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TopicSnake's 2010s Gaming Retrospective
Snake5555555555
02/15/20 9:28:44 PM
#22:


Alan Wake

Played on: Xbox 360
Release Date: May 18, 2010
Genre: Survival Horror

THE FRANCHISE NEVER MEANT TO BE

Alan Wake was one of two games I got for my birthday in 2010: the other was Red Dead Redemption. Both excellent games, but I think in the long run, AW was the one that stuck with me longest. The push to make this game a thing was real, even including a Machinima live-action miniseries prequel to the game, but as history would prove, Alan Wake had cult classic written all over it, not mainstream smash. It's a shame, because Alan Wake's concept and execution are pretty interesting, unique affairs in my opinion. Heavily drawing upon Twin Peaks and the works of Stephen King, you play as Alan Wake, a famous fiction writer suffering from severe writers block. You take a trip to Bright Falls with your wife Alice, under the guise of a normal vacation, but in reality Alice is trying to help Wake with his condition. Unbeknownst to the both of them, a dark presence has overtaken the peaceful little town, and starts bringing to reality a manuscript by Wake he doesn't even remember writing. Alice gets kidnapped, and its up to Wake and the player to piece together the mystery of what's truly going on. Remedy has a great knack of drawing you in with compelling, stylish, well-told stories, and Alan Wake is no exception. One of the big, main hooks of the game is the collection of manuscript pages, detailing past or even future events, either giving old happenings new context or helping the player predict what's going to happen next. The way it's woven into the story is seamless and you'll find yourself absolutely compelled to find these to better understand the game's sometimes complex narrative. There's also great world-building with exploring normal locations during the day, local radio broadcasts, and a Twilight Zone-parody found on TVs, a fantastic carryover from Max Payne.

Along with great narrative hooks, Alan Wake's gameplay adds a new twist to survival horror. Enemies you encounter are shrouded in darkness, with bullets unable to penetrate the murky force. You must "melt" the darkness off the enemies and then finish them off, and as more enemies begin to swarm in, battles become this beautiful, mad scramble of light-flashing, getting shots in when you can, and performing cinematic dodges ala Max Payne. It starts off simple at first, but various enemy types and light conservation gives players a nice, healthy challenge that always keeps thing tense.

Unfortunately, the sales of Alan Wake never matched the high quality of the game. It was lucky it got a half-sequel at all in the form of American Nightmare. It's certainly not forgotten though, receiving several references in Remedy's latest game, Control. I would love nothing more than for AW to make the comeback it deserves, but if not, at least we got 1 and a half kick-ass games out of it anyway.

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Too much horror business, drivin' late at night
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