Revival of the Action Thriller Genre: Alan Wake

It's been a number of years back, but I still remember the first time I was playing the first Silent Hill game in my Sony PlayStation. The eeriness of the dark plus unknown forces walking about and attacking my character definitely scared me and on certain instances made me scream specially those moments like when a dead body came out of a locker. But since then, I have yet got the same feeling again in this genre which is sad.

Then came Remedy Entertainment's Alan Wake for the XBOX 360. The game used elements from the Silent Hill franchise like the darkness and the unknown forces and gave somewhat the same feeling for me (although I still find Silent Hill scarier). But I believe there were things done correctly which I want to list out.

The setting is brilliantly dark

The story starts with Alan Wake a successful writer going for a vacation trip with his wife into Bright Falls. The environment is breathtakingly beautiful and felt very much alive (well its actually alive in certain instances). In different parts of the story, you will be found in the very much alive and well lit places in Bright Falls and most of the time you will be in dark places at night with only your flashlight as your main source of light to traverse the levels. There are a handful of locations where there will be other sources of light but still once you leave those spots you will be relying on your good ol' flashlight for light. In some scenes, I was just filled with awe looking at how beautiful they are.

Fighting the\in Dark

Another very creative aspect of this game is the action part. Where in its using the standard 3rd person shooter mechanics and changed some aspects to make it feel new. Like using the flash light beam as a replacement for the traditional targetting reticle. Another thing is to make the flash light into a weapon rather than just a light source. As possessed towns folk and other objects get controlled by the darkness, Alan's best weapon is the flash light to cause the zombie like towns folk weaken and ready to be killed by the various guns available then for other objects prolonged exposure to the light will cause it to explode. The variety of weapons that can be used are pretty much ok and believable (that they can be found in a small town like this). Enemies can be from any towns people you meet in the game to any objects including bulldozers and other big machines (Yikes!).

Story that will make you thinking and guessing

The story is one of the best points of this game as well. Dividing the game into episodes and making it really feel like a series was a good touch. Complete with the ending songs and the recap of the previous episode upon starting the new one. Another very interesting bit about the game is how they used the manuscript pages (collectibles in the game). It sometimes tells you about what happend previously (Past), what is about to happen (Present) and what is going to happen in the long run (Future). There were even times that the manuscript talked about certain dangers before you actually face them which will make you paranoid on every little thing because somehow you are anticipating a certain attack. The overall plot is not too shabby as well (although I am still 1 more episode to go). My wife is actually enjoying watching me play and guessing what is about to happen next just like watching an action series on television.

Soundtrack that will make you sing a long

I am not really a very soundtrack listening type of guy. But there are certain games that really have great soundtracks and Alan Wake is one of those. Mostly used for ending songs per episode but there are also some songs that plays during play time. These are specially the songs of the in game band "Old Gods Of Asgard". It has a very catchy song that makes you sing a long. I even had to stop my wife from singing as she kept on singing one particular song. You can try to listen to that particular song on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOxSqSxRy-4&feature=related but please be warned that it contains some spoilers so listen at your own risk.

In conclusion, Alan Wake is a pretty good action thriller game that will keep you a little bit scared to be out at night without your handy flash light. Although it still has some way to go if it wants to attain the same level of scariness as Silent Hill. This is definitely one of those games that you would want to buy and play atleast 2-3 times to complete everything.

If you are interested to purchase this game, you can find different regions of this game selling cheap below:

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-19-71-f5-15-alan+wake-43-f5.html

Best Game of 2009(IMHO) - Batman: Arkham Asylum

What a better way to start 2010 than to play one of the best games of 2009.

Only word I can say is "Amazing!". It is by far the best Batman game ever released (at least from my perspective). From start to finish you will definitely be hooked. My housemate was so hooked, that he finished the game in one day (yes, one whole day). Just wanted to share some points below on what made this game great.

Art of fighting

In Batman, there are a lot of times where you will be faced with a lot of baddies that wants to give Batman a beating like every other game available. The big difference is how the fighting mechanism was done. Each action was mapped to a single button, making it simple (it may need a bit of time to get used to) but it doesn't take the fun out of it. Imagine if you can use all the techniques properly without breaking the chain, then Batman can just beat up all the baddies without even taking a single hit, which gives players a little "helping hand" by giving some indications when to counter or when to go for an attack. This "helping hand", however, is not there if your playing the game on hard mode. That's why you really need to pay attention to your enemies' body movement and distance. Not only is it easy to control, it's also really good to look at. It's so much good to savor every successful command you input and you can watch how Batman beat up the heck out of the baddies as if it was a piece of art. This fighting mechanism is the one thing that makes this game unique from any other action adventuregames .

Tools of the trade

Who is Batman without his signature gadgets like the Batarang, bat claw, etc. This is not only useful for taking out or avoiding baddies but also really useful in other aspects of the game such as remote switch flipping and breakable-wall crushing to gain access to the next areas. Having all these gadgets available really makes the experience of playing Batman realistic and unique.  This is unlike other Batman games where most of the time only the Batarang is available. Some of the signature Batman vehicles are also found here, like the Batmobile and the Batwing. However, you cannot really ride them in any point of the game but these vehicles are there to provide the very much needed help such as delivering some new goodies to Batman.

The Great detective

Batman is indeed one of the best fictional detectives (except for Sherlock Holmes, I guess).  The secret is to look outside the box with an extra help from the detective view. From following smoke residues to spotting DNA residues to searching for an item's scent. But it doesnt stop there, you can also plan on how you take out your enemies efficiently thru this view. It also helps you detect some of the collectibles inside the game - specially riddlers' stuff. These features also adds up to the overall feel of the game.  For other similar genre games, they just make you collect for the sake of finishing the game 100% or getting the platinum trophy.  This Batman game makes collecting the PSN trophies fun. It also gives you unlockable things like in-game trophis (exclusive of the PSN trophies).  It's already a great game to find out facts about the different characters in Batman's story and unlocking the challenges. This makes riddle solving or collecting totally fun. Also, the riddles does make you use your brain once in a while and if your an avid fan of Batman, I'm sure you would love the riddles as most of them are about baddies that Batman has faced.

Dark Knight

Batman has been given the nickname "Dark Knight" because basically he wears a black costume and take out baddies in the dark without people noticing. Thus, he strikes fear to the baddies especially at night when they don't know where Batman will be coming from. This was indeed what Batman: Arkham Asylum had. Giving the players the chance to experience dealing instant kill blows while striking fear to those remaining baddies. This also gives the game an espionage feel to it similar to Metal Gear and Splinter Cell.

Last but not the Least,..

Amazing Re-imagination of Batman characters

Eidos did a great job on making the re-imagination of batman characters and putting a brand new life to Batman and his foes - making Joker have a more sinister and scary look together with really annoying lines and laughs.  Also, making the female foes like Poison Ivy and Harley really gorgeous and dangerous at the same time.

All these factors make this game the best Batman game so far (but I guess we can now expect another better one when Eidos releases a sequel?). If you are an avid Batman fan, then you would surely love playing this game over and over again. But if your not a fan, I'm sure you will still love it as I loved it even though I am not a Bats guy. This is still one of those games that you can easily give a 10/10 rating.

Robot

Currently playing: Darksiders(PS3), COD:MW2(PC)