Why Alan Wake is the best video game of the year.

Fuck you Mass Effect 2!!!!!!

            The time for this discussion has really come upon us.  We are starting to get into Q4 of 2010 and we have seen so many good games already released this year.  Some of them we expected (Mass Effect 2, Red Dead Redemption) and some of them came out of nowhere and showed that the Indie studios are still alive (Limbo).  All of these are clearly great games which I have had a ton of fun playing.  Free Roam in RDR might be some of the most fun I have had in online gaming.  Crashing a horse pulled buggy into an oncoming train with 4 of my friends inside of it might be one of the most satisfying things I have done in my life.  Mass Effect 2 was everything I wanted Mass Effect to be and more.  The compelling story was still there but Bioware really made the first true action based RPG we have ever seen.  As sick and twisted as this is, watching a 12 year old boy get decapitated in Limbo never gets old and introduced a new style of game play where it made sense to die so you could see how puzzles are able to be solved.  Lastly Starcraft 2 is everything we us long time fans of Blizzard have been waiting for since Brood Wars.  These games were all great but none of them really made me think more after playing them than Alan Wake.  Here is why.

            Alan Wake is what a video game should be to me.  In a world where the industry is flooded with online FPS games and teenage boys singing the latest Lady Gaga song while you frantically search for the mute button Alan Wake came under the radar.  I will admit myself that I didn't pick the game up until 2 months after its release.  I to fell victim to the RDR bandwagon (literally) and had a ton of fun with that game.  I heard been paying close attention to Alan Wake for some time.  The game looked drastically different from what I had seen at previous E3's and once I found out the game was to be more linear than a GTA style world I will admit I was little turned off.  It has also become really hard for me to pay 60 dollars for something that isn't going to have online play but I finally came to my senses and bought the game.  Let me tell you, from the moment I played the first tutorial part of the game I was hooked.

What I like

            For one thing the presentation of the game is pure genius.  Alan Wake is presented to the player in an episodic format almost like a TV show.  Each "level" in the game is an episode consisting of about 60-90 minutes of game play.  Each episode normally ends with a cliffhanger and each episode begins with a recap of previous events.  It really keeps the pace of the game quick and teases the player as the story unfolds.  Literally you are playing sometimes and the episode will end and you actually feel like you have just watched an episode of Lost.  You can't wait until next week when the show is on again.  You go to your fridge, grab a soda, and call of your friends who just watched it.  Then you remember you are playing a video game and pick it right back up.

            Secondly, the contrast of light and dark in the game are almost like you are watching a movie (Sunshine anyone?  Sup Mike Sadorf).  Those little themes and subtle references the director puts in that are so simple yet such an intricate part of the movie are all there for the viewer to see and relate to.  Alan Wake has all of that.  The light is your primary weapon in the game and what is the opposite of light?  Dark.  Light fights dark and boy does it ever in so many ways.  When taking down an enemy possessed by the "dark presence" (I will explain that shortly) you will shine your flashlight on them, boost the power, and once the shield is broken shoot away with whatever gun of your choosing.  You can use flares, flare guns, flash bang grenades, search lights, headlights from a car, and basically anything that emits a light source as your weapon.  Anything good is associated with light and anything bas is associated with dark.  Truly a simple yet fascinating game play mechanic.

            Next is the story.  Now some people have had a problem with the ending of the game which I will not spoil for those who haven't played it.  I can understand the why a lot of people have that problem.  We need closure as a society and this game doesn't give us that.  If you were watching Lost were you ever given closure at the end of a season?  No, and that’s the way this game is supposed to play out.  Alan Wake is a famous horror writer who hasn't been able to write a book for almost 2 years.  He has been having marriage problems with his wife, Alice, and to try to salvage their marriage they take a vacation to the town of Bright Falls in the Pacific Northwest.  Everything seems fine when they get there until at the cabin Alice seems to drown in the lake they are staying near.  Alan dives in after her and suddenly awakes a week later in his own car which has been in an accident.  Having no record of what has happened in the past week Alan starts to search for his wife and begins to encounter normal townsfolk who have been taken over by this "dark presence".  All of the action in this game will take place at night with calmer and more story evolving scenes taking place during the day.  The story unfolds beautifully and keeps you wanting more and more the entire time.  Never once did I ever feel confused by the story and I actually found myself caring about the characters in the game. 

Why you should buy it

            Alan Wake is a once of a kind game in a day and age polluted with games that lack quality single player experiences.  I honestly haven't been this involved in a games story since Half-Life 2.  Remedy has already announced that they will be releasing 3 more episodes through XBL with "The Signal" already being available.  This game got really over looked by a lot of people since it was released the same day as RDR but I urge everyone to check out.  The price has dropped so there really isn't a reason.  To me it may not be the clear pick for best game of the year but it has been my favorite game of the year and really folks that’s what gaming is about.  What you like, how you like to play it, and if it has that impact on you.