Format: 360 | Genre: Action / Adventure | Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios | Release Date: 14/05/2010

I knew the mix of fungi and rust forming a beard over my 360 is a clear sign of old age, but mention the name Alan Wake and we all might as well be sitting on its knee in front of a warm fireplace, listening to tales of a long since past E3 with a bag of Werther's Originals. Since the first details were released what must be five years ago, the characters and plot have evolved so much that the first trailer consisted of a cast of foetuses. The lack of news would usually endanger a title to the point of dismissal, yet with Silent Hill's main production team moving on to greener pastures, the gaming world was in dire need of a title to promise many mangling of minds and dampening of undergarments. Perhaps Max Payne required a little bit more cuddling than expected, he's been through a lot recently, but with Alan Wake soon stepping out of the shadows, a mysterious echo is blasting down the offices of Remedy; "About bloody time."

A severe case of writers block has claimed the imagination of acclaimed novelist Alan Wake, one which has lasted two years and damaging both his marriage and his own pride. The best home-made prescription? A scenic holiday to 'Bright Falls', home to but a small amount of persistent fans. The irritations of the townspeople soon become something more malevolent, as Alan's wife is kidnapped and he is forced to explore a seemingly peaceful town that's akin to one of his own paranormal thrillers once the sun sets. A peaceful town engulfed entirely by darkness.

Presented in episodic format clearly influenced by shows such as Lost, each episode contains enough twists, turns and cliffhangers to provide the disc reader with a good page turner. The narrative places you on a leash and one you'll quite happily be clung to from beginning to end, even if it does require a sleepless night's stubborn playthrough, is easy to give in and sacrifice one. Though the 'season' only lasts for six episodes, each are incredibly lengthy and littered with collectables. The 100 coffee Thermos flasks hidden around the game are your standard achievement mongering objective, yet the manuscript pages that accompany them are slightly more twisted. Detailing events that have happened, or are soon to happen to the unfortunate Alan, such resources can prove invaluable to those who wish to prepare for upcoming dangers, and the typical horror story tone that accompanies each one adds to the already dense and creepy atmosphere that surrounds you.

Battles never get dull due to the relentless dread that fuels each one.

At times, it can be hard to distinguish what is your bigger enemy. The knife wielding hoodlums coming for your life or the town of Bright Falls itself. During the daytime, the serenity of the area and stability of the townspeople lulls you into a false sense of security, and is always Alan's only way of obtaining clues from the locals without them literally stabbing him in the back. Although Alan Wake is set on a very linear route from start to finish, locations are feel expansive enough to fully explore if the player desired, and being able to see key locations of Bright Falls whilst running for your life gives the town an impressive and believable sense of scale. Coupled with the televisions scattered around broadcasting cheesy Twilight Zone themed shows and a constant nod to modern day pop culture referencing the works of Stephen King (besides Alan's scenario itself) and many Hollywood classics manage to blend together the real world with Bright Falls as disturbingly well as the sinister nightmare doppelgänger does. Every part of the town looks crystallised in beauty when the sun hits it, the lighting effects making the respectable graphics engine glisten alongside it, and serves to offer a dramatic comparison for when the moon rises.

As night-time approaches, the towns' inhabitants become 'The Taken', vicious, unpredictable and coated with darkness, and the feeling of walking onto the set of a Cradle Of Filth video has never felt more vivid. Armed with the usual horror protagonist basic attire of pistols, hunting rifles and shotguns, Alan must keep one less conventional yet invaluable piece of equipment by him to fight demonic hoards; his torch. Though typically only intended to be a means of progressing forwards and distressing budgies, any means of light proves to be combats most valuable asset. Shining it upon the bodies of enemies causes the darkness to slowly fade away, and once gone allows you to use conventional weapons to kill them, instead of making your bullets as worthless as a election supplement in a copy of Nuts. Though enemies come in only two major variates (Strong and slow, weak and fast), the Taken's true power lies in their ability to flank you severely by complete surprise if even the slightest hint of panic distracts. A combat system that challenges both your wits, reflexes and nerve comes close to par with that of Resident Evil 4, and battles never get dull due to the relentless dread that fuels each one.

Though the fighting comes aplenty and spurs you onwards to your journey for the truth, the hunger for another twist in the plot can at times feel too out of reach. Levels are unexpectedly expansive, yet sometimes too big for their own good, and as treks progress you're practically pleading for another cut scene to delve into the narrative. When the gasp-a-holic twists occur between many a hike and fight with Alan constantly narrating himself on exactly what he sees from the players eyes, an uncontrollable nagging feeling embeds in the back of the mind which suggests that all the tension and fear that's been so delicately moulded will shatter due to impatience. Another twinge of fear for the story's life is when you're introduced to some of the primary players in the cast. Alan's sidekick 'Barry' deserves particular mention, a typical New Yorker who's about at home in the country as a Yeti in an oven. His constant need to remind you of this fact with constant whining and bitching amongst other things doesn't so much tickle as it does violate the 'Film-making 101 book of clichés'.

Despite these flaws, they never prove to untangle a delicate plot held tightly together with just enough suspense to see it through to the end. These irrepressible fears do creep up and invoke worry, yet shows a clear love for the story that unfolds, and one which will clearly be more memorable than the slightly pacing of gameplay. Though it's less subtle in fear than anything generated across the Eastern way of the pond, Alan Wake shines over any of the recent Silent Hill 'attempts' and is practically the game the next-gen Alone In the Dark could've been. The ending will leave brain lice for you to scratch your head away that, but is something truly worthy of the turn of the century mystery television shows that have reigned on our screens, leaving players not wanting, but needing more. Bring on season 2, Remedy...just know that another 5 years would be too long a time to hang upon a cliff.

---

The Good: Fantastic atmosphere and engaging storyline, Frantic combat that never tires, Beautiful graphics with unrivaled lighting effects

The Bad: Can edge frightening close to cliché at times, A lack of landmark moments make it more memorable in narative rather than gameplay

---

Gameplay 8 Graphics 9 Sound 9 Overall 9 / 10 Bias Adjusted 10.0    The Bias adjusted score is worked out based on a gaming preferences questionnaire that reviewers have to fill out. Phoenix Triggers bias profile I'm not really into slow games. I kinda like casual games. I kinda like a bit of pace in my games. The idea is that it gives a score that better represents the game rather than the feelings of the reviewer to a particular genre. For instance a reviewer who hates RPG games, may mark an RPG down just because of his feelings towards that particular genre. The bias calculator would then elevate the score a certain amount. If the same reviewer loves FPS games and rates all of the high, the bias calculation would show a slightly lower score. It is in the early stages of testing right now, but we hope it will become a very helpful bit of information for you all!!

Silver Y Award The Y Award is given based on the average of the Gameplay score, Graphics, Sound and Overall. 9.75 or more gets the Diamond Y Award 9 or more gets the Gold Y Award 8 or more gets the Silver Y Award 7 or more gets the Bronze Y Award 3 or less gets the Stink-Y Award

---

---