Alan Wake – Early hands-on review
When I first saw scenes from Alan Wake I was completely blown away. It was at the X06 Expo in Barcelona a whole 4 years ago. The brief snippet of gameplay, visuals and story concept were phenomenal. At last, after so long in development, the highly anticipated title from Remedy will finally be set free on the 14th of this month. It’s a game with similarities to may different releases from the past few years, so prepare for a lot of comparisons.
Story:
There’s a very real problem for game developers working today: it’s called the law of diminishing returns. You see, gamers are quickly finding out that there’s only so many ways you can shoot a bad guy and so with an increasing drought in innovative gameplay for first person shooters, storyline has become a serious premium. Remedy were keenly aware of this as they put together the story of Alan Wake: the result is a gripping tale that would make a half-decent tv series, and probably will (the game even splits itself up into Lost-like episodes with a “previously on Alan Wake” catch-up montage).
You play the author Alan Wake, who has decided to travel to the sleepy coastal village of Bridge Falls to rid himself of writer’s block only to find himself caught in a living ightmare. On arrival at a mysterious lake lodge, his wife is kidnapped and Wake finds himself stepping into the bizarre and supernatural world of his next novel. The problem is, the book isn’t written yet. As you wander through scenes that alternate between a dreamlike night-time and sober daytime, your journey is narrated by Wake in a style very reminiscent of the hugely successful Max Payne series. On the first night at a mysterious lake lodge, Wake’s wife is kidnapped by a range of demonic creatures who use “the Darkness” as their protection. Your ultimate goal, as wake, is to fight the hellish enemies, unravel the mystery of your unwritten book and rescue your beloved.
PLAY:
While possibly not as spooky as the Silent Hill series, Alan Wake is extremely atmospheric – a game you’ll want to play in the dark with the speakers up loud. The use of light is all-important; it doesn’t just help you find your way: it’s your primary weapon. Basically you point the torch at creatures from the dark and to remove their invincibility, rendering them vulnerable to your trusty colt 45. As the body count rises, you’ll need stronger sources of light to survive, including lampposts, flare guns and car headlights. The problem is that after a while this sort of gameplay can get a bit repetitive. There are advancement puzzles to solve, but they’re not exactly taxing and the bulk of the gameplay is walking in the dark and shooting hooded weirdoes. But As we mentioned, it’s the story that keeps this game going and so far (probably halfway through the game) we haven’t been bored.
There is no multiplayer content in the game which is disappointing (even Bioshock 2 managed to transpose it’s linear story into a network mode which worked pretty well actually), so you’re likely to be popping down to Gamestop after a week or two’s gaming unless the release day downloadable content is particularly strong.
Graphics:
Awesome use of light and dark using pretty groundbreaking technology. Very smooth scrolling through landscapes and great interactive environments mean you’re never kicked out of the experience by a glitchy scene or jerky gameplay. The only slight negative here are the frequent cutscenes which are … well, they’re fine, but a total lack of lip-synch and middling level of definition puts them a good few years behind the likes of the incredibly lifelike Splinter Cell: Conviction.
Final Verdict: If you’re looking to get immersed in an engaging and dramatic story, Alan Wake is a book you won’t want to put down, but you’re unlikely to want to read it over and over again.
3.5 * (out of 5 stars)
Watch HD gameplay here: