Sunday, August 9, 2015

Alan Wake


For anyone that hasn't played this game, it is amazing.  I know it's old, but I'm way behind on my gaming.  Since it came out in 2010, you can see how far behind I am.  Side note... Uh, when I was young and looking forward to being an adult, this shit was not what I had in mind.  I can't even keep up with a respectable gaming schedule.  C'mon man.  Damn.  


I wouldn't normally call a video game a work of art, but this game is so well done.  I wouldn't use the word epic, even though that has been a trend lately, but amazing by definition is pretty accurate.  The story is fantastic and so original, and that in itself is a nice change from a movie industry that has fallen back on remake after remake.  It is littered with lots of great pop culture and literary references, Twin Peaks and Stephen King being the most obvious and plentiful. 

The music is beautiful, and even with the standards for video game music skyrocketing in the last decade or so, the score is absolutely amazing.  It's beautiful and haunting, which goes perfectly with the atmosphere of the game.  It's by Petri Alanko, you can check out some of it online in different spots.


The soundtrack, which is different from the score, is amazing too.  There's several different soundtracks and they're all good.  There's the Collector's Edition Soundtrack, there's the Episode Ending Songs, there's the extra songs from in the game that aren't credited... and sometimes it seems like the songs change, so I don't know if there is some feature where the company can just randomly change the song selection on the radio or what.




And then there's the Bright Falls songs by Black Iris (which you can download here for free, I couldn't get the player to load into this blog right).

Bright Falls btw way is also great.  Very moody.  They are a prequel series of 6 webisodes leading up the to the beginning of the game.

The collection of songs and artists is so awesome and creepy.  The depth of detail in the game is just amazing.  They don't just stop with the video game and that story, they create stories within stories told through a supporting TV show throughout the game; Night Springs, they have what adds up to a massive script plus the character read audio support for it in game, in game DJ, a fake band that has real songs in the game and the music is awesome, great graphics and shadowing, actual night time pacific northwest audio which really adds to the creepiness... I mean, it is IN DEPTH.


One thing that makes it more great is the episodic format.  The story telling is written in such a way that you a left with cliff hangers every time and the game really does keep you guessing. The environments are almost a character in themselves they are so well done.  The ambiance it creates when combined with the other audio like the characters and the music, stretches your nerves raw cause you know... you just KNOW something is about to jump out at you.  You are waiting for it, you know it's gonna happen and you're prepping yourself psychologically not to shoot all your ammo when it happens... short controlled bursts... short controlled bursts... short contro.... FUCK!!  *bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, click, click, click*  fucking reload!  Reload you slow fuck!

 

 That's what it's like to play.  And, any gamer that plays Halo regularly will probably hate this, but I loved it: Alan gets tired easy.  When you're running, he slows down quickly and starts gasping for air and a lot of times it forces you into fights you are trying to avoid.  He's a writer, not Master Chief.  He doesn't fight wars.  He doesn't even exercise.  Between that and the flashlight/gun pairing, the game play dynamic works perfectly with building tension.


The voice acting is great and the motion capture actor Ilkka Villi does a great job in the cinematic stuff you catch on TVs sporadically.  I actually wouldn't mind seeing a live-action mini-series based on this.  Essentially, everything is already done.  Sound, music, actors, voice-talent, script, show setup, background... there's even a book that pairs up and gives back ground on other characters in the game like Agent Nightengale and explain why they are the way they are.  The book is pretty good btw, even though it's written by an unknown writer.  I'd plug ad links in here, but because Illinois tax laws are so F'd up, Amazon won't allow me as an Illinois resident to participate in their sales associate program and link sales locations in here... sort of aggravating.

I know it's late, but if you're like me and you haven't gotten to play it, you should... just, only play it at night before you go to bed.  This time of year is great too because you can open your windows up and it cools your house off, adds another sensory layer to the game. And get the DLC, they are both great stories. 

So, what about Alan Wake 2?  Well, instead of Alan Wake 2, Remedy dropped a stand alone story Alan Wake American Nightmare.  I loved that as well, but it is an entirely different feel.  I'll do a separate post on that because it was worth the money, which wasn't much.  Alan Wake 2 is on the way however.  The leak is a blog, but if you read it in order, it's pretty creepy. 

With that said, here's the trailer:

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