Alan Wake Review

While we're on the subject, Alan Wake isn't an embarrassingly short game, but it's not a lengthy game either. There's no doubt a majority of gamers will finish it in about 9-10 hours while playing on 'normal' difficulty (maybe even less than that, if they don't deviate from the main path to search for hidden manuscripts and coffee thermoses).

Just let me stuff this annoyingly bright flashlight in your face.

Wouldn't live here if you paid me.

There are many things I expected of this game and I'm sure a lot of people will feel that way before trying it out. Once you get into the first scenes of Alan Wake, there's a good chance you'll play all the way to the last episode. The story isn't brilliant, but it gives players what they need to keep moving forward. What really kept me playing was the actual combat and fighting off enemies with a neat combination of light and firearms. When it comes down to it, I guess having solid gameplay mechanics is the most important thing for any game. In that sense, Alan Wake did not disappoint. Also, the voice acting is very good and the music suits the atmosphere perfectly.

In this day and age, it doesn't set new boundaries in the world of modern-day gaming, which, of course is a shame, seeing as it was once one of the most anticipated titles in recent history. It's painfully obvious this game needed to be released earlier. As far as the visuals, go, Alan Wake looks okay, as long as we're talking about the dark segments. During daytime sections it's easy to notice how outdated everything looks. Still, this didn't bother me much, because I really enjoyed the moody ambiance, in addition to the addictive gameplay mechanics, which, you'll have to admit is more important than pompous, fancy graphics.

My biggest regret is that this didn't turn out to be a longer game, with more characters and a more intricate plot.