"Wake" up time

So, I realize that a large part of the people reading this missed Alan Wake completely. Who can blame you? It was released the same day as Red Dead Redemption, which went on to win numerous game of the year awards. It was pure misfortune for Remedy and Microsoft that Red Dead was moved to that day, overshadowing what in my opinion is one of the greatest “action-thrillers” ever in the interactive entertainment medium.

 

I'm here to let you know if you haven't played it, it's time. As long as you own an Xbox 360 at least. Wake was one of the first games ever shown as an Xbox 360 exclusive and then seemed to fall further and further to the wayside as it's development went longer and longer. Yet the game that was realeased, although no longer as graphically impressive as it once seemed, was well worth the wait. Remedy crafted a great story wrapped around what was truly fun and somewhat original game play.

Here's the tough part. I really can't say much about the games story since what makes it so great is the discovery of that story. The outline is this. You are Alan Wake, go figure right, who is a writer with a little bit of a writers block problem. You head to a small town in the pacific northwest to find some peace and hopefully find your writing voice again. Upon arrival strange thing start happening that lead to the disappearance of your wife. The rest of the story unravels from there. I am going to leave it at that as the story unwinding is what truly makes Alan Wake exceptional.

The minute to minute game play is tons of fun and does a good job adding tension to the overall game. Light is the name of the game here, therefor your greatest weapon is your flashlight. Although the light alone won't destroy the baddies it is needed to weaken them to the point your weapon will. That is the game play in a nutshell. I know it sounds simple enough, but Remedy paced the game so well and packed in enough different situations to keep it fairly fresh throughout. Add in one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a game and you have something special.

Overall, this is a game you should play. In fact after writing this, it's a game I am going to play again. The reason I am bringing it up now is that rumors are circling of a new Alan Wake game. Remedy supposedly said it is not Alan Wake 2 and it is supposed to be downloadable. I for one can't wait to get back to the world. I'm sure we will hear more at E3 in a few weeks. So before we do, take this opportunity to get caught up on the story so far. It's worth it.

As always if anyone has any ideas of something you would like me to cover here I am open to suggestions. If you likes what you read please share it with others through all those cool social media do-dads at the bottom. Leave a comment or email me at Jlove89@msn.com, or follow me on twitter @Jlove89. Thanks!