The Problem With Alan Wake

SPOILER ALERT - MAJOR PLOT DETAILS DISCUSSED

Alan Wake suffers from being a video game. While most, if not all, video games do (especially if you take the literal meaning), some suffer from this chronic disease more than others. Alan Wake though seems to be afflicted with a terminal case.

Here I will relate my experience playing through Alan Wake and how, as much as I tried, could not lose myself in the world around me.

Physics

How important are physics in a game? Well, it all depends on the kind of mood you are trying to achieve and how you implement them. In an action game for instance the physics placed on objects can be entirely throw away. Walk through a bench and watch it push to the side. It doesn't matter, that bench isn't meant to be anything but scenery. But in a genre that relies on building an atmosphere with all its world objects Alan Wake seems to lack any semblance of self awareness.

In one area close to the start of the game, trekking through the dark woods as I were, I heard the sounds of pebbles or small rocks rolling down the cliff face to the side. I turned to face the sound and instead of small rocks like the cue would suggest, a giant boulder fell to the ground. That was odd I thought, and ran over to the boulder to take a look. The sound cue didn't particularly lie though I soon found, as the boulder punted away from my character like a blown up beach ball as I came into contact with it. This was my greeting to a world of strange behaviours that would continue throughout the game.

Not much further along and a pile of giant tree logs collapsed in front, this time with a satisfying thumping sound as though it would certainly be fatal if future occurrences were closer. But running up to inspect the logs would reveal they push away from my characters feet as if made of foam.

Character Reaction

Throughout the game TVs are placed here and there to either relate some part of the story or play some metaphor through a supposed unconnected television series not unlike The Twilight Zone. While these are interesting, it's hard to be enthralled or take the content seriously when your character seems to feel quite the contrary.

I noticed this first when one TV I was watching revealed Wake in a particularly interesting scenario. One where he exposes an important plot point and one which involves his wife - the very core and driver of the narrative - and a revelation in the story. The Alan Wake on screen seemed believably excited by the reveal, yet the Alan Wake I was controlling - watching the show in the 'real world' - was entirely non plussed. In fact the very moment the most shocking words were said my character glanced off to the side and shuffled his position like he'd prefer to be somewhere else.

Another TV event occurred during a - what should have been - hurried part of the game. A helicopter with my companions hovered over head, its engine and rotors thumping in my headphones and their voices saying I should get a move on, they'll cover me. But wait, there's a TV here. Why don't I just turn it on and watch the episode while they burn through fuel and the world is being sucked down a black hole? No one seemed to mind, at least, no one mentioned it.

The game is driven by a narrative that is very engaging, yet when the character you control doesn't care, I found it hard to care as well. The sense of urgency just wasn't there.

Another instance involved the narration Wake performs as you walk around the game world. He was narrating a scene that I was controlling, and he goes on to say 'I dug my nails into the palm of my hand to remain focused'. Intrigued, I pan the camera up and look down at his hands, and they simply weren't doing that at all. In fact, they were doing nothing other than flap limply at his side.

This occurred just after I followed the doctor up some stairs as he was revealing some more of the plot, with my character at eye level to his feet. I found it hard to concentrate on what he was saying however as I was transfixed by the doctors feet gradually becoming out of sync with the steps, where by the time he reached the top few his legs were clipping through the stairs themselves.

Video Game Mainstays

Cars in Alan Wake have a problem. A video game problem. After a while they start to smoke for no apparent reason at all other than to tell you that it is fast approaching its limit on how much it can do. This reminds me of a scene in the movie The Blues Brothers. "On no, we've blown a rod!" "is that serious?" "yep", and the car begins smoking and blowing oil all over the windshield. The difference here is that in The Blues Brothers they drove that car a few hundred miles, at top speed, ran into quite a few things, were shot at, chased by hundreds of police cars, and performed back flips. In Alan Wake, the cars seemingly can't go past 20km an hour and can't handle even the most basic off road excursion for more than a few minutes. I just hope that the cars in Bright Falls are cheap.

There's an end boss. While not as jarring as Bioshock's even worse video game boss, there's an extra level of awkwardness. Three platforms separate you and the final encounter, and on the second is a crate with infinite flares for - what is plainly obvious - the encounter itself. Staying here and firing 20 flares, picking up another 20 and unloading them, has as much affect as a water balloon in a forrest fire. Sure, the flares hit, but nothing happens. Perplexed, and after firing approximately 80 flares, I jumped to the next platform and prepared another barrage. To my surprise the boss died on the very first flare. While the first few minutes of the ending played in front of me, all I could think about was the fact that the encounter was somehow trapped in a video game vortex from the 80s where there's mysteriously only one magical spot you can do any damage from.

Character Design

There was one character that remained interesting throughout, Alice. Wake's wife and the driver of the story. So that's a relief.

However, every other character was wooden and mannequin like in every aspect (that's not to say Alice wasn't, but she at least had some sort of urgency built up around her, and some emotional ties. One that would pose a problem for me later).

Cut scenes were less an exercise in sitting back and taking in the passive parts of the story, and more with trying to look past the fact no one's lips move with the words, nor do they look like human beings. This generally isn't a problem in games. As avid gamers we are used to horrible lip syncing, or indeed no lip syncing at all. Static screens with text have been the norm for decades. Yet here it is a problem, because all the characters are screaming to be engaging as this is what this genre relies on. The characters need to be believable in their own world. Impossible with their mouths flapping away like a fishing line attached to their chin while the puppeteer can't hear the dialogue.

As for the issue with the involvement of Alice's character. There's a scene late in the game where you replay the events that took place when she first disappeared. You play as a hovering camera watching Alan Wake react to the events that unfold. Alice screams, and the narration mentions you can finally follow what occured. Instinctively, and genuinely interested in what happened to Alice on the top floor of the cabin and how she ended up in the lake. I control my camera up to the cabin, turn left into the front door and head for the stairs.

But I can't get up the stairs. I push into the stairs again and again but there's some kind of invisible video game barrier there. I wasn't meant to see what happened to Alice, I was meant to be following Alan Wake. I turn around and head back out, only to see I'd missed the point of the scene and Alan had already dived into the water from the balcony. I didn't care about Alan Wake, but I cared about Alice. The video game however had other ideas.

Alan Wake is a good game. But with all its problems it can never go past that for me. There were constant reminders that I was playing a video game, and the world never got a chance to take hold. It had its great moments; Barry was hilarious in a number of parts. The music too was excellent throughout. Nick Cave and David Bowie? Yes please. Even the songs that were far too much like video game songs were enjoyable, though another reminder of the medium in which I was listening to them. And in the end, that's what the problem is with Alan Wake.

There's an old tale wrought with the mystery of Tom
The poet and his muse
And the magic lake which gave a life
To the words the poet used

Now the muse she was his happiness
And he rhymed about her grace
And told her stories of treasures deep
Beneath the blackened waves

'Till in the stillness of one dawn
Still in its mystic crown
The muse she went down to the lake
And in the waves she drowned

And now to see your love set free
You will need the witch's cabin key
Find the lady of the light gone mad with the night
That's how you reshape destiny

The poet came down to the lake
To call out to his dear
'When there was no answer
'He was overcome with fear

He searched in vain for his treasure lost
And too soon the night would fall
And only his own echo
Would wail back at his call

And when he swore to bring back his love
By the stories he'd create
Nightmares shifted in their sleep
In the darkness of the lake

And now to see your love set free
You will need the witch's cabin key
Find the lady of the light still ravin in the night
That's how you reshape destiny

In the dead of night she came to him with darkness in her eyes
Wearing a mourning gown, sweet words as her disguise
He took her in without a word for he saw his grave mistake
And vowed them both to silence deep beneath the lake

Now if its real or just a dream
One mystery remains
For it is said on moonless nights
They may still haunt this place

And now to see your love set free
You will need the witch's cabin key
Find the lady of the light gone mad with the night
That's how you reshape destiny

And now to see your love set free
You will need the witch's cabin key
Find the lady of the light still ravin in the night
That's how you reshape destiny