I have just picked up my copy of the new game from Remedy Studios (the guys who have given us the Max Paine Series) Alan Wake and first impressions it’s a little strange, which is a good thing.
The game has been set out like a TV series with distinctly defined chapters (or episodes) which have an opening of “previously on Alan Wake” and ending music for each chaptered. If this was a TV series it would be defined as a paranormal thriller and that’s exactly what it is.
You spend your time looking over your back to make sure something isn’t about to get you from behind. While Alan Wake has his voice over telling you what’s happening as if you were sitting there watching TV.
The game play itself can be a little poor at times which normally comes when you are playing a 3rd person shooter, though although you do have a gun is far from a traditional shooter. The camera seems to have a strange angle movement that at times makes it hard to see around there you want to look. This with the at times blurry outlines of figures may be the planned results of the game designers but one thing that really gets me is poor camera movement in 3rd person mode. The story is where this game excels due to the fact it’s been written like a TV series with many cliff hangers to keep you interested with the I’ll just see what happens next style that turns it into a 3 hour sit down without even noticing.
You can’t help but feel the writers have had a laugh when they were writing some of the dialog and small cinematic which helps to keep the flow of the game though the very dark and at times just plan strange.
I would recommend this game to anyone who likes a bit of a thriller and the what was that sound in their games. If you are still a little unsure check out the trailer.