Inspiring Jake Allred: Alan Wake

    

     A truly incredible story of good and evil, and the only video game on my list, simply because it is so incredibly important to me. This is more than a game or a story, it is a lifestyle. That sounds nerdy, but it is true. This game has so many layers it makes inception looks like childs play. For those of you who have played, you may know what I am talking about. It is not just a mere video game to be carelessly talked over lunch, it is a philisophical tale full of spiritual elements and deep symbolism. It is the story of overcoming our sins, and is the Plan of Salvation through in context.
     Alan Wake is a writer. in the universe of Alan Wake, he is one of the most famous authors, writing noir and gritty crime stories, and he has become extremely successful with his career. However, for two years Alan has fought an awful case of writers block. For months he has not been able to make an entire sentance and for over a year nothing more than a paragraph. No new books, nothing, and he is really down about it. His wife, Alice, tries to cheer things up by takinga  vacation, a beautiful north western Washington town called Bright Falls. He goes, with the understanding he is not going to write, or even think about writing.
     Alice has other plans, and brings his typewriter as well as contacts a doctor who specializes in creativity. As one can imagine, Alan does not like this, and they get into a fight. Alice is deathly afraid of the dark, and Alan leaves her in the dark at their cabin during their argument, and then something happens, and she gets kidnapped.
     Things are not as they seem, and the story takes a ton of incredibly complex turns. It becomes a battle of light and darkness, something very symbolic to the great battle between God and Satan. The light cannot dwell in darkness, and darkness cannot lurk in light. It is one or the other. In order to fight the Darkness one must have light, so instead of being a simple shooter the game employs light as a weapon, and everything from flashlights, lamps, flashbang grenades, flairs, and even a little bit of the muzzle flash (if you are close enough to the enemy)

     Alan Wake represents the entire story of our life. His departure into the Dark Place is much like our departure from God to go to earth, knowing it would be full of hardships and sin, but that it was needed in order to be able to return, to learn and grow from our mistakes so that we can then one day become perfected. Alan Wake is so much more than a simple story, it is a thrilling universe that has so many layers it is hard to find a single interpretation. Through out the entire story Alan says he is awake, but many events question this, as well as loose ends that need to be met. The game does not do this in a bad way, much the opposite, it tastefully and suspensfully holds the plot line as one of the most important parts, without overlooking gameplay.
     As a video game, Alan Wake is fun, and rather replayable. The combat starts to become a little monotonous in the first game (season one) however it is really over shadowed by the incredible storyline and light engine. The game is formatted into a very tastful way as well, instead of levels it plays out like a TV series in episodes, creating even more suspense through the dramatic twists and turns and ends of episodes. The first season (or really game) is ten episodes long, counting two DLC ones.

     A few months ago Alan Wake, American Nightmare came out, which is the main story about Mr. Scratch and Alan Wake, and their duel in the Dark Place. Its story is almost as deep, though the characters are not as good, and the fighting is vastly improved. Combat becomes interesting and much more tactical than the previous game. The game is not in episodic formats but rather is a TV special they say, and is not a sequel. It solves some interesting questions but brings out more.
     All in all, Alan Wake is one of the only games that I consider to have changed my view of the world. It is rather sily to think that a video game has done this to me, but I have been deathly afraid of the dark for my entire life, and this helped me connect with it. The first time I played it I was truly scared, and came back upstairs after an episode really nervous and anxious. But then I started to see the stroy, and the symbolism. It is a game worth playing if you have the time.

     Sadly it is only for the Xbox 360, though the first season of Alan Wake is now available for the PC as well. American Nightmare is an Xbox Live Arcade feature, and all in all you could pick up both of them for under $30.