Gameplay
Alan Wake is a third-person shooter, described by its developers as a combination of "the mind of a psychological thriller", and "the body of a cinematic action game". In interviews, the game's creators hold that the game does not belong squarely in the survival horror video game genre. The game is primarily set in the fictional idyllic small town of Bright Falls, Washington. The main gameplay happens in various areas of Bright Falls – such as the forest, a national park, or a farm – during the nighttime; these are punctuated by calmer, non-combative sequences set during the day. The player controls the eponymous protagonist, Alan Wake.
In the game, a "darkness" is taking over humans, animals and objects. Humans possessed by the darkness, called the "Taken", are murderous enemies that attack Wake, wielding weapons of their own, ranging from mallets and knives to shovels and chainsaws. They vary by speed, size, and the amount of damage they can take, and some can even teleport between short distances. Besides the Taken, the player has to combat flocks of ravens, and animated poltergeist objects.
As the enemies are protected by a shield of darkness, light plays a significant role in fighting them, while controlling the protagonist in the dark. For example, Taken are initially impervious to attack, and can only be killed or injured with a firearm when exposed to light, which burns away the darkness. Therefore, there is significant emphasis on flashlights and other hand-held lights being used in conjunction with conventional weapons, such as a revolver or a shotgun. The beam of these lights acts as a reticle. Such hand-held lights can be boosted, which destroys the darkness faster, but also reduces the battery level of the light. Besides the conventional shooter gameplay need for reloading ammunition, the player also has to insert fresh batteries into the flashlight when they run out, or wait for it to recharge slowly. The strength of the darkness protecting an enemy can vary between Taken. The amount of darkness remaining is represented by a corona of light that appears when aiming at an enemy, and a stronger darkness may recharge over time. When a Taken is finally destroyed, it disappears.
The player is often encouraged to take advantage of environmental light sources and placing, and to use other light-based weapons and accessories, such as flare guns, hand-held flares and flashbangs. Wake can use searchlights to take out massive waves of possessed enemies. Streetlights and other light stands can provide a safe haven, which the Taken cannot enter, and will regenerate the character's health very rapidly. Otherwise, health regenerates slowly with time, when not taking any damage. In certain sections of the game, it is possible to use a car to traverse between locations in Bright Falls. When in a car, the player can run down Taken on the road, or boost the vehicle's headlights to destroy them.
A major element of gameplay is the optional discovery and collection of manuscript pages from Alan Wake's latest novel—Departure. Wake does not remember writing this book, but it seems that its storyline is coming to life around him. These readable manuscript pages are scattered around the game world, out of chronological order; they often describe scenes that have yet to occur and act as warning and instructions for proceeding through upcoming challenges. Other optional collectibles include coffee thermoses scattered around the game world (100 in all), as well as discovering television sets which show different episodes of the fictional Night Springs series, radios airing talk and music from Bright Falls' local radio station, and textual signs around the town. The radio shows and signs provide a deeper understanding of the town's history and culture. The game's DLC episodes introduce other collectibles, such as alarm clocks, and video game boxes.
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