Sick of sequels? Alan Wake might be just the game to satisfy your cravings for something new and original. Inspired by Twin Peaks, 24, The X-Files, and Stephen King, Alan Wake is a single-player action video game, classified under the “psychological thriller” genre, developed by Remedy Entertainment, whose long-delayed release was well worth the wait.
Though May 18 marks the official American release of Alan Wake on the Xbox 360, critics have already had a chance to review the game and have come to the general consensus that it is indeed a superb game. On Gamespot.com it earns a fairly high 8.5, with a critic score of 8.4 and a user score of 8.8 (presumably from the users in Europe, where the release date was May 14).
In this video game, you take on the role of Alan Wake, a best-selling author of suspense novels. Wake has had a writer’s block for over two years and his wife, Alice, tries to solve this by bringing him to what everyone thought was the peaceful Bright Falls, Washington. However, Alice disappears, and the words of a horrifying novel that he can’t even remember writing seem to be happening verbatim. How can he (or rather, you) get out of this trap? Will you keep this story that has come to life from taking your own? Can you solve this puzzle?
Alan Wake is currently on the expensive side for a video game, a single-player video game at that. At a whopping $80, you might want to consider just how much you will get out of this game. I f you’re not all that into murder mysteries and playing games on your own, I would leave this one on the shelf and wait for something else. Is it worth it? You can often get two decent games for the price of this one. If you can find some way to not pay the sticker price for this game, it is a wonderful psychological thriller for you to check out. That way, if you love it, you can invest in the sequels that are sure to follow. Otherwise, you can confidently ignore their releases!
