Alan Woke

I just finished Alan Wake. It was really good. Despite that I will now critique it, as my nature demands I do with all things.
     The story kept me coming back to the game eagerly. The game play, however, got to be a touch redundant by the end. This could be because I played the game start-to-finish in about four days, though. The environments were cool and creepy. Unfortunately there were only about 4 different environments to enjoy: Scary Woods, Scary Abandoned Farm-ish Town, Not So Scary Building Interior, and...well...more Scary Woods.
     People who get their hackles up about ambiguous endings will probably (read: definitely) be frustrated by this game. I don't mind ambiguity too much. I'd prefer the writers hold my hand at the end explaining (but not over explaining) exactly what happened, but I can deal with it.
     Replay has become a huge concern for me. Had I bought it instead of renting I would get at least one of the two available DLCs. Beside the DLC I could see myself doing another play of Wake and then (realistically) trying it on hard then losing interest and not finishing it. That's a long way of saying I think the replayability is not so great.
     All of that being said, I really enjoyed Alan Wake and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys horror...and good things.
     I also met up (in game) with a new xbox friend from the Fear the Boot forums. We played a few levels of Lost Colony 2. Good times.

Wake up!

I've mentioned in previous posts that I don't do video game reviews. I'm not back peddling on that, but I do need to gush about a game I rented yesterday. This is not a review!
I just got around to renting Alan Wake for xbox. It is amazing. The closest comparison I can make is that it is similar to survival horror, but Alan Wake is less a traditional video game than it is an interactive story where you shoot stuff. The narrative format is similar to the most recent Alone in the Dark title which took the concept of an episodic television series and tried to apply that to a video game. Each "level" is presented as an episode, starting with a "Previously on ..." and while Alone in the Dark ended each episode literally with closing credits, Alan Wake simply gives you a "End of Episode" splash screen which plays some of the haunting music from it's soundtrack. Which is incredible by the way. The first episode ends with Roy Orbison's surprisingly appropriate and haunting "In Dreams". Alan Wake's "episodes" also (as far as I've played) end with a brief cinematic which ends with a televisionically predictable cliffhanger-like plot reveal. Don't misunderstand me, please, I'm not saying the plot of Alan Wake is predictable, I'm saying that in this style of narrative you usually anticipate an "oh shit!" moment at the end of the episode and Alan Wake does not fail to deliver.
     While the only thing that was truly interesting about Alone in the Dark was this tv-like format, Alan brings a lot more to the table. I am already hooked by the story, which seems heavily influenced by Stephen King stories. Alan Wake has a fantastic narrative, both in terms of the story being told and how the story is told. The game play is tight, killing the creepy baddies is gratifying, and the atmosphere is eerie. I like it, and I'll probably rant more on it once I finish it.