Alan Wake (PC) (2012)

Overview: Alan Wake is a psychological horror. Play as novelist Alan Wake as he experiences mysterious and supernatural events.

Alan Wake

20170318:
Today I finally decided to play Alan Wake and I'm glad I did.

Setup: Keyboard, video on high, Normal difficulty.

At one point during the game, I was running for a door, and for whatever reason, I turned around to see how far my pursuer was. To my surprise, he was right behind me and I literally jumped out of my seat! I recall wondering why the heck did I even bother turning around.

The Hitchhiker

Aside from that moment, the game would occasionally have me on edge, but it wasn't as scary as I though it would be.

The game was so gripping that I played the first episode without stopping ("Nightmare"). And, if the game were to instead have run continuously, I may have ended up playing the entire game. Thankfully that was not the case.

Steam Game Time: 94 minutes

Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Great story
+ Strong atmosphere
+ Plenty of ammo (in Normal)

Neutral:
~ The modeling around the mouth looked strange, especially in conjunction with the audio (not always synced)

Alice Wake (Alan's wife)

Cons:
- The camera center being offset from the third-person character was unintuitive
- It was so annoying that it's worth two minuses.

Summary:
Judging solely from what I had seen in trailers, I built interest in playing Alan Wake, and yet there was some hesitation with respect to my compatibility with the game's genre.

And while the camera angle was a thorn in the overall experience, I was enveloped by the story and ended up enjoying the game.