Alan Wake

Alan Wake has been in development a long time and it's clear that Remedy wanted it to be something a little special. And that it is!

Alan Wake is very definitely story driven and although the game has many strong elements, it's the story AND the way it's told that make Alan Wake not just a very good game but propels it into the next tier of truly great games. Not only was it fun to play, but I found the story so engrossing, that just like a good book, I found it difficult to put the game down because I just had to know what was going to happen next.

Thankfully, the level of care and detail extends also to the graphics. You'll spend a lot of time in the forest at night, but no matter, the forest is gorgeously rendered. The mist that rolls in to announce the imminent arrival of the bad guys is very convincingly done. During the day, you can climb lookouts and look across beautiful forest vistas. Lakes and rivers sparkle in the sunlight, birds soar high in the sky. So stunning were the graphics at times, that I sometimes stopped playing the game and just admired the view.

The game is no slouch in the audio department with all the requisite creepy sounds you might expect to hear in a deep, dark forest that is home to creatures of the night. The soundtrack has also received much praise in the gaming media.

Alan Wake is the reason I play games. It's a technical showcase combined with compelling gameplay and an engrossing story that Stephen King himself, could have written. Remedy have done themselves proud with a game that stands amongst the best available on the 360.

I first seen Alan Wake development videos in the lead up to the Xbox 360 launch at that time it fascinated me. The game appeared to be very technically impressive when compared to the generation of games at that time.

When it was released last year, I let it slide as I thought it looked like any other current generation game. The impressiveness of the technology seemed to have simmered down over time.

My ignorance of the game and the fact that it was released about the same time as Red Dead Redemption let it slide under my radar. Little did I know when Mighty Ape advertised it for $30 that I was perhaps purchasing one of the games of the year.

After selecting 'Hard', watching the introduction, the gameplay started and the atmosphere set. I knew I was playing something that would keep me hooked. The fluid controlling, frights and then excellent story kept me driven to keep playing. It's one of those games that you think, "I'll just play this little part" to yourself and you say that to yourself several times.

Alan Wake looks stunning. The game is dark and cold. You'll find yourself traversing through dangerous fog to find hidden things, yet wondering if you're crazy to do so. The game make great use of bloom lighting to really emphasize the importance of light in the darkness.

From the creators of the Max Payne series comes Alan Wake. It is everything I expected it to be, if you don't pick this up then you're missing out.

The atmosphere in this game was just amazing! I couldn't put down my controller every time I started playing. Good story, good shooting mechanics, a good score to go with the excellent visuals. There was a few minor problems that prevented me from giving this game a perfect score. The driving part in this game is not that good, the car sounds weak and the car handles like half its size. Not really a problem since you don't drive 90% of the time. The variety of enemy is too few. The ending might leaves a few questions unanswered, which leave plenty of room for future DLC (Down-loadable Content) The Signal is the 1st DLC and comes free with a new copy. Overall I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good story, creepy atmosphere, shooting things that jump out of the shadows at you, can't go wrong with this.

Brilliant, Alan Wake is intelligent. Remedy have trusted the gamer with enough integrity to enjoy this game. It is unique in that it does not follow the current trend of fast paced, instantly rewarding, mindless blockbuster games. This is an authetic adventure game, takes the gamer back to the old days of Silent Hill and Resident Evil. If those games were to evolve along the similar lines of their S\style, Alan Wake would be the result. The Episode style and constant narration are an excellent addition as well. Truly brilliant, do the world of gaming a favour and support titles like this, it is one of the last games that does not believe every gamer is a child, who needs their hand held throughout the process.

The game starts of really good and can be quit scary at times, just it doesn't get any different as the game goes on, just the same old thing, "shine torch on zombie, shoot zombie with gun" and the story can get just too weird, but other than that its ok