Seven years after the release of their noir action-shooter Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Remedy return with Alan Wake, a psychological action-thriller which puts players in the shoes of a best-selling author suffering from writer’s block, an author fittingly named Alan Wake. When Alan’s wife Alice disappears while on vacation in the seemingly idyllic town of Bright Falls, Alan sets out to rescue her, only to find pages from a thriller dotted around town, a story with his name on it, but that he doesn’t remember writing and a story which quickly begins to influence real life. As the story turns from a thriller into a fully-fledged horror and a dark presence takes over the town and its inhabitants, Wake questions both his actions and sanity in an effort to save his lost wife: if he can survive long enough, he might also uncover some of the town’s darkest secrets.
An adventure game with more than a few twists, Alan Wake is also a finely crated homage to the horror/thriller genre, in all kinds of media. References to LOST, Twin Peaks and The Twilight Zone are woven into the story, much like hard-boiled detectives and noir were built into the Max Payne series. The game pays specific reference to TV shows, with the story divided into six distinct episodes, each of which is perfectly crafted around the beats one would expect from a well written serialized show, bookended by both an opening title and musical end theme. It’s this “episodic” format which allows Alan Wake to distinguish itself from other psychological games such as Silent Hill and Deadly Premonition; the story flows smoothly, following peaks and troughs that unveil parts of the narrative throughout every episode, each lasting approximately between and hour and two hours.
Putting players in control of a writer, Alan Wake isn’t afraid to play with concepts of storytelling, which play an important part in the gameplay. Not only are there TVs and radios dotted around Bright Falls providing information on the world of the game, but the story is spurred on by the manuscript pages littered around each episode, some placed directly on the players’ path while others are found littered amongst the town and its surrounding forest. These pages inform players of both past and future events, as well as providing an insight into other “scenes” that are happening concurrently, explaining just why things are in such a way and the motivation of some characters. Their most immediate use, however, is by warning players of upcoming dangers, which only serves to enhance and reinforce the sense of dread that these dangers are unavoidable, playing into the story’s concepts of free will versus manipulation.
It is this sense of dread which proliferates so successfully throughout Alan Wake, thanks in part to the excellent lighting mechanics that, again, are not just there to build atmosphere, but are also integral to the plot. With Bright Falls under assault by a dark presence, shadows creep up from every corner; dark figures known as The Taken bear axes, chainsaws and sickles as they relentlessly chase Wake through the woods; and inanimate objects come to life with a murderous rage. Before each of these attacks, an ominous black fog (not unlike LOST‘s smoke monster) will blanket the area, covering what little moonlight there is to be had. There’s never insufficient light to see, and it’s impressive that Alan Wake is able to tell the difference between black and dark, with Remedy creating a lighting system which never feels frustrating, but is always unsettling.
Against all this darkness, light is Wake’s main line of defence. While the writer may be handy with a handgun, rifle and shotgun, the growing dark presence can only be defeated after being bathed in light. Luckily for Wake, Bright Falls has been littered with light sources: a trusty flash-light will almost always be at hand for Wake to shine on enemies; flares, flare guns and flash grenades are the next step up, providing much more flash-bang for your flash-buck; and the town even has generators dotted around, attached to powerful floodlights at worksites and camping grounds. Light isn’t just a weapon, though: it allows Alan to recover his health. But even the brightest area is only a momentary safe haven, with batteries and generators running out of juice, and everything else is available in limited supply.
Fighting the darkness is what players will be doing for most of Alan Wake and in that respect Remedy have created both a tight, and smooth control system. With torch in one hand and gun in the other players, fighting enemies is a combination of shining light on one of the Taken before reaching for your weapon. The Taken are powerful and fast enemies, though, and will often outnumber and overpower Alan. While the game provides a dodge button, it’s only for those sticky corners: the rest of the gameplay really involves players (and Alan) using their wits and tactics. Alan himself exists in that perfect place for a game’s hero where he has his strengths, but also some very obvious weaknesses as well.
Despite the ever-constant threat of shadows, the game isn’t afraid to interact with the genre which it fits in with, providing moments of light-hearted comedy, intertextuality and witty moments. Wake himself will constantly narrate his surroundings, drawing reference to the similarities between his predicament and that of the works of Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft, and the supporting characters are aware of their roles as well, with literary agent Barry fulfilling the role of the lovable, but annoying, sidekick, while the town’s aging rockers Odin and Tor, formerly of the band Old Gods Of Asgard, provide some comedy that also contributes to one of the best video game set-pieces of recent years.
Music plays a huge part in the game, not just in continuing the feel that Alan Wake is a TV series but also in contributing to the story itself, and the themes therein. Music is both original and licensed, with some dark sounds provided by way of Nick Cave and Roy Orbison combined with an original score provided by Petri Alanko. The game also includes some original music from Poets Of The Fall, returning after contributing to the soundtrack of Max Payne and contributing songs in-game as the Old Gods Of Asgard.
As with the Max Payne series before it, Remedy have managed to create a game which manages to be both mature and interesting while still remaining a lot of fun to play. With one of the tightest-wound storylines in video game history, Alan Wake is a breath of fresh air amongst the countless adventures of army soldiers and space marines. It’s one thing to be able to successful homage more successful literature and entertainment, it’s another thing to be able to stand alongside them and Alan Wake does just that.
Zombie Rating: A+
You have done it once more. Superb post!
If only I had a dollar for each time I came to burnallzombies.com.. Amazing read.