Retro Review: Alan Wake

Finished this game so I could play Alan Wake 2, after all the rave reviews/awards. I didn’t really know anything going into it but the story in this game is so good. Go in blind, I think that would be best.

I would rate this game 5, but I just can’t ignore how bad the combat is. If you are shooting one guy the gunplay is serviceable, nice punchy shots that feel impactful, but the game is constantly putting you against 5 or 6 guys and then they box you in an stagger you to death in the most frustrating way possible.

There’s two or three levels with driving segments, and I’m pretty confident they were added to meet some publisher mandate of game length, because this game was made in 2009 when “longer game = better value”. The game would be better if these segments just didn’t exist in the first place.

Alan Wake 1 is almost a masterpiece, but the dedication to being a bad action game when you just want the main story is it’s biggest flaw.