Bite-Size Review: Alan Wake

After five long years in development (Alan Wake was originally announced at E3 2005), Remedy has brought us their first game since Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. The hard work that comes out of a half decade of development shines very brightly throughout Alan Wake as the world is fully realized, imagined, and detailed, complete with a gorgeous graphical engine to present it all.

The cover of the game is emblazoned with the words "Psychological Action Thriller" and that title fits Alan Wake perfectly. At the core of the story is a Christopher Nolan-esque element of mystery and psychological toying, all surrounding a thrilling horror story experienced through an action-packed interactive adventure. Alan Wake is a truly unique experience, especially in the medium of video games, where it takes a lot of concepts from other media and weaves them into both the presentation and the story.

The town of Bright Falls and its surrounding forested mountains provide a unique and visually interesting setting for the game. The tug of war between light and dark mixes up the thickly-layered plot as it transitions from a confusing web of theories into a wholly cohesive and, clearly, a thoroughly constructed narrative. When you progress through the Alan Wake experience, the well-executed episodic presentation, complex engaging story, rewarding action mechanics, deep character development, daunting art style, and incredible soundtrack all strike you and you start to understand why it took five years to craft such a fantastic experience. It also much be mentioned that the game is covered from start to finish by fantastic pacing, an accomplishment that few games can claim. In fact, really the single complaint I have is the nutcracker-like lip syncing in some of the cutscenes. Obviously that is pretty minor in an otherwise great looker of a game, which just further attests to how well-executed Remedy's latest product is.

By the time you reach the game's thrilling conclusion (which wraps up the main threads while allowing Alan's story to continue) you really feel like you've played something special. You might think you've played a game with light/dark mechanics before, but Remedy truly does a great job at creating unique, creative situations with them from both a gameplay and narrative perspective. Without a doubt I can tell you that Alan Wake will be on the short list of the Game of the Year contenders and will be looked back on as an example of great game design for years to come.

OVERALL GRADE: A

BONUS! Review of the first add-on, "The Signal"

The first add-on episodic expansion for Alan Wake--free with the code in the box of a new copy, or $7--further twists the mythos of the game's world. "The Signal" takes place immediately succeeding the main game's conclusion, as he (without any spoilers) fights through his own mind and chases a mysterious signal. From a narrative perspective "The Signal" doesn't really progress the plot much further, but it does give you a better understanding of what happened to Alan at the end of the game. Gameplay-wise, though, Remedy did a fantastic job of bringing in yet more new mechanics and changing up the way you fight enemies. Most of the fights in "The Signal" are fresh and differ from the way you'd approach any of the fights in the main game. If you really enjoyed Alan Wake, "The Signal" is an interesting extra that keeps the experience going.

Add-On Overall Grade: B