Alan Wake: Limited Edition -Xbox 360 Review

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I decide to make a quick unboxing video to show exactly what you get in this Limited Edition version of Alan Wake. Check out my video review to see it all with your own eyes!

Here's the quick rundown on Limited Edition bonus features:

Cool 'hardcover book'-style slipcase

Bonus disc.

CD soundtrack.

Free DLC

Avatar unlockables.

Hardcover book/novel

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I got my copy of the game yesterday and have been playing it non-stop. First, let me say that if you have the money to spring for the limited collectors edition it is worth it. You get a very well written book, the soundtrack, a bonus disc that includes themes and avatar items, etc. And the case that holds it all is a book. It is a surprisingly well crafted edition of the game. Also, if you buy this new (you might get lucky if the person you are buying this from doesn't use the free token when the DLC comes out) you get a code to download a free add-on for the game to be released in the following months.

Now to the game. I'm not going to reveal any spoilers but rather comment on the gameplay and mechanics. First, the two things that bothered me, but did not take away from the experience and pull me out of the immersion. There is some screen tearing, although it's not much it is noticeable. And the other thing is the mouth to voice sync. A character will be talking to you and sometimes the mouth expressions do not match up to what is being said. It doesn't happen too often, but it makes you wonder why a game in development for so long would have this problem.

Now the good. The graphics are amazing. The developers make the best use of motion blur and focus that I have seen in a game as of this date on a console. The use of dark and light is almost perfect and the atmosphere is even enhanced by this fact. The controls are tight and not complex. It might take you a few minutes to get used to the flashlight and gun combo but you will learn quick. My problem was that I thought I would only hit the target if the flashlight was aimed at the bad guy, but it seems that you will still hit the enemy even without the flashlight on them. I'm used to first person shooter games where you have a cross-hair to help you aim so I was using the flashlight beam as the cross-hair. After I learned that I didn't have to do that it was awesome and much easier. Also, the flow of the game is very well suited to the episodic nature. I think if they tried to tell the story like a start to finish movie it wouldn't have had the level of immersion that it does. When an episode is over and the next one is starting I really felt like I was excited to watch a new episode of my favorite show. Kudos to the developers for trying something that few others have in this genre.

The sound is also superior. You could have the best looking game in the world but one of the foundations that you need is good audio if you want the player to be immersed in the game. I played this game with a 7.1 surround and it was great. The creaks, chirps, grasshoppers and all the little sound effects seem to be in the right speaker at the right time. I'm not sure if they are using compressed audio, but from my experience with sound in most games you can tell the difference in the sound quality when you have your system blasting full surround. The sound and music did not sound muffled or of a low frequency sample rate.

I hope I didn't confuse too many of you with my review and I tried to get my opinion across as simple as I could. Simply put, this game is very good if you are a fan of the suspense/horror genre. Another good thing is that it is rated T, which means that it can appeal to a larger group of gamers under 17. You want to play this game with the lights off.

At the moment you can also download the six episodes entitled "Bright Falls" (each episode has it's own subtitle) that is the prequel to Alan Wake on Xbox Live! It is live action and the run-time if you put all the episodes together is about 37 minutes so you get a pretty good look of the mysteries and people of Bright Falls.

As always I make it clear that this is only my opinion of the game and should not be taken as a fact, but rather a small consideration if you are wondering about the game or wanting some small tidbits of information if you are planning on buying it. If you do plan on buying it you won't regret it. Even if you aren't a fan of the genre I think this game could get your attention and give you an enjoyable experience.

Best Deals for Alan Wake: Limited Edition -Xbox 360

Not much to be said that has not already been posted. I have been anticipating this game for some time simply because the plot looked very interesting and it just seemed like my kind of game. When my release day package arrived via UPS along with RED DEAD REDEMPTION I was extremely pleased to see the level of quality that went into making this LIMITED EDITION COPY. Comes with Avatar unlockables, a hard cover book as well as CD audio soundtrack (how many games offer that) as well as a bonus (content) disc including several themes and gamer pictures, as well as AVATAR unlockables and a code that allows you to download the upcoming DLC coming out in July? for free provided your XBOX LIVE email address is current so they can send you the code. I think it's an awesome game and the Collectors edition is one of the best I have ever seen. Right up there with the Gears of War Limited Edition. Super worth the money. Gameplay is what I expected and I have already been frightened a few times and I am not that far into the game. Seems like a great game with a great story. Look forward to playing through a couple times. Highly recommended.

Honest reviews on Alan Wake: Limited Edition -Xbox 360

It seems that David Lynch missed the boat somewhere. With the current rush of thriller style horror games hitting the market, he could have produced a game of epic proportions. In his absence, however, Remedy Entertainment has stepped up to the plate. If Deadly Premonition managed to capture the quirky characters and almost farcical style of Twin Peaks, Alan Wake has nailed the foreboding, fear-filled side of the series.

Author Alan Wake is trapped in a story that he doesn't remember writing and his wife's life is at stake. Armed with his trusty flashlight and an assortment of weapons, he must stave off the forces of darkness lurking throughout the town of Bright Falls while uncovering the clues to his own memory loss, his mysterious, new novel Departure and the location of his abducted spouse. And it all plays out as cinematically as any game has ever managed to do.

The Story

Penned by the deft hand of Sam Lake, there are definite echoes of Max Payne within this game--primarily the ongoing introspection and voice-over that narrates the story as it unfolds before the gamer. Otherwise, Alan Wake is a completely unique experience. Twists and turns in the plot manage to keep the story within grasp while introducing new and interesting tidbits throughout the game.

Game levels are scripted as 'episodes'--much as they were in Deadly Premonition--beginning with flashbacks of what has happened previously in the story/game. It gives the game a television-like vibe that brings to mind series like Lost and the X-Files--and is spoofed by the game itself with glimpses of a popular program (called Night Springs) that resembles the Twilight Zone on in-game televisions. In addition to the 'what happened before' flashbacks, gamers are also treated to a unique song between each of the episodes (such as the eerily appropriate In Dreams by Roy Orbison that also made an appearance in David Lynch's Blue Velvet).

Admittedly, the game is a little long on cut-scenes/cinematics--but they are absolutely forgivable within Alan Wake as they enhance the game experience and almost give the gamer the feeling they are 'playing within a movie.' Don't ignore the cut-scenes in this game; they are as beautiful as they are relevant.

Sights and Sounds

If Alan Wake is not the most gorgeous game ever released on the Xbox 360, then I don't know what is! Daytime in Bright Falls reveals a rustic Pacific Northwestern town that has been exquisitely detailed and constructed--but when night falls, the game is drenched in some of the best uses of light and shadow ever included within a game. Seriously, just watch how the flashlight bursts through the mists rising from the woodland trail in front of you, and take a peak at the white-capped mountains in the distance rimmed with moonlight and dare to disagree with me.

The sound design of the game is equally evocative; choosing to feature ambient music and sound effects for the background pays off with a steady build of fear and dread throughout the game. Enjoy the 'between the episodes' music for what it is: A break from the tension!

One last thing I want to mention in this section is the fine detail of facial expressions and character mannerisms throughout the game. They give a uniqueness to every person you encounter and make interactions throughout Alan Wake a pleasure.

The Game Play

Alan Wake's game play is structured much like other Third Person Shooters, so if you have fears of the tough-to-handle style of movement associated with other horror games (think Silent Hill and Alone in the Dark), you can rest easy. The mechanics involved with using the dual weapon system (flashlight/gun, etc.) are extremely user-friendly as well: Point the light at the enemy and that's where your bullets will hit.

In addition to the main storyline of the game, there are other, ongoing mini-missions as well--though they are mostly of the 'collectibles' variety. So be sure to pay attention to your surroundings and don't be afraid of leaving the well-trodden path to search for hidden caches of ammo, manuscript pages or the occasional thermos of coffee.

While the vast majority of this game is a pleasure to play, there are a few short comings that I would be remiss in not mentioning. The driving element of this game is mediocre at best; the drivable vehicles (not every car/truck is available to Wake) are a bit sluggish and handle a bit clumsily--though this, admittedly, does add to the tension of the game when bad guys are swarming you. But this is a minor thing since Wake is rarely forced to use a vehicle.

The continuous navigation of woodland paths (with the occasional handful of enemies jumping out) can also get a bit repetitive--though the game does manage to stay (for the most part) fun. And it would have been nice to have had a bit more of a map, rather than a simple GPS dot to follow--especially when you are trying to navigate through some of the more open areas of the game.

Summation

Though no game is perfect, I have to admit that in a lot of ways, Alan Wake is damn close! I give it 4.5 stars out of 5 (due to the minor shortcomings already mentioned). Alan Wake is the perfect mix of story and game play--and a fine example of how applying cinematic film techniques to a game can give it a depth that other titles can only dream of achieving. Do yourself a favor: Buy Alan Wake, fire it up and turn down the lights. Just don't forget to catch your breath during the musical interludes...

You can check out more of my game reviews on my Amazon Author's Page (http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001JRWEAC).

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I got the original game back when it first came out in May. I got the collector's edition, as I was chomping at the bit to finally play this game ever since I first heard about it in 2006. Like most collector's editions, the extra material isn't really worth the trouble, but that's par for the course with most games. I later got the first downloadable pack when it became available during the summer and the second when it released a few months ago. I've cleared the game's full gambit of achievements, part of which involved finding stuff (damn you, thermoses!) listening to radio and tv shows, shooting piles of tin cans and of course, manuscript pages. I've gone from one side of the Dark Presence to the other and back again to help the eponymous character regain his fractured sanity and face the demons that he created for himself.

You'll probably notice that I don't focus a lot of time on the graphics, sound and controls; my main emphasis is on the story and the characters. There's a reason for that. Even if I didn't already believe that story and characters are the most important aspects of a video game after gameplay, Alan Wake is story-driven game. If the story falls flat, it doesn't have the crazy, over-the-top gameplay Gears 2 has to fall back on. Nor does it have the branching gameplay decisions that you'd have with a Fable or Mass Effect game. It's a very linear game; you go from point A to B to C to D and the game will pretty much play the same way out each time. Perhaps worst of all, it doesn't have a lot of replay value (more on that later.) So, without the story, it's really not much of a game.

So how was it? We all know how the game didn't sell too well, but was it good?

It's best for me to get what I don't like out of the way first. Like with a lot of games, it's short. Even when taking into consideration the amount of time it took to collect everything and the few extra hours the DLC packs added, Alan Wake is a short game. It's also not a very difficult one, even on the hardest mode. The mechanics for the game are very simple. You're going through the dark, and you need light. This works out in many interesting ways for the puzzles you come across (especially in the DLC packs) but fights are pretty similar to one another. Point your flashlight, wait for the darkness to burn away, shoot the enemy, dodge the attack from the other enemy, point your flashlight at him, pop a battery or two in, and you're good. Once you have these basics down, there aren't too many encounters that will prove difficult. And you probably already know about Verizon. It was bad enough that they had billboards, but an actual achievement to watch a Verizon commercial? Seriously guys? Also, the second chapter could've really used a start point after the scene with Mott, given the number of collectibles in that part of the chapter. And the third chapter was long. Really, really, really long. More than once I found myself saying "Are you effing kidding me?" as it became obvious that I *still* wasn't done with that chapter. Yeah, the game as a whole is short, but this chapter went on a little bit too long, especially since the latter half of said chapter had very little story development. Fortunately, when you do get past the third chapter, that's when the story starts to pick up. Ultimately, though, once you've collected everything, there's little to come back to, as, again, the game is so very linear.

Remedy was clever when it came to roping in us completionists, as some of the manuscript pages can only be found on the hardest mode of difficulty, and this can only be unlocked after playing through the game on one of the two easier modes at least once from start to finish. There is no shortage of people who criticize one of the plot twists towards the end of the game. I would ask that those critics play through the DLC packs, as a dialogue in the second makes it clear that there's more to that twist than what meets the eye, which ties in with the fact that Remedy from day 1 has said that there's a larger story than just the one game. The story itself is a very unique video game story, and the voice acting is very good. Alan himself is a conflicted man who wants to do the right thing and loves his wife, but fights his temper, alcoholism, fatalism, depression, insomnia, self-loathing, fits of rage and just in general being a bit of a donkey. His wife is on her last nerve trying to find someway to get Alan to snap out of his rut and return to being the man she married, which leads to them going to Bright Falls. I enjoyed listening to him narrate his story as he fights against the darkness as well as his own personal demons. As he's a writer, he's used to getting in the heads of his characters, figuring out what makes them tick. Now, he's the character in his own story and he's got to find a way to finish it.

The stock game ends on a cliffhanger which has polarized the gaming community. I personally liked it, and to those who don't, I also suggest playing the DLC, as the story truly finishes. You can complain all you want about Remedy "forcing" you to pay to get the real ending, but let's not forget these facts:

1) Remedy is a business. They're not your spouse, your friend or family member. Remedy is a business, and businesses are in it to make money. This notion that you've somehow been "betrayed" by them because they want a little more money for the fruits of their labor is far more asinine than Wake could ever hope to be.

2) We have at least one thing in common; you didn't make the game. Nor did you put any of your time, money and energy into it; instead, you're enjoying the finished product that other people, not you, made.

3) You're *not* being forced to pay for it; either don't buy it, or find a friend who did buy it and play it on their system.

4) Finally, it's really not that expensive, anyway. Especially if you got that token that let you get the first pack for free.

The DLC is truly bizarre. The stock game takes place in the real world (even though there isn't an actual Bright Falls) and many references to the real world are made. Alan, his wife Alice and best friend/agent Barry are New Yorkers through and through. Stephen King is mentioned in the opening scene. There are also references to The Shining, other authors like Dan Brown, James Elroy and HP Lovecraft, etc. The DLC, on the other hand is in this weird zone known as the Dark Place, and reality there is as steadfast, reliable and reproducible as that of a dream. It's always shifting around, and the further Alan goes into it, the more bizarre it becomes. Early on in the first pack, Alan finds a page, but reading it doesn't net the same result as one of the real pages in the real world does. Instead of reading a clear, coherent page, Alan hears himself saying disjointed, seemingly random fragments. This is to be expected to some extent, though, because the Dark Place is presented as a dream-like realm, and the part of the brain that you use to read is shut off while you're asleep. It also gives what is from that point on the main gameplay mechanic (aside from the light/dark aspect) the proper introduction it deserves. While introduced at the end of the main game, the whole concept of shining the light at a word to have it create and/or do something comes to the fore here, and this is where the interesting light/dark puzzles come into play. That's not to say that they're complex; it doesn't take a whole lot to work out how to move forward. But they are interesting and I look forward to seeing what else Remedy can do.

Ultimately, Alan Wake ends on a high note. The main game and especially the first DLC pack end on low notes, but the end to the second pack is very satisfying. Alan's journey isn't over; far from it, but he is bound and determined to do what he must to survive and rejoin Alice's side. He now knows just how far he fell from being the man he once was. He's been at rock bottom and is now going to use that rock to stand back up so that he can climb out of the hole he's dug for himself.

Humor is sprinkled in rather well here. Most of it comes from Barry. He has a monologue that simply cannot be missed in the latter part of the game, and I nearly peed when I saw him after he left the general store to met up with Alan and the sheriff. There's a line not long after this that Alan gives that's also great.

Graphically, the game has a very unique feel to it. This is definitely a Remedy game. The shaking of the trees, the darkness looming, the active cameraman, all of comes together quite well. And I couldn't help but love how towards the end we see the actor who provided Wake's likeness on a mock TV show; thought that was a nice touch. The soundtrack is simply amazing. My favorite song is War by Poets of the Fall, who also provided the music for the game's fictional band. There's even a radio broadcast that pokes a little fun at this. I get goosebumps every time I hear that song. The controls are pretty easy and straightforward; the only thing that takes a little getting used to is the fact that Alan couldn't do a marathon to save his life. He can run for a little bit but gets winded easily. But as long as you shine the light on your pursuers before taking off again, they'll get stunned for a moment, giving you a window of time to get closer towards the light.

So all in all, I don't regret purchasing this game and should Remedy proceed with the sequel I'll probably get the limited edition of that too. I know, I'm a glutton for punishment; what can I say? So give it a rental, it's a real love it or hate it kind of game. Now, if you're excuse me, I have some more thermoses to find.....