved to of been able to use the environments and other sharp weapons like axes knifes etc.
The combat sequences feel even better when the music pumps up and the camera circles around showing you the enemy “bring it on”. It does not matter where you go every combat sequence you enter you will know that this is the time to pull out your gun and flash light, does this take away from the tension I personally do not think so, it kind of adds a bit more suspense and what I say a lot of “Yeh baby bring it”. You do tend to get used to the game’s “it’s over there” combat system and sometimes you kind of get the feeling that “Be Prepared” is a good idea.
Overall the game is GREAT, with pc gamer having to wait over a year for this title, we have been well rewarded, and this is the best version and the most complete version yet and best if all we get it at half the price of the original release on the Xbox 360. I personally would say this game is well worth it, fans of thrillers and story driven games will love it, gamers that love third person shooters may get a little bored of it, however if you love both these elements third person story driven action adventure then this game is for you.
Special Edition Retail Contents
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
