1. mario1088

   10

   Even Stephen King would not be ashamed with that quality of plot. Characters like from Twin Peaks deep and not obvious, perfect atmosphere and surroundings. My vote 10!… Expand

   • Helpful? 3 of 3 users said Yes.
2. hooner

   8

   Very engaging game and an interesting combat concept. Overall story is so-so in my opinion and somewhat generic if you have read better source material, but its the 1st single player game I have played all the way to the end since Dead Space, so that says something.… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 2 users said Yes.
3. TitaniumDragon

   5

   This game is greatly overrated. What's wrong?
   
   Well, it starts off strong enough you get into the action quickly (none of this "oh I don't get to really play for an hour" nonsense) and you get into the mystery of the piece pretty quickly. What's not to like?
   
   Well, the problem is that Alan Wake suffers from two problems:
   
   1) The action is terrible.
   
   2) The story isn't great.
   
   The first is obvious; in the intro, you learn how you burn the shadows off of enemies, then you shoot them to death. Okay, cool, so they expand on it right? No. The ENTIRE GAME'S GAMEPLAY is exactly the same thing burn the shadows off of enemies, then shoot them. There isn't even much variety in the way of enemies there are normal enemies, that cut you; fast enemies, which are harder to hit; and large enemies, who deal more damage and take more damage to cut down. There are moving objects that lift themselves up and hurl themselves at you as well, which sounds a lot better than it actually is the physics of it is awkward and the AI sucks, meaning they often "get stuck" on stuff.
   
   Thus the ENTIRE game's action consists of doing the same thing over and over and over again, to enemy after enemy after enemy, with little variation. Somewhere around episode 2 (of 6) it wears thin, and there's a lot more to go.
   
   The collectibles, likewise, leave something to be desired. Half of them are stupid, and the other half of them, while okay, suffer from the problem that searching for them messes up the gameplay and pacing; rather than trying to get out of the woods, instead you spend hours wandering around in the woods trying to find pages and thermoses and other nonsense. It sucks; the game plays a lot better when you aren't running around trying to find stuff because (let's face it) the gameplay wears thin anyway, it is even thinner stretched out like that. It doesn't help that Alan Wake can't run for very long, and has to slow down if you have him run for more than thirty feet or so that dude is seriously out of shape.
   
   Okay, so the gameplay rather sucks (even if the basic premise sounds interesting). What about the story?
   
   Well... again, the story kind of sucks too. The problem is that you start off the game with a mystery, and all's well, right? Well...
   
   It becomes glaringly clear what the answer to the mystery is early on, and without that mystery, there's just... nothing really substantive. Sure, the characters run around, and Barry and Sarah are okay characters, but Alan Wake himself is a bit bland and really it all feels a bit pointless. The story isn't terrible, but it isn't amazing either, which means that it doesn't make up for the mediocre gameplay. There is a brief upswing in the story in episodes 4 and 5, where it feels more fun, but the end of the game is as bland as chapters 2 and 3 were, and feels very empty due to the loss of any other characters interacting with you.
   
   Overall I can't recommend this game, but I don't discourage you from buying it either; however, it is average, neither great nor terrible.… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 2 users said Yes.
4. Dheu

   3

   I am certain Alan Wake will garner many positive reviews that focused on the story and its "unusual" style and presentation. I admit, it is interesting and would make an excellent book or movie. The problem is that even the best novel can be turned into a bad computer game and that is essentially what has happened here.
   
   The story unfolds over the coarse of 20 hours as you run from one well lit area to the next, fighting waves of the exact same 4 monsters, using the exact same 4 weapons and the exact same strategy all the way to the end. The Enemy AI is rudimentary. The soundtrack is non-existent. Alan Wake will occasionally narrate and explain a new revelation, or what he is feeling or what you need to do next.
   
   The game lacks tradition incentives to keep you playing. There are no choices, no dialogue trees, no weapon upgrades, no level-ups. Even Alan Wakes own survival is tied to the plot and thus never seems to be in question. The game thrusts you into the action without spending sufficient time on character development and then tells you that you need to do X, Y and Z if you wish to save various people you don't care about. This might work in a book or movie were we are simply spectators along for the ride, but it is asking a lot in a game where players must invest 20 hours of their own time to progress the story. I constantly found myself asking the question, "Do I really care about these people? Do I even care what happens to Alan Wake? Why do I need a key to open this door when I have a shotgun in my hand?" As a result, it is easy to lose interest. This is one of the few games I have played in my life that I have had to force myself to finish. Somewhere along the way, Remedy lost that balance between making a game with a good story and a game that is still fun to play. People invest in computers and pay top dollar for games because they want more than books or movies can offer. My advice: Buy BioShock or replay Indigo Prophecy. You can skip this one.… Expand

   • Helpful? 18 of 32 users said Yes.

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