Alan Wake
I can't seem to ever convince anyone else to play this game. Heck, I gave a copy to a friend of mine and he hasn't redeemed the Steam code yet. I'm not sure if Alan Wake sold well or not and I've never checked to see if it ever got good reviews, but this was one of my absolute favourite last-gen games. Then again, I think that's how I feel about every game I toss into the disc tray lately.
Nonetheless, Alan Wake felt like a refreshing story with some unique game mechanics. The whole game really felt to me like it could have easily been Stephen King: the video game. Alan Wake being a famous writer who ends up becoming wrapped up in his own supernatural story. During a stress relieving getaway in the small town of Bright Falls, Washington, you fight the 'taken'; locals whole are taken over by a shadowy force. All the while you are trying to rescue your wife who went missing after you both got into a car crash.
The primary game mechanic works by forcing you to clear a shield of darkness away from the enemy using a light source, usually a flashlight. You are then free to shoot them dead. There are some combination weapons that do both, like flare guns and flash bangs and some other fun toys like flares. I've had some awesome moments, like when a flock of crows attacked me and I lit a flare just in time, sending them all spiralling away in little balls of flames. Light being an important force in the game is well reinforced. One of my favourite little bits of this is how single streetlights in the distance serve as save points. It such a perfect visual metaphor.
On top of it all, Alan Wake is an absolutely beautiful looking game. With brilliant looking volumetric lighting effects and a creepy looking smokey darkness effect that feels like a character itself overtop of the characters. It's eerie and scary at times, spooky and beautiful. It's got these great live action 'twilight zone' episodes that play on the tvs throughout the town. They even have some great sequences that include the actor they used to model for the Alan wake character and the standees advertising his book in-game use the actor instead of the in game model. Little things like this just really added to the charm of the game.
I can't recommend this game enough. It's cheap and easy to find. On PC or Xbox and it's still a very graphically relevant game. They also released a piece of standalone DLC called American Nightmare if you just can't get enough of this game, like I did.
Writing this reminds me how I get so much more excited about games than any other medium. I never dwell on a movie or a book or an album quite like I do when the memories surface of a great game I played.
Nonetheless, Alan Wake felt like a refreshing story with some unique game mechanics. The whole game really felt to me like it could have easily been Stephen King: the video game. Alan Wake being a famous writer who ends up becoming wrapped up in his own supernatural story. During a stress relieving getaway in the small town of Bright Falls, Washington, you fight the 'taken'; locals whole are taken over by a shadowy force. All the while you are trying to rescue your wife who went missing after you both got into a car crash.
The primary game mechanic works by forcing you to clear a shield of darkness away from the enemy using a light source, usually a flashlight. You are then free to shoot them dead. There are some combination weapons that do both, like flare guns and flash bangs and some other fun toys like flares. I've had some awesome moments, like when a flock of crows attacked me and I lit a flare just in time, sending them all spiralling away in little balls of flames. Light being an important force in the game is well reinforced. One of my favourite little bits of this is how single streetlights in the distance serve as save points. It such a perfect visual metaphor.
On top of it all, Alan Wake is an absolutely beautiful looking game. With brilliant looking volumetric lighting effects and a creepy looking smokey darkness effect that feels like a character itself overtop of the characters. It's eerie and scary at times, spooky and beautiful. It's got these great live action 'twilight zone' episodes that play on the tvs throughout the town. They even have some great sequences that include the actor they used to model for the Alan wake character and the standees advertising his book in-game use the actor instead of the in game model. Little things like this just really added to the charm of the game.
I can't recommend this game enough. It's cheap and easy to find. On PC or Xbox and it's still a very graphically relevant game. They also released a piece of standalone DLC called American Nightmare if you just can't get enough of this game, like I did.
Writing this reminds me how I get so much more excited about games than any other medium. I never dwell on a movie or a book or an album quite like I do when the memories surface of a great game I played.
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