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== Reception ==
== Reception ==
The overall response to the game was positive with specific criticism on certain aspects of the game coming from [[Penny Arcade]].
=== Critical Response ===
=== Critical Response ===


Revision as of 18:27, 2 June 2010

Alan Wake
File:Alan-wake-0.jpg
Current cover for Alan Wake
Developer(s)Remedy Entertainment
Publisher(s)Microsoft Game Studios
Designer(s)Mikael Kasurinen
Writer(s)Sam Lake (lead writer)
Composer(s)Petri Alanko[3]
EngineAlan Wake-engine, Havok (physics)
Platform(s)Xbox 360
Genre(s)Psychological thriller, action, psychological horror, survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Alan Wake is a psychological thriller action-adventure video game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Game Studios that was released in Europe on May 14, 2010 and in North America on May 18, 2010 exclusively for Xbox 360.[6][7] The plot follows suspense-thriller writer Alan Wake in uncovering the mystery behind the disappearance of his wife while on vacation in idyllic small-town Bright Falls, and having to deal with blackouts and visions of characters and ideas from his latest novel which he has not written yet, coming to life.[8]

Gameplay

The story plays out in an episodic format, with a television show-style presentation where each episode/chapter brings another piece to the puzzle of the main plot. Remedy has confirmed that Alan Wake is only the first season of a bigger story, opening the door for future sequels.[9]

Light plays a significant role in gameplay. The enemies, called "the Taken" in the game, are sensitive to light, encouraging the player to take advantage of environmental light sources and placing significant emphasis on the flashlight as a primary weapon.

Remedy also promised a free-roam, sandbox-style city, similar to those seen in the Grand Theft Auto series. However, in an interview with Finnish magazine Pelaaja and British magazine Edge, this feature is stated to have been removed, with Remedy opting to focus on a compelling storyline over sandbox-style gameplay. "That being said, this path that the player is on is quite wide at times and all through the game there is a lot for the player to explore, but it's not a free-roaming sandbox," said Sam Lake of Remedy.[10][11]

Story

Alan Wake, a bestselling crime fiction author who hasn't managed to write anything in over two years, and his wife, Alice, go to the idyllic small town of Bright Falls to recover his creative flow. They are greeted by the friendly townsfolk before driving to the local diner to pick up their cabin key from Mr. Stucky. However, Alan accepts a key from a veiled woman dressed all in black, mistakenly thinking it to be the correct key. After he and Alice leave, Mr. Stucky steps out of the diner, wondering why Alan didn't get the key to the actual cabin they rented. Alice and Alan drive to the house in the middle of Cauldron Lake. After an altercation with Alice, Alan leaves the house, knowing that she will not follow him as she has a fear of the dark. Upon hearing screaming, Alan runs back into the house only to find that Alice has fallen into the lake. He dives in after her. Suddenly, Alan wakes up in a car, his head bleeding. He heads towards the nearest gas station after being attacked by the Taken, people from Bright Falls that have been taken over by the Dark Presence. When he arrives, by seeing a festival advertisement he realizes it's been a week since he jumped in the lake after Alice. He calls for the police, and when he says that his wife is missing and they lived in the house on Cauldron Lake, Sheriff Sarah Breaker informs him that there is no house in Cauldron Lake, not since the 1970s. They drive past it and, much to Alan's horror, she's right.

After being interrogated by the Sheriff and meeting his agent Barry, who arrived after not receiving any response from Alan's phone, Alan receives a call from a kidnapper who shows he has Alice by her speaking over the phone, saying to meet him at Lover's Peak in Elderwood National Park. He gets keys to a house in the park with Barry, and sets out to meet him while Barry stays in the house. On the way Alan finds Rusty, the kind Ranger whom he met earlier at the diner and gave him keys to the house, badly wounded after being attacked by the Taken. He gives Alan a piece of paper: A page of a manuscript to a story with his name on it that he cannot remember writing, and everything that it says is coming true. After being forced to kill the possessed Rusty, he continues down the Lover's Peak and finds the kidnapper. After holding off the Taken at Lover's Peak, the two get into a scuffle and end up falling off the edge of a cliff, though neither are injured. Alan receives a call from Barry, who says all the lights have gone out in the house. On his way back, the kidnapper says he has two days to give him the entirety of the manuscript at the old coal mine, or his wife dies. After Alan saves Barry they decide to head in town the next morning to see if anyone knows someone fitting the kidnapper's description. Barry while in town gets a call from Rose, a waitress who is a die-hard fan of Alan's books. She says that she has the entirety of the manuscript. But when she makes the call, a woman in black behind her, a possible manifestation of the Dark Presence, says "Good girl".

Both Alan and Barry go to Rose's trailer during the day to get their hands on the manuscript. But when they arrive, they both fall unconscious after drinking Rose's coffee, filled with crushed sleeping pills. When Alan wakes up (by this time a day had passed so he only had another 12 or so hours to find the manuscript) after a vision involving the manifestation, with Barry still unconscious, he finds the police waiting for him: The owner of the trailer park thought that Barry and Alan did something as Rose was very different when they woke up. For no reason, an FBI agent, Nightingale, begins to open fire on Alan, who is forced to flee into the woods. Alan heads to the local radio station for help, but Nightingale turns up and opens fire yet again, so Alan flees once more. He finds a car by sunrise and begins to head to the coal mine. He arrives on time and waits for the kidnapper to turn up late into the evening, but he never shows up. He gets a call from the kidnapper telling him to find him at Mirror Peak, and when he does the kidnapper reveals that he never had his wife before being engulfed by a tornado of the Dark Presence. Grabbing a flare before the Dark Presence can finish him off, Alan falls off the cliff and is saved by someone.

He wakes up in the Cauldron Lake Lodge, which was a hotel and now runs as a mental institute for "artists", lead by Dr. Hartman. He says that his wife died and all of the events that have transpired were figments of his imagination. Alan refuses to believe him, and as night began to fall two other patients, the Andersons (former rock stars of the 1970s), begin to cause havoc in the institute. In all the chaos, Alan manages to get the keys to the Staff Room and, along with Barry who came to visit him, finds most of the manuscript. Dr. Hartman finds him and asks to work together on 'this', saying they can make something beautiful. The Dark Presence begins to engulf the Lodge, and Alan leaves Dr. Hartman to die. He begins to realize that the Andersons understand what is going on, and so heads to their farm along with Barry. When they arrive at the farm they find out a hidden message is on an old record that says "Find the Lady of the Light": They then remember a woman, Cynthia Weaver, who was clutching a lantern in the diner Alan visited upon arriving in Bright Falls. In the morning they agree to head into town to find her. After having some moonshine (which uses water from Cauldron Lake as one of the main ingredients) with Barry, he has a vision. Alan begins to remember exactly what happened during that week.

When he jumped in to save Alice, he could not find her and thought she had drowned. He broke down crying on the dock before heading back into the house. The Dark Presence, in the form of Barbara Jagger, lover of a writer from the 1970s who was the Dark Presence's last puppet, tells Alan to start writing a story, saying that the story will come to life and he can write Alice back into existence; The Dark Presence lets people write stories in Cauldron Lake then heavily edits them, so its influence can spread throughout the land. After writing for a week, some part of Alan realized he was under the Dark Presence's control, and wrote his own escape into the story. As he ran, Tom Zane, the writer from the 1970s, distracted the Dark Presence as he got into the car, but he was too tired and crashed the car, thus concluding what happened during that week.

Alan wakes up and is greeted by Agent Nightingale at gunpoint, who takes him and Barry to their cells. When there is a sudden power outage, both the Sheriff and Nightingale come to watch over them, but as Nightingale reaches into his pocket to check a page, the Dark Presence takes him away. The Sheriff frees them, and they explain they need to find Cynthia. The Sheriff says she lives in the old power station. All three of them reach a helicopter and fly over there. However, on the way there is a disturbance, and so Alan is forced to jump while the Sheriff and Barry remain in the helicopter, providing support against the Taken on occasion. When Alan finds Cynthia, she tells him to go to the Well-Lit Room, and so Alan, Barry, Cynthia and the Sheriff all meet there. Alan finds a page from Tom, and mentions a 'clicker', a snapped-off light switch that Alan was given by his mother, that turns on a magical light and gets rid of all the darkness. At this moment, Alan knew exactly what he needed to do: He needed to go to Cauldron Lake and use the clicker to save Alice and the town of Bright Falls.

Alan begins to drive to Cauldron Lake, telling Barry, Cynthia and the Sheriff to stay in the Well-Lit Room as this is something he must do alone. After several encounters with large groups of the Taken and possessed objects, he reaches the lake, diving in and pressing the clicker. He ends up in a world filled with darkness, and as he illuminated pieces of giant text they began to form the house that disappeared. When the house reappeared fully, he heard the Dark Presence talking and Alice screaming for help. When Alan heads into the house, he sees the Dark Presence in front of him, a hole in her heart from Tom's attempt in the 1970s to kill her. He grabs her, puts his hand in her heart and clicks the clicker. The light fills her body, coming out of her eyes and mouth before the house is engulfed by light as well. Alan then walks to the typewriter in his study (with dark shadows still at his windows) and starts writing, saying that he knows how to write the ending and that the scales need to balance: Everything has a price.

The ending is ambiguous and is left to interpretation. A flashback of Alan jumping in the lake to save Alice occurs, after which a time lapse which seems to be going backwards happens. Alice is then shown swimming out of the lake and sitting on the dock, calling out "Alan?", with the house still gone and Alan nowhere in sight. Bright Falls is shown prospering in the middle of its yearly celebration, Deerfest (which was two weeks away when Alan and Alice arrived), with Rose clutching the same lantern Cynthia, the Lady of the Light held. Rose's eyes swirl with shadows and a dark, shadowy Nightingale is seen standing in the window behind her. Alan is then seen at his typewriter again, the shadows still at his study's windows. He then says "It's not a lake... It's an ocean..."

Alice is heard saying "Alan, wake up." before the game ends. At the end of the credit sequence, a message appears stating that "Alan Wake's journey through the night will continue".

Soundtrack

The game's score is composed by Petri Alanko. The soundtrack features the song "War" by Poets of the Fall, from the band's fourth studio album Twilight Theater. Sam Lake said that the song "...is a prominent part of the Alan Wake soundtrack and the theme also links strongly to the game's storyline." [12] The band also wrote the ending theme to Remedy's previous game Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne called "Late Goodbye", which is based on a poem written by Lake. "War" however was not written specifically for Alan Wake. Space Oddity by David Bowie plays over the end credits.

Development

Alan Wake was announced at E3 2005 (However had been in the planning stages as early as 2001). Microsoft partnered with Remedy to release the game for the Xbox 360 and as a DirectX 10-only title for Windows Vista. Alan Wake is modelled after Finnish actor Ilkka Villi.[13]

On February 12, 2010, Microsoft announced the game would not be available on the Windows platform, stating that playing on the 360 would be "more compelling".[14]

The release date for Europe was slated for a May 21 date, but on April 7, 2010, the release date was pushed forward to May 14 for Europe only. The game went gold on April 7, 2010.

The final trailer was released on May 17, 2010.[15]

Downloadable content

The game's first add-on episode, titled "The Signal", will be released July 27, 2010 on Xbox Live.[16]

The second episode titled "The Writer" was revealed by Remedy through the in-game downloadable content menu, the episode is priced at 800 MP with release date listed as TBA.[17]

Marketing

Bright Falls

A promotional live-action short movie titled Bright Falls was released a few weeks before the game on Xbox Live and YouTube. It serves as a prequel to the game, set in the titular town before Alan Wake arrives there, in which Jake Fischer, a newspaper reporter played by actor Christopher Forsyth, visits the town on business. It is divided into six episodes.

Jake Fischer arrives in Bright Falls to interview Dr. Hartman on his new book, on an assignment from his publication agency. After a series of encounters with local towns people and settling into a place to stay, he soon finds himself the victim of long periods of lost time and blacking out, finding himself waking up in the middle of a forest and other locations where he wasn't previously. He also develops an aversion towards lights and daytime. The longer he stays in Bright Falls, the more violent his behavior becomes, realizing this after trying to duct-tape himself to a refrigerator and recording himself with a videocamera while he sleeps to see what might be causing the behavior. It is implied that he is being completely taken over by the Dark Presence to the point of murdering several people. He then vanishes, just before the arrival of Alan and Alice Wake.

Limited Collector's Edition

The limited collector's edition of Alan Wake, packaged in a case resembling a hardcover book, consists of the game, a 144-page book titled The Alan Wake Files, a soundtrack CD, a code redeemable for the game's first add-on episode, an Avatar coat and scarf and 2 Themes.[18] The limited edition also includes a number of making-of videos, an unreleased trailer from 2006, and developer commentary that is installed to the hard drive or memory unit and enabled in-game.[19]

Reception

Critical Response

Michael Plant from The Independent gave the game a perfect score of 5/5. He praised Alan Wake for its "flawless pacing", which "ensures a compulsive experience". Editing and plot were also received very positively, making the game "the kind of experience the current console generation was made for."[32]

The Daily Telegraph rated the game 9/10 with editor Nick Cowen being impressed by its "stunning" look, stating the town of Bright Falls and its surrounding environment to be "authentic" in terms of architecture, vegetation, weather and lighting. He described the atmosphere as being able to "...turn on a dime from feeling safe and serene to one of choking menace and foreboding...". Combat mechanics and plot were also praised with the first making "the player feel constantly under threat." and the latter being "...one of its [the game's] strongest assets." Criticism included facial animation and shortness in length.[33]

Dirk Lammers said the game kept "players on the edge of their seats", giving a final score of 4 out of 4 in his review for the San Francisco Chronicle.[34]

Matt Greenop from The New Zealand Herald rated the game 5/5 and praised the game's "excellent pace" due to its episodic format. He also praised the "chilling" storyline, "brilliant environments" and concluded the game to be "one of the most innovative and entertaining titles so far this year."[35]

William Vitka from The New York Post graded it B+, praising the game for its "scary atmosphere", music, graphics and "surprising level of complexity" in combat, but commented negatively on the game's animation and storyline.[36]

Brian Crecente, editor-in-chief of Kotaku.com praised the general use of light as a gameplay-mechanic. He commented on the episodic structure, saying it made the player feel satisfied even after short gameplay-sessions. He also praised the overall storyline, having played the final episode thrice in a row, saying:"For the first time in my life, I have experienced something that plays like a game but has the impact of a movie...Alan Wake is a powerful ride, an experience bound to leave you thinking about it and wanting more for days after its completion." He however criticized the game for not providing enough information about Wake and his wife, despite being "packed with memorable people". In conclusion he stated:"I am open to the potential of the year's games, but I still can't imagine that Alan Wake will be topped in 2010. It tells a story that is engaging, and yes, emotional. It makes you care, it delivers scares. But most importantly it redefines interactive storytelling. More aptly put, Alan Wake finally delivers on a phrase so overused that it has become a joke."[37]

Tom Mc Shea criticized the game for lacking "surprising, memorable gameplay moments" in his review for Gamespot.com, but hailed it for its "fresh" story-telling, great original as well as licensed music, "subtle" lighting effects which, along with the soundtrack, "create a disturbing atmosphere", "satisfying" combat system and clever inclusion of collectibles, giving a final score of 8.5/10.[28]

IGN's Charles Onyett scored the game 9/10, providing it with the "Editors' Choice Award". He described it as "...hard to put down once you have started." and appreciated the game for its episodic structure, "interesting" story-telling mechanic, lighting effects, soundtrack and combat system which he described as "fast and responsive", but criticized the writing as "uneven". The game received high marks for its "Strong Atmosphere", "Fun Gameplay", and "Great Visuals", but lost some due to its "Weak Ending".[30]

Tom Orry from VideoGamer.com also awarded a score of 9/10, praising the game for its "clever narrative", "incredible atmosphere" and great soundtrack which he described as "...being one of the best and most memorable I've ever heard in a video game", concluding Alan Wake to be "...an escapade I'm going to remember for a very long time. It's a stunning action game, a superbly scripted adventure and a technical showcase for the now-ageing Xbox 360 hardware."[38]

Eurogamer's Ellie Gibson awarded a score of 7 / 10, stating, "All the same, there's a weekend's worth of fun here for action-adventure fans who aren't too bothered about innovative concepts and varied gameplay, and don't mind a lot of repetition. Alan Wake is an accessible, undemanding game with a neat combat mechanic and decent visuals. It's just not a very original game, it's certainly not an exceptional one, and it's a shame it wasn't ready a few years ago." [25]

Sales

Alan Wake was the best-selling video game during its second week in the United Kingdom after 88,000 in first-week sales.[39]

It was also best-selling in France and Germany, on its release week, based on GFK figures.[citation needed]

Product Placement

Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of Penny-Arcade criticized the product placement in the game, notably the "Boob tube" achievement, which required players to find a television that displayed ads for Ford and Verizon products, calling the endeavor "stupid, offensive, and insulting." [40][41].

References

  1. ^ Davey, Jamie (2010-02-12). "Microsoft releases Alan Wake early in Europe". Strategy Informer. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  2. ^ "Official Release Dates". IGN. 2010-02-20. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  3. ^ "Alan Wake FAQ". Alan Wake Community Forums. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
  4. ^ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-alanwake-tech-analysis
  5. ^ http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?s=36ed8bcbc951aef8f6c5529aec5796d7&p=1113342#post1113342
  6. ^ "Official site". Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  7. ^ "Release Dates". 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  8. ^ Alan Wake FINALLY Gets Release Date ... And They REALLY Mean It This Time!
  9. ^ Remedy: Alan Wake is only the first season
  10. ^ Alan Wake No Longer Open World
  11. ^ Alan Wake No Longer a Sandbox
  12. ^ "Official Website - Poets of the Fall in Alan Wake". Poets of the Fall. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
  13. ^ Davey, Jamie (2008-06-28). "Being Alan Wake Is Kinda Like Hollywood!". Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  14. ^ Davey, Jamie (2010-02-12). "Microsoft: Alan Wake will no longer be coming to the PC [[Strategy Informer]]". Retrieved 2010-02-12. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  15. ^ "Alan Wake Community Forums - View Single Post - Alan Wake DLC "The Signal" releasing July 27th". Gametrailers.com. 2010-05-17. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  16. ^ "Alan Wake Community Forums - View Single Post - Alan Wake DLC "The Signal" releasing July 27th". Forum.alanwake.com. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  17. ^ "2nd Alan Wake DLC Called "The Writer"". Hells Descent. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  18. ^ "Alan Wake Limited Collector's Edition spotted [[Joystiq]]". 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-03-07. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  19. ^ "Alan Wake: Limited Collector's Edition Unboxing". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  20. ^ "Alan Wake for Xbox 360 - GameRankings". Gamerankings.com. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  21. ^ "Alan Wake xbox 360 reviews at Metacritic.com". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  22. ^ Thierry Nguyen (2010-05-05). "Alan Wake Review for the Xbox 360 from 1UP.com". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  23. ^ Stephanie Palermo (2010-05-15). "Spawn Kill Review -- Alan Wake - SpawnKill.com". Retrieved 2010-05-15.
  24. ^ Andy Robinson (2010-05-05). "Review Alan Wake Review - ComputerAndVideoGames.com". Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  25. ^ a b Ellie Gibson (2010-05-05). "Eurogamer : Alan Wake Review eurogamer.net". Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  26. ^ Andrew Reiner (2010-05-05). "Redefining Video Game Storytelling - Alan Wake - Xbox 360 - GameInformer.com X-play 4/5". Game Informer. Retrieved 2010-05-07. {{cite web}}: Text "Game Informer" ignored (help)
  27. ^ Xav de Matos (2010-05-04). "Review Alan Wake Review - GamePro". Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  28. ^ a b Tom Mc Shea (2010-05-07). "Alan Wake Review for Xbox360 - Gamespot". Gamespot.com. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  29. ^ GameTrailers.com (2010-05-05). "Alan Wake Video Game Review HD". Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  30. ^ a b c Charles Onyett. "Alan Wake Review - Xbox 360 review at IGN". Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  31. ^ Francesca Reyes (2010-05-05). "Alan Wake Review". oxmonline.com. Retrieved 2010-05-06. {{cite web}}: Text "OXM ONLINE" ignored (help)
  32. ^ Michael Plant (2010-05-07). "Games Reviews: Alan Wake - Gaming, Gadgets & Tech - The Independent". Retrieved 2010-05-08.
  33. ^ Nick Cowen (May 6, 2010). "Alan Wake video game review - Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  34. ^ Dirk Lammers (May 19, 2010). "Review: `Alan Wake' offers tons of creepy thrills". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  35. ^ Matt Greenop (May 13, 2010). "Game review: Alan Wake - Games - NZ Herald News". NZ Herald. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
  36. ^ William Vitka (May 6, 2010). "Alan Wake:Stephen King, The Game". NYpost.com. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
  37. ^ Brian Crecente. "VAlan Wake Review - Transcending Its Medium - Alan Wake - Kotaku". MSNBC.com. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  38. ^ Tom Orry. "Alan Wake Review for Xbox 360". Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  39. ^ GFK Chart-Track, TOP 40 ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE - INDIVIDUAL FORMATS (UNITS), WEEK ENDING 15 May 2010, retrieved 2010-05-17
  40. ^ "Alan Wake: The Worst Product-Placement In Gaming History?". G4tv.com.
  41. ^ "Penny Arcade — We've Got To Get To The Jamba Juice". Penny Arcade.
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