Alan Wake PC Review

Now I’ve already mentioned how the game has a strong narrative  a deep story and plenty of cinematic themes about it, but of course these sort of features in a game usual lead to a lack of freedom in terms of gameplay. That’s not too much the case here. While the game does have a guided story, there is still plenty of time for you to break off the beaten path and do a little exploring or get yourself killed a couple of extra times. Fortunately even though the game does have a fair amount of cut-scenes, it’s not overloaded with them so much that it breaks the pace of gameplay. But since the story is actually interesting, I didn’t feel the need to skip them anyway.

It’s not often (in my opinion), that we get a good entry to the horror genre in gaming, especially games with a heavy psychological element to the title. Alan Wake reminded me of many great horror games, especially the original Alone In The Dark (PC) series, the first Resident Evil game (PlayStation 1) and the parts of Dead Space that didn’t involve dismembering things.

There are plenty of references and inspiration from other works too, Stephen King, The Shining and Hitchcock’s “The Birds” are all clear influences within the game and when your creating a Thriller / Horror game, you might as well borrow from the best.

Either way, it’s a fun game and while it’s a shame that it took so long for the developers to move over to PC, it seems the wait has been worth it. The graphics are superb, sound quality is top notch and the overall presentation and gameplay of the game is entertaining. I’m sure this game won’t be to everyone’s liking but to me it’s one of the best games in the genre this generation.