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.
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!).
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.
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.
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:
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