Time to Wake Up, Part 1

I've been playing Alan Wake.  It's that game that came out on consoles over a year ago.  The same game that just came out on PC less than a week ago.  Oh, and I should also mention how the PC version paid for itself in less than 48 hours.  Score.

I'm going to talk about this game in pretty considerable detail, but probably not in this post.  It's 1:30 AM and I'm tired.  The things I want to say before I go to bed tonight is that this game is something different.  For one thing, it's actually rather difficult at times.  I've never had a game own me so often.  I've gotten frustrated a few times, and I've cussed at my monitor plenty.  Sometimes the game is a total dick!

But when the game -isn't- being a dick, it is doing one of two things quite well: Either telling me a fantastic story, or scaring the mother-loving poo out of me.

I consider Amnesia: The Dark Descent to be the greatest horror game ever made.  Alan Wake is a different kind of horror -- it's more of a making-you-jump kind of horror, rather than the slowly building dread that permeates through the entirety of Amnesia.  Alan Wake gets your heart pumping and your adrenaline rushing.  It's a horror-adventure game, really.  Or even a horror-action-adventure game, if you really want to throw all the genres together.  (Use ALL the genres!)

That being said, I would think a lot less of this game if the story was weak.  It would just be a rather bland game that sometimes made you jump.  But the story is fantastic.  It's something right out of a Stephen King novel (who is mentioned several times throughout the game).  And let's face it, you're not going to get a better horror story from anyone else.

There are so many other things to like about this game.  It's separated into episodes, with each one ending in a song and the start of the next beginning with a "Previously on Alan Wake" montage of events, summing up everything quite nicely for you.  It makes me feel like I'm playing an interactive TV show, and that's just the fucking cat's meow.

One other thing sticks in my mind as I'm writing this.  As you may or may not know, the whole "hook" of this game is that you must use light to defend yourself.  There's a darkness chasing you, and the light weakens it.  You use your flashlight to weaken the enemies before shooting them.  It's a cool mechanic, and the stakes keep getting higher and higher as you go along.  I've just finished Episode 4, and I now have a "High-Powered Lantern", which I upgraded from my "High-Powered Flashlight", which I upgraded from my normal flashlight.  I've also used lamps, work lights, car headlights, and even a FIREWORKS DISPLAY to fight the darkness.

To my point, however, there was this absolutely brilliant part of the game where I was running from the FBI.  (Don't ask.)  I had to stay out of the light of their flashlights to avoid getting shot at.  The game utterly turned the tables completely around on me.  Now -I- was the one who had to stay out of the light.  It was as if the darkness was now laughing at me saying, "Ha!  How's it feel, bitch?"

There is oh-so-much more I have to say about this game, but I really need to go to bed.  Expect more on this game in the coming days.  Until then, good night!