A Gamer's Review of the XBox 360 Video Game Alan Wake

This video game is a unique experience. The Alan Wake video game pertains more of an interactive movie or TV series than a traditional action adventure game. This is why I believe Alan Wake will be a definite hit amongst gamers abroad.

Although long waiting and highly sought after, it's reputation has lived up to itself. Here's what you need to know about the Alan Wake video game and why it is a game to worth playing.

The plot revolves around the main character Alan Wake and the character you will be playing. Alan Wake is a New York author with one little problem on his mind known as Writer's block. What does every author do when they can't think of their next best seller? They retreat into a reclusive and spooky small town out in the middle of no where to get the peace and quiet they need to get back to the basics and start writing again.

You find yourself playing through the game as if it were a movie or tv series. It starts off with Alan arriving in the small Northwestern town of Bright Falls; which you have traveled to with your wife, Alice to get back in the mood of writing thrillers. Bright Falls has everything including the small town characters such as the odd gas station attendant and the typical local diner waitress to develop the storyline of this game even further.

The cabin you find yourself staying in is secluded in the middle of the lake which you can get to only from boat access and walking up a long rickety boardwalk which leads you to the old, wooden lodge that you and your wife are to call home for the extent of the game.

You start out playing in Episode 1, where it has already caught you up on what has previously happened on Alan Wake, much like a TV series going through episode by episode. Episode 1 is also known as "Nightmare" and features Alan having a roadside incident that shakes his up abruptly.

The game leads you through as the story develops and unfurls around you. Which exhibits a nice TV show quality of this game instead of having to read a quick excerpt to tell you what is going it on, the game's characters and scenes do an excellent job of acting it out for you, making this video game more entertaining for the viewers.

Follow your map in the top right hand corner and go through the objectives given to you such as go to the cabin, find the key to the locked door and reach the gas station. While receiving objectives you will be met with a lot of third person shooter action and melee attack combat you must perform while trudging the spooky woods and throughout the storyline.

Alan Wake is quick with a gun, pick axe and any odd mining tools or shop equipment he comes across and his movements are seamless to your commands. In my opinion this is expected in any third person action-adventure game to have a high quality combat aspect. Alan Wake gives you just that. You will come across checkpoints and in this unique video game where you have to start a generator, usually in the woods before your game is saved. It's not as simple as it sounds though as often you are doing all of this while fighting off the deranged, spirit possessed locals who have a thirst for blood and are known as, "The Taken". All well being preoccupied holding a flashlight and if your lucky, a gun as well.

You spend pretty much the entire game in the dark, so don't forget to keep on eye on your flashlight batteries. You will find a battery bar up in the top right corner of the game screen next to your map and above your current mission or targeted checkpoint directions. You will find yourself changing flashlight batteries often and running, crawling, fighting and sneaking around in the dark of the woods, transformer yards, the train station and many other dark, creepy locations.

Your flashlight isn't just to see in the dark though, it can scare off or stun momentarily and even kill some possessed spirits such as birds and overhead enemies. Your flashlight is much more important than one would normally think in a video game.

Fight your way through 6 episodes each running around 1 hour or longer depending on your level of skill and recognition of third player combat game play. This means you can easily beat this game in a long, hard day packed full of gaming.

I'll purchase this game even though I found it a quick play through because I can see myself playing this game with friends or even playing it again sometime in 6 months or so when I have forgotten every twist and turn of the storyline. However, if you are someone who wants to save your cash a better option would be to rent it for the weekend from you local movie store or video game rental outlet. This will give you plenty of time to play the game from start to finish.

I don't want to spoil the ending, but one thing is guaranteed from this video game. Alan Wake is already planning a sequel video game as they leave you with an open ending and the perfect opportunity to come back in style with a new Alan Wake video game. My only question is when is the sequel scheduled for release?