Sure, shooting felt good and intuitive enough. But this game had perhaps the worst dodging mechanic in any game I've ever played. And even worse, it wouldn't let me change the controls to anything  auqward. Seeing as how jumping was a rare movement I wanted to switch dodge to a + LS but it wouldn't give me the option. There was only one other control scheme and it was even worse. As far as controls in a horror game I would even take the controls from RE4/5, Dead Space (probably the best for this genre right now and was also scarier as in being scary at all) or even the latest Silent Hill. I know they aren't TPS but Condmned had better controls and so did Bioshock if you count it. Of course I would take the shooting in this game over any of those but the importance of the dodge mechanic and the lack of an intuitive way to perform it kind of killed it for me.

Fair enough.

However I thought that for the sake of being a "horror" game the controls were absolutely sublime. Its not meant to be a shooter with dodge and cover. The fact it had dodge is a bonus which could have ruined the experience... RE5 didn't even have proper dodge.

Also, RE4/5 controls over this? Really? Stand to aim and shoot?

PS - I didn't find dead space scary at all. Didn't care for characters or the "BOO!" like scares much. With that said, alan wake wasn't scary either.

The reason I say RE4/5 is because your enemies were slow and you didnt need to have a dodge. Dodging is absolutely vital to alan wake. Exspecially when playing on the harder difficulty settings. So I found a key feature of the gameplay absolutely broken whereas in RE4/5 I found a key gameplay feature (moving while shooting) only a minor frustration.

Also, I haven't found a game scary since i played SH2 or 3 when they first released. But Dead Space had the much creepier atmoshphere to me. Dead space didn't scare me but it certainly felt like it was scarier by a large marigin and at least made me jump at the unexpected last sequence.

Still, all these complaints I've been throwing at Alan Wake mean little. I still loved it for some reason. lol

Finished this game today and the ending really captivated me. The thing I love about Alan Wake is that the story is so much different than 99% of the games on the market today. It is so vast and complex that the more you look into it and try to understand it, the more questions are raised.

I really appreciate that kind of plot intricacy in a game.

The story was great as well as the gameplay albeit it was somewhat repetitive.

I am glad this thread exists.  It give me a chance to chime in with my theories here.  I feel it appropriate for myself to write this, because I believe I have written other threads that will be taken as myself being an Alan Wake hater.  Well, it had been critical to some degree, more of the hyping being done than anything else.  Anyhow, this being said, I need to add here that I don't have the game, nor did I play it, BUT I will say this semi-confusing statement that if the game and world is as I think it is, it is EXCELLENT writing that makes the game a psychological thriller and one I will need to get sometime and own and play through.  My story with the game starts last night where I stumble across the product placement and then wanted to learn more about the context there, which then led me to the ending... which I watch on YouTube.  I then read all the theories, and ended up developing my own.  So, here is my take on this:

For me, the key to understanding all this is the line "but an ocean".  This is in reference to the lake, and was written by Alan Wake.  So, as I see it, Alan Wake has just turned the lake into an ocean by writing it.  He let the Dark Presense have its way.  One has to wonder why one tries to contain the darkness.  But, what came out from it was that he needs to take the journey into darkness, so that the darkness grows, and he has to then battle it with light, so that good comes about.  He writes that he knows the equation must be balanced, which meant that there are sacrifices involved.  This is said of maybe evil making a bargain, but then he realizes the inverse.  By letting the darkness grown, the battle gets waged, and you shine a light on it, and good comes about.

The lake is supposed to be a source of great magic, and make what the artist creates reality.  This art of creation can be used for good or evil.  What I see the evil presense is, is that part of man which is the darkness.  It is the evil parts that drive men to do bad things, and it is also the unknown and disasters that men thing on.  It is actually what exists in the unknown.  Alan narrates how there is an equation and a price that must be balanced, like it is a law.  When he realizes this, the way he is able to see the ending that happens in Bright Falls is to give himself over to the darkness, and then allow the light to shine.  Don't fear the process of being a creator, but battle the darkness, for that is what all great stories do have.  You go deeper into the darkness and shine a light on it.  You don't attempt to bury it, but let it run its course.

And all this, to me, is excellent, and lends to why I need to get this game.  This IS a psychological thriller, and not just some horror movie.  It is about the mind and nature of man, and that explaination really hints at great storytelling.  Anyhow, maybe I am off, but that seems to make a lot of sense to me.  Please feel free to correct anything I say, as I have not played the game yet, but did read up on the plot of the game, and the characters, and the explainations and I did see the game.

My take on that, is that Alan Wake just wrote the lake to become an ocean, and did get overcome with the dark presense in and embraced his journey into darkness.  He decided to fight the darkness by entering it, and battling the darkness within himself.  By turning the lake into an ocean, he unleashed a lot of power for other creative people to create and change reality.  The cost of that is the unleashing of the darkness to.

Well, that is my take.  I am sure the truth is in the neighborhood somewhere.

I am currently mooching off family now, as I haven't been able to do paid work, due to the economy (pushing over 3 years without a job) so I am trying to fight back with various project work, and do pick up stuff for Game Room (I wrote a thread explaining this).  So, I am fighting a darkness of my own here.  That means I don't have money for the game now.  Game Room is part of a website project I am doing, so my gaming becomes business.  That is what holds me back from a lot.  I have to seriously pick my shots now.  In the old days, Alan Wake would of been purchased by me, along with Red Dead, and Mod Nation Racer.

I also think, regarding the reviewers, if reviewers don't get the story, they will review the gameplay, and find that maybe it was too repetitive, so they knock the score down.  The sequel, if the lake is now an ocean, should promise far more diverse gameplay.

It may not be true but thats how it feels to me when they already have 2 DLC episodes planned. Why do they need a bridge? Why not make the first game longer or make the second one pick up where the first left off. I just feel like instead of paying the 60 for the game you basically need to pay 80 for the game to get the full experience. Since i think it is 10.00 per extra episode. It just makes me wonder if consoles didnt have DLC would the 2 DLC episodes be in the first or second game?

AW was awesome and pretty good story, but I didn't like the ending. While I was watching it, I was expecting something more to happen, and when it ended I was like "That's it?!" Needless to say, an ending shouldn't have that effect on somebody.