Not your typical adventure game

First off, I first heard about this game back when the xbox 360 came out back in 2005. I wasn't entirely sure about what type of game it was besides it being somewhat of a single player action/adventure game. Years later, I never really heard much at all about it wasn't even sure it was still in production. Then all of a sudden, 2009 E3 they had some news about the game being released only on Xbox 360 sometime in 2010. I watched a video about the history on this game producer called Remedy Games who was responsable for the first Max Payne game and a few other titles. Alan Wake was a title they were working on but it took them a good 5 years to finish because of complications on the storyline and such, the question is... was it worth the wait? The Game I picked this game up mainly because of it being something entirely different than the normal 3rd person shooter or FPS game that comes out today, it looked like a very storyline driven game so I gave it a shot. When you first get into the game you will notice that it follows the plotline of the main character, Alan Wake, who is a writer as he is on vacation to a place called Bright Falls with his wife Alice. As the game progresses his wife becomes missing and it's your job to solve this mystery. Most of the game feels like a straight storyline with some action sequences thrown in involving some shadowy figures following trying to kill you and some rather simple puzzles. It seems like most of the dialog portions are shown when it's daytime outside and all of the scary action happens when it's dark. The controls are simple easy to figure out with the regular Xbox controller and it's fun trying to get the next peice of the mystery solved. There's also different storyline peices you collect to form Alan Wakes next book and other items that give you more ammo or batteries for your flashlight to fight against the shadowy figures. The music is pretty soft but gets intense as the suspense hits through the moments where characters are after you. The graphics are alright, it looks a little better than a first generation Xbox 360 game but nothing spectacular. Acheivements can be granted for completion of certain chapters but as far as I can tell that's the only "special" unlocks you can get. Overall for how much I've played of this game I really like it, it's challenging at times and does freak you out in certain situations. It's just something totally different and I really enjoy what Remedy Games did with the game, hopefully it will be a hit and they will make more of these.Read full review