Alan Wake's Twin Twilight Peaks by Stephen King
For a game which had been in development hell for 5 years; could Alan Wake really live up to its hype?
The plot for the game sounds like it was Stephen King's lost novel.
(Hell, his name gets dropped in the very first line of dialogue) Borrowing heavily from Twin Peaks and The Twilight Zone episodes. It uses
eerie dark atmospheres combined with supernatural beings from
Poltergeists to possessed villagers. You know you’re going to be in
for a thrill.
Alan Wake is ironically- about the fictional bestselling author named Alan Wake. Over the last two years he’s suffered writers block and decides perhaps the hectic New York life is too much for him and takes himself and his wife to the small rural town of Bright Falls in an attempt to get his flow back.
You begin with Alan describing a recurring nightmare he’s been having. This part serves as a tutorial but is integrated much more seamlessly then most games. Personally- I hardly noticed the tutorial aspect of it at all. The whole sequence begins the mystery surrounding Alan Wake with an axe wielding figure taunting and chasing you over rocky, unsteady bridges.
Once the dream is finished Alan awakes inside his car on a ferry heading to Bright Falls, giving you a chance to catch the beautiful visuals of the town and surrounding mountains. Quickly the town’s folk begin to recognize Alan and soon the news hits the radio station informing everyone that Alan Wake is in Bright Falls. When you arrive on land your task is to pick up the keys to your cabin at the local cafe. Walking around you begin to meet the characters of Bright Falls, each with their own unique personality which I believe is quite rare in games these days.
After looking around you eventually realize the person who was meant to give you the keys isn’t there but fortunately, a woman dressed in a black veil hands you them instead. Once you leave a cut scene triggers showing the person who was meant to give you the keys running outside yelling that you've forgot to pickup cabin keys, spooky.
You soon arrive at the secluded cabin in the middle of the lake and upon going in- you realize the power isn’t working. This is when you find out Alan’s wife – Alice, has a fear of the dark and you have to try and get the lights working while annoying_wife.wav files keep reminding you to get them working as quickly as possible. Once they’re all working Alan takes time out to 'embrace the surroundings'; aka, get as far away from his wife as possible.
When he comes back he finds a stash of books written by an author he’s never heard of and a typewriter placed in his room by Alice. In a fit of rage, he storms off when suddenly- the lights go back off in the cabin and you hear screaming_wife.wav. When searching the cabin's second floor you hear a window smash downstairs and assume she fell into the river. Unfortunately, she can’t swim. Alan dives in to save her; this is where the game's plot kicks in.
Alan wakes up with blood on his face, at the foot of his car's steering wheel, which has crashed into a rock. He doesn’t remember how he got there. He only remembers diving in to the river to save Alice. This is the point where you’re introduced to “The Taken”. Possessed villagers bent on killing Alan at any cost. You quickly learn that you cannot just simply shoot them, but you must destroy the darkness in their souls first by shining light into their faces, allowing them to get shot.
Alan Wake is ironically- about the fictional bestselling author named Alan Wake. Over the last two years he’s suffered writers block and decides perhaps the hectic New York life is too much for him and takes himself and his wife to the small rural town of Bright Falls in an attempt to get his flow back.
You begin with Alan describing a recurring nightmare he’s been having. This part serves as a tutorial but is integrated much more seamlessly then most games. Personally- I hardly noticed the tutorial aspect of it at all. The whole sequence begins the mystery surrounding Alan Wake with an axe wielding figure taunting and chasing you over rocky, unsteady bridges.
Once the dream is finished Alan awakes inside his car on a ferry heading to Bright Falls, giving you a chance to catch the beautiful visuals of the town and surrounding mountains. Quickly the town’s folk begin to recognize Alan and soon the news hits the radio station informing everyone that Alan Wake is in Bright Falls. When you arrive on land your task is to pick up the keys to your cabin at the local cafe. Walking around you begin to meet the characters of Bright Falls, each with their own unique personality which I believe is quite rare in games these days.
After looking around you eventually realize the person who was meant to give you the keys isn’t there but fortunately, a woman dressed in a black veil hands you them instead. Once you leave a cut scene triggers showing the person who was meant to give you the keys running outside yelling that you've forgot to pickup cabin keys, spooky.
You soon arrive at the secluded cabin in the middle of the lake and upon going in- you realize the power isn’t working. This is when you find out Alan’s wife – Alice, has a fear of the dark and you have to try and get the lights working while annoying_wife.wav files keep reminding you to get them working as quickly as possible. Once they’re all working Alan takes time out to 'embrace the surroundings'; aka, get as far away from his wife as possible.
When he comes back he finds a stash of books written by an author he’s never heard of and a typewriter placed in his room by Alice. In a fit of rage, he storms off when suddenly- the lights go back off in the cabin and you hear screaming_wife.wav. When searching the cabin's second floor you hear a window smash downstairs and assume she fell into the river. Unfortunately, she can’t swim. Alan dives in to save her; this is where the game's plot kicks in.
Alan wakes up with blood on his face, at the foot of his car's steering wheel, which has crashed into a rock. He doesn’t remember how he got there. He only remembers diving in to the river to save Alice. This is the point where you’re introduced to “The Taken”. Possessed villagers bent on killing Alan at any cost. You quickly learn that you cannot just simply shoot them, but you must destroy the darkness in their souls first by shining light into their faces, allowing them to get shot.
Atmosphere is this game’s strong point.
I won’t spoil the rest of the plot but overall, if you enjoy thriller fiction or any shows like the Twilight Zone or Twin Peaks, I would definitely recommend checking it out. However, the game only took 6 hours to complete on normal difficulty; so perhaps this might be more of a rental title.
Overall, the game was a lot of fun. It had a lot of nice small things which you may not see first time round. (Watch ALL the TV shows) The game’s writing is absolutely superb in terms of story and Remedy gave a lot of room for a sequel, which I will definitely look in to. However, the only things that let it down was the linearity of the map design and the modest length of the campaign, especially considering it took over 5 years to make. But even with these aside, I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a thrill.
Overall, the game was a lot of fun. It had a lot of nice small things which you may not see first time round. (Watch ALL the TV shows) The game’s writing is absolutely superb in terms of story and Remedy gave a lot of room for a sequel, which I will definitely look in to. However, the only things that let it down was the linearity of the map design and the modest length of the campaign, especially considering it took over 5 years to make. But even with these aside, I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a thrill.
- Graphics: 7/10
- Atmosphere: 9/10
- Sound: 5/10
- Game play: 5/10