Alan Wake, man that game is fun as hell as long as you make it a challenge and play above normal difficulty. Than the early portion only provides you with just enough ammo to survive, making for some great thrills. From the beggining, a flash light becomes your best friend forcing you to blind your foes before you can send them to oblivion. This is what makes Alan Wake unique because I can hardly think of a game were you have to stun all your foes before you can eliminate them. Makes me really wish it could be played with move to make even greater immersion.
I was shocked at the graphics. They looked like the best I had seen on the 360 at that point and I was very pleased with the asthetics. The dark and macabre mood and landscape is consistantly dark and spooky. Anyone who has camped in a forest walking around in the dark alone would wonder what beasts or even worse the crazy human beast might lurk in the dark waiting to take your soul. Alan Wake accomplishes this feat to a large extent giving you a fright crazier than most people would imagine. You are alone and your wife is gone wtf is going on.
The player consistantly wants to know what is going on as the story is good through most of it. Bringing in enough characters for you to realize there is a town nearby. In later parts, the story keeps pace by putting a face on some malevolent characters and continues to make you wonder what really is happening to Wake. The game also gets tougher as fights start to become more like a traditional shooter requiring a lot less conservation of ammo. I call this a good thing because it is drastically different than the first part of the game and it keeps the gameplay from becoming too dull and monotonous.
My major flaws come from a fight on a rock stage that looks straight out of Left4Dead 2. Still it remains fun so it is only a minor complaint. My other main proplem was that the drivingparts had archiac design and this pulls you away from the experience reminding you that it is only a videogame. Finally, I did not love the ending as most people say, but some stories do not demand an answer. So without giving it away this mystery remains good without the best conclusion.
9.1 One of the best on the 360!
