Alan Wake review (Boston Herald, 5/16/10)
June 24, 2010
The most important thing I learned in college was to keep two televisions in the living room. That way I could watch TV and play videogames at the same time. Newfangled games like Alan Wake make that set-up unnecessary.
Microsoft’s new metafictional thriller isn’t the first game to present itself like a movie or TV show. It’s not even the only game this year to aim for the creepy and mysterious atmosphere of a David Lynch movie. What makes Alan Wake unique is that it pulls it off.
Look at Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. The story takes a few interesting turns, and one scene briefly hits the right combination of beautiful and unsettling common in Lynch’s films. It’s hindered by lackluster dialogue and voice-acting, though, and the game itself is riddled with poor design choices. Meanwhile Heavy Rain immediately falls apart thanks to an embarrassing story.
Alan Wake avoids these problems. The genuinely engrossing story is backed up by solid game mechanics. It works as both a third-person shooter and episodic drama. It’s as addictive and thought-provoking as Lost but tells a complete story in only twelve hours. It might brazenly flaunt its narrative inspirations, but in the end Alan Wake tells its own distinct tale.
Alan Wake is a best-selling mystery writer, like Stephen King with cool-guy stubble and a leather jacket instead of down East flannel. Crippled by writer’s block, Wake and his wife take a vacation to a Northwest logging town that might as well be called Twin Peaks. It’s full of quirky locals and inexplicable supernatural phenomena. An evil presence contaminates the town, possessing townsfolk to further its goals. An unaware Wake is vital to the entity’s plans, and also the only one who can stop it.
The action is as idiosyncratic as the story. Enemies are shielded by impenetrable darkness; disperse that with a flashlight or flare and they’re easy pickings for your firearms. This encourages a bit more thought than most third-person shooters.
The game breaks the story into six episodes, each with end-credit music and a “previously seen on” recap. The mystery unravels at an even pace, as every episode ends with a key reveal and cliffhanger. Answers lead to more questions, and like The Prisoner the conclusion is open to interpretation. And like Lost or Stephen King, Alan Wake doesn’t disrespect anybody’s intelligence. Despite its mind-bending twists it remains accessible enough for a mainstream audience.
