This review contains spoilers
Perhaps the single biggest gaming letdown I've experienced so far. With how much Alan Wake is hyped up by nearly everyone who plays it, it comes as a disappointment that actually playing the game is a mostly boring, positively confounding slog.
First, let me start with a few things I liked. The episodic tv-show format that it uses is a nice homage to the classic media like Twin Peaks that inspired the game. It doesn’t have a huge effect on anything, but it’s probably the most faithful execution I’ve seen yet, even if the “previously on Alan Wake” recaps are entirely redundant. I also adore Bright Falls, the sleepy Pacific Northwest town that’s as cozy as it is ripe for mystery. I just wish we spent more time in the town than the dull forest you spend 90% of the game in.
Now let’s get into how Alan Wake squanders its decent potential. Let’s start with the combat. At first the idea of using light to weaken enemies before putting them down seems like a unique spin on fighting foes. It’s a great setup for improvisation by not allowing you to brute force every encounter. Unfortunately not much thought was put into it besides that. The game just gives you a magically limitless flashlight that trivializes the concept itself. It’s painfully tedious to have to stare at every enemy for an extra five seconds before even beginning to shoot at them. It is comical how quickly the game becomes a chore to play when every encounter is artificially lengthened by the unengaging and shallow light mechanic, only made slightly less annoying by the occasional flashbang you can find.
Add to the list an inconsistent dodge mechanic that works whenever it feels like it and the gameplay can basically be boiled down to running from Point A to Point B while you’re made a pincushion by hordes of world-class axe throwers constantly surrounding you every 10 seconds. There’s no interesting puzzles, fun segments, or challenges of quick-wit. Just tests of attrition mislabeled as chapters. It says a lot that my personal favorite part of the game is whenever it lets you drive, because of how cathartic it was to feel like I was saving time by skipping possible enemy encounters.
Now onto the story. Alan Wake does one of those things that I absolutely despise. It presents a plausible explanation for the events of the story (he’s just imagining things), makes you think that’s where it’s going, and then does the fakeout. The problem is that not only does it all being fake or exaggerated make more sense, but it also offers the only out for a half-baked story with characters who act like the Dunkin Donuts got their order wrong instead of there being shadow monsters invading their town. I was praying it was all in his head the whole time because of how utterly devoid of logic it would otherwise be.
The whole story was told in such an over-serious way with such a silly premise that never really gets explored or explained that in my mind it couldn’t possibly be all that it seems. There simply HAD to be more to it. But nope, everything Alan witnessed and heard is actually exactly as it’s told. It turns out everyone else is crazy for thinking that an eldritch monster demon-woman is unlikely to latch on to and weaponize the writings of a second class writer with too much melodrama for his own good.
With a clearer focus on making a compelling narrative, I would have been much more likely to overlook the lackluster gameplay. I have nothing against cheesy or hokey stories, but Alan Wake feels like it’s trying to use its inspirations to excuse the lack of a tonally consistent story. I don’t hate Alan Wake, but I hate that I don’t like it.
First, let me start with a few things I liked. The episodic tv-show format that it uses is a nice homage to the classic media like Twin Peaks that inspired the game. It doesn’t have a huge effect on anything, but it’s probably the most faithful execution I’ve seen yet, even if the “previously on Alan Wake” recaps are entirely redundant. I also adore Bright Falls, the sleepy Pacific Northwest town that’s as cozy as it is ripe for mystery. I just wish we spent more time in the town than the dull forest you spend 90% of the game in.
Now let’s get into how Alan Wake squanders its decent potential. Let’s start with the combat. At first the idea of using light to weaken enemies before putting them down seems like a unique spin on fighting foes. It’s a great setup for improvisation by not allowing you to brute force every encounter. Unfortunately not much thought was put into it besides that. The game just gives you a magically limitless flashlight that trivializes the concept itself. It’s painfully tedious to have to stare at every enemy for an extra five seconds before even beginning to shoot at them. It is comical how quickly the game becomes a chore to play when every encounter is artificially lengthened by the unengaging and shallow light mechanic, only made slightly less annoying by the occasional flashbang you can find.
Add to the list an inconsistent dodge mechanic that works whenever it feels like it and the gameplay can basically be boiled down to running from Point A to Point B while you’re made a pincushion by hordes of world-class axe throwers constantly surrounding you every 10 seconds. There’s no interesting puzzles, fun segments, or challenges of quick-wit. Just tests of attrition mislabeled as chapters. It says a lot that my personal favorite part of the game is whenever it lets you drive, because of how cathartic it was to feel like I was saving time by skipping possible enemy encounters.
Now onto the story. Alan Wake does one of those things that I absolutely despise. It presents a plausible explanation for the events of the story (he’s just imagining things), makes you think that’s where it’s going, and then does the fakeout. The problem is that not only does it all being fake or exaggerated make more sense, but it also offers the only out for a half-baked story with characters who act like the Dunkin Donuts got their order wrong instead of there being shadow monsters invading their town. I was praying it was all in his head the whole time because of how utterly devoid of logic it would otherwise be.
The whole story was told in such an over-serious way with such a silly premise that never really gets explored or explained that in my mind it couldn’t possibly be all that it seems. There simply HAD to be more to it. But nope, everything Alan witnessed and heard is actually exactly as it’s told. It turns out everyone else is crazy for thinking that an eldritch monster demon-woman is unlikely to latch on to and weaponize the writings of a second class writer with too much melodrama for his own good.
With a clearer focus on making a compelling narrative, I would have been much more likely to overlook the lackluster gameplay. I have nothing against cheesy or hokey stories, but Alan Wake feels like it’s trying to use its inspirations to excuse the lack of a tonally consistent story. I don’t hate Alan Wake, but I hate that I don’t like it.