Played on an original Xbox 360.
If I could score Alan Wake based purely on its setting, narrative, amd over all vibes this would get 10s across the board from me - it's a wonder that outside of Remedy's experiments and Deadly Premonition the market of making a game influenced so heavily by Twin Peaks remains firmly untouched yet this game managed to ride those coattails whilst throwing in its own clever twists on those old ideas.
The gameplay is where Alan Wake falters however - it's not really bad persay but it's very basic and repetitive with not much in the way of keeping you engaged. I actually found it kind of comfy at first, the first few chapters go by on a Normal difficulty setting without much issue, leaving you in a chill state of wondering around, get enemies pointed out to you, react with flashlight and kill, rinse and repeat. The later chapters really only serve to point out how shallow that gameplay loop is though. You see a lot of cool environments with fun setpieces and cool story beats, but the combat gets a little tedious after a while and never truly feels "fun". The idea of staggering enemies with light a is a neat one but I'd hate to play on the higher difficulties with stronger enemies and less access to items as Normal felt more than balanced to me.
Overall I would recommend playing Alan Wake if for nothing else than to set yourself up for its terrific-looking sequel. It can be beat in just over 10 hours and while the gameplay can be a bit tedious later on, the tone and story Remedy set out to craft here is wonderfully unique and intriguing.
If I could score Alan Wake based purely on its setting, narrative, amd over all vibes this would get 10s across the board from me - it's a wonder that outside of Remedy's experiments and Deadly Premonition the market of making a game influenced so heavily by Twin Peaks remains firmly untouched yet this game managed to ride those coattails whilst throwing in its own clever twists on those old ideas.
The gameplay is where Alan Wake falters however - it's not really bad persay but it's very basic and repetitive with not much in the way of keeping you engaged. I actually found it kind of comfy at first, the first few chapters go by on a Normal difficulty setting without much issue, leaving you in a chill state of wondering around, get enemies pointed out to you, react with flashlight and kill, rinse and repeat. The later chapters really only serve to point out how shallow that gameplay loop is though. You see a lot of cool environments with fun setpieces and cool story beats, but the combat gets a little tedious after a while and never truly feels "fun". The idea of staggering enemies with light a is a neat one but I'd hate to play on the higher difficulties with stronger enemies and less access to items as Normal felt more than balanced to me.
Overall I would recommend playing Alan Wake if for nothing else than to set yourself up for its terrific-looking sequel. It can be beat in just over 10 hours and while the gameplay can be a bit tedious later on, the tone and story Remedy set out to craft here is wonderfully unique and intriguing.