This week I’ve been working on some new bits for some websites, including the Sitebar which now lurks at the top of all the partner sites. I have also been playing with tons off css and learning new ways to use it to achieve some really cool effects.

Apart from work, I have been sinking my teeth into… Alan Wake.

Alan Wake is a story-driven survival horror/psychological thriller game where you play the role of bestselling thriller writer, Alan Wake (Oh my god!). Alan Wake has gone on vacation with his wife, Alice, to the small town of Bright Falls (HINT: Light Fails….). As soon as you arrive, things start to become weird. The inhabitants of Bright Falls are not all with it and those that have all their whits with them are misusing those that don’t! When you try to retrieve the keys for the cabin, a mysterious shadowy woman gives you a key and directions to a cabin on a little island in the scenic Cauldron Lake… can you guess that I shouldn’t be going here for my Holiday!

As soon as you arrive, things go bad. Power goes out, birds attack you, your see your wife drowning… and then you wake up in a car crash and a week has gone by! You must find out what happened to you, where has Alice been swept off to and why do you keep finding pages to a manuscript that you do not remember writing!

Overall the game is good, pacing and story are very good and scream with H.P Lovecraft and Stephan King influences. The “Fight with Light” is cool idea but is simply another form of “Dropping shields before killing”. The game is also broken into “Episodes” and gives the game a TV series feel, which is awesome. However it is let down by poor facial animation, some painful fight mechanics where enemies spawn behind you and there is no way to detect them, and the over indulgence of cut-scenes do let the game down. The game was also delayed by two years leading to low game sells and the question of a sequel in the dark.

I enjoyed this game and could hardly put it down for two days, and I am still not done. There are still many collectables to find and hidden things to find, and will keep me looking and guessing for awhile! Till next time, keep some batteries handy!