Large subjective review of Alan Wake, which contains a lot of spoilers. Be careful.

It’s not just paranormal things that scare you. Think for yourself: will a little girl in a white dress scare you?? What if it’s midnight and a cemetery? That’s it. The most banal things can also scare. It all depends on the circumstances.

Stephen King.

A talented writer becomes popular and cult-like because he was able to bring something new to the genre and excite the minds of readers. Frank Herbert told the world about how global science fiction can be, and how one can skillfully incorporate the dogmas of religion into it, revealing both its good and bad sides. Howard Phillips Lovecraft demonstrated to all readers the immensity of the Universe and the fact that somewhere out there, beyond its borders, there live entities that the human mind cannot even comprehend. So ancient and powerful that the characters in his works could not even describe them in words. Only emotions overwhelmed them before death. Lovecraft taught us that even what we can’t see can be scary. The reader’s mind itself will complete what is most terrible for him, and the writer only needs to sow the seeds of horror. Lovecraft became a true master of horror, even creating a certain subgenre of literature – Lovecraftiana. It was this subgenre that Stephen King was inspired by when he was just starting to think about writing his novels. But the main thing here is that he was only inspired, thus simply paying tribute to the great author. Stephen didn’t steal ideas. He came up with something of his own. What scares and excites readers to this day. Stephen King began to scare the most ordinary things, endowing seemingly the most banal things with paranormal abilities. Those things that surround the reader every day in everyday life. The car from the novel “Christine”, the hotel from the book “The Shining” and the cemetery from the work “Pet Sematary”. At the same time, Stephen King always keeps behind the scenes some phantasmagorical entities that control these banal objects, never showing them to the reader, forcing them to think, and they are subconsciously afraid that the same entity may be behind the TV in the room, or the park near the school. This writer has the amazing ability to impart amazing abilities to things that no other person would even come up with. The amazing invisible connection between four friends and a boy with Down syndrome in the novel “Dreamcatcher” or the light magic of the seven from the “Losers Club” in the book “It”. It would seem that these are unremarkable things, but Stephen so skillfully weaves them into the plot that you begin to believe that the invisible entity can be defeated using, one might say, improvised means. Thus, the writer leaves the reader a thin ray of light so that he has the opportunity to get out of this world of nightmares, because Stephen himself is stuck in it with his head.

Such a big lyrical digression was simply necessary, since Alan Wake is a kind of tribute to Stephen King and all his work. The game will constantly refer to the writer within the plot, drawing parallels between the main character and the writer, because they live in the same world and act as colleagues. But we will look at all this much more broadly. We take a look at how masterfully the Finnish studio Remedy was able to feel the essence of the novels of the king of horrors and convey that very atmosphere of ordinary horror and everyday magic within the framework of their game. Sit back comfortably, because a long journey awaits you in a small town in the American outback called Bright Falls. To Stephen King’s favorite place. In a town where everyone knows much more than the main character. Where something wrong has been going on for a long time, but ordinary people try not to pay attention to it. In a town where the character can only rely on himself. It’s going to be a long and dark journey. Ask yourself if you are ready for this?

The plot of Alan Wake, if not a masterpiece, is very close to this concept. Of course, I am now talking only within the framework of works of the horror genre. By all accounts, the game’s script pays tribute to Stephen King, constantly keeping the player in the dark, pushing him to think about what is happening here. The player is constantly surrounded by characters who know more than he does, but do not want to tell, and if they start talking, they speak in some kind of riddles. And we will definitely talk about this a little later, because now there are other pressing issues. I can’t help but notice the fact that the plot is very difficult to understand. Perhaps many of you realized the whole essence of what was happening after the first time, but it took me several playthroughs, a couple of years apart. The story is much deeper than it seems, and now we will try to thoroughly understand everything in order to dot all the “i”s, and after that we will go directly to analysis.

So, 1970 in the town of Bright Falls. In a house on Lake Cauldron lives a poet and diver named Thomas Zane and his beloved wife Barbara Jagger. They live in peace and harmony, and it seems that nothing can affect their ideal life.

When Thomas Zane fell in love with Barbara Jagger, it happened quickly. She was young, beautiful and full of life. Thomas had never been particularly happy before, and Barbara changed that with a wave of her hand. Zayn has never felt so good. Everything Barbara did became another piece of the puzzle that he, it turns out, had been missing all his life. And what was best – the words flowed with her in a powerful stream, strong and bright. Barbara was his muse”.

But everything goes to hell when Barbara dies. She falls into the lake and begins to drown. In an attempt to save her, Thomas Zane dives after him, but does not have time to save his love. He goes to the bottom of the lake, where he finds a strange dark substance. And, lo and behold, this substance can talk. She tells Thomas that the lake has mysterious properties, thanks to which talented people can rewrite events happening around them. They can distort reality so much that they are even able to resurrect a person. The dark entity promises that he will return Barbara to Thomas, but he will have to write a story for her. It is on these terms that the agreement is concluded. Thomas writes and Barbara actually returns. The poet cannot get enough of this outcome of events, but his happiness did not last long. Gradually, Thomas realizes that this is an empty shell, in which there is nothing of Barbara. This is just a body that is trying to be friendly and smiling like his Barbara, but there was some kind of catch in all her warm words.

Thomas can’t live like this anymore and therefore makes the hardest decision of his life.

Zane cut out the creature’s heart, but it still didn’t die. The creature with Barbara’s face was still cooing about sweet nothings, but poison was mixed into the cloying sweetness. He put on the suit and untied the monster from the chair. The creature fluttered weakly, but Thomas held it tightly. He went outside, walked to the very edge of the pier and stepped into the dark water, sinking deeper and deeper in a tiny speck, but never reaching the bottom.

But before that, he made one more decision. Thomas hoped that he had stopped the Dark Entity, but deep down he didn’t believe it. He felt that everything could happen again, but with a completely different main character.

Thomas Zane knew he had to destroy everything that made this horror possible, including himself. This was the only way to exorcise the Dark Entity that he had unleashed, and which was now looking at him from the eyes of his dead lover. But he also knew that, despite all his efforts, she might someday return, and although he erased himself and his work from existence, he added a loophole – to guarantee, an exception to the rule. Everything he kept in the shoebox will remain.

Zane couldn’t die since it wasn’t Lake Cauldron anymore. Before that it was something light. The place that allowed miracles to happen. But Thomas Zane, thanks to his power, summoned the Dark Essence into our world, registering it in reality. And now it was not just dark sludge at the bottom. It was a powerful universal force, which, fortunately, was still constrained by a brave diver who realized his mistake. And this diver was forced to endlessly dive deeper and deeper into the darkness of the lake, until the Dark Entity itself dozed off a little.

But only a little, because in 1976 a group of rockers appeared, which was founded by two brothers – Odin and Thor Andersen. They created excellent music that could also change reality. The darkness woke up for a while, again tasting a drop of freedom. But only a drop, because the triumph did not last long.

For decades, the darkness that wore the guise of Barbara Jagger slumbered in a dark abode that served as her home and prison. She knew only hunger and pain. In her dreams, she relived the nights of triumph again and again, when poetic inspiration raised her from the depths and allowed her to gain power and freedom for a few terrible moments. Rock stars disturbed the dream into which the poet eventually plunged her. And when she felt the writer on the ferry, she woke up.

So, Alan Wake arrives in the city with his wife, who convinced him to relax in a run-down American town in order to gain some ideas. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Poor Alice notices how her husband is gradually going downhill. Since he completed his series of books about the famous detective by killing him, he has not been able to write another line. He drinks and sometimes gets rowdy, attracting unpleasant public attention. And doesn’t even try to start working. Alice decides to help her husband. She’s looking for a doctor who specializes in fixing problems in creative people. This doctor is Emil Hartman, who owns a specialized clinic in Bright Falls. He also offers to bring Alan to the city. Alice books a house with Karl Stuckey and together with her husband they go to a cozy small town.

But Dr. Emil Hartman is not as simple as he seems at first glance. He is aware of what is happening in the city, in particular about the properties of Lake Cauldron. He needs a special creative person to change reality for himself. He doesn’t really know how the lake works or what’s going on, but he knows it’s all real. It was for this reason that he created the clinic, in order to find broken creative people and, under the guise of medicine, give them instructions on how to create correctly in this city.

Hartman knew he was not a creator. He had no ambitions in this area. And he certainly didn’t want to end up like all the representatives of the creative professions with whom he worked here: with an unimaginably mutilated soul, if not worse. For Hartman, it was enough to exercise creative control and provide direction. Be a “producer”. That’s what most of these people needed anyway. Of course, suitable objects were extremely rare.

Hartman deceives Alice and she brings her husband to the city, where Hartman has a plan ready. His partner – a man named Mott – will have to follow the Weik family to the house and kidnap Alice there so that Alan can begin writing a story for Hartman. The doctor ordered his partner to keep an eye on Alan and Alice at the very beginning, although the player most likely did not even notice this.

Mott on the ship.

After watching the writer on the ferry, Mott felt disappointed. From a conversation with his boss, he concluded that Weik was something. But no, nothing special. But Mott had plenty of admiration for his wife. He dreamed of provoking Weik into a fight, but the opportunity never presented itself. It’s okay, he’ll check what this writer is worth. That’s what they promised him.

In the city, Alice sends Alan to a meeting with Carl Stuckey, from whom he must pick up the keys to the rented house. In the diner, Alan Wake first meets the characters who, one way or another, he will meet later. But we’re most interested in a waitress named Rose, who will play several important roles in the future. A young romantic girl is crazy about the writer. So crazy that she even took his cardboard cutout from the bookstore.

Rose knew she was talking too much, but she didn’t care. She was firmly convinced that her brief encounter with Alan Wake was the best thing that had ever happened to her. She watched her get into the car with her wife. How beautiful and confident she is, how easily, unlike Rose, she interacts with Wake. They were the perfect couple. She would give her soul just to be called their friend.

The sweet girl did not even suspect how prophetic her words could be and how much the Dark Entity would use them.

The narrative in Alan Wake is structured in such a way that something interesting is constantly hidden from the player. A huge part of the story is hidden in the pages of the manuscript, which are scattered throughout the game in the form of collectables. These can be interesting facts, plot links, or banal clarifications that make even fleeting characters come alive. So Rose the Waitress and Rusty the Park Ranger. What unites them?? At first glance, nothing, but if you dig deeper and explore the world, you can understand that unrequited love became their leitmotif.

Before Rusty’s consciousness left him, he thought about Rose. He was older than the girl: she was barely twenty. But next to her he felt young and forgot what a disaster his long-destroyed marriage had turned into. Rusty still wore his wedding ring. He was waiting for the girl to ask him to take it off. This will never happen again.

Unfortunately, Rusty died without https://nonukcasinosites.co.uk/review/bull-spins/ confessing his love to Rose, afraid to approach. Because of my age. Because of my complexes. But, as you know, girls are quite observant creatures, so Rose knew about the man’s feelings.

Rose knew Rusty was in love with her. And the girl liked him, she really liked him. He taught her to dance, and life has long shown her what a gentle and soft man is worth. Rusty treated her well, entertained her and lifted her spirits. But he was not the prince of her dreams, and this confirmed the unbearable truth: Rose was as far from a Hollywood fairy tale as her suitor.

I want to note that in the game itself not a word was said about this love triangle. No cutscenes, no lines. And the main plot doesn’t need these details. But for those who love to explore the world, such a story is a great reward. Two pages of manuscript bring NPCs to life, making them closer to the player. More alive, perhaps?. But Rusty is an extremely minor character who simply dies during the course of the plot. But the developers thought about him, wrote out his arc and ended it with a tragic ending. For me, this is an example of a good study of the surrounding world.

Alan goes to the toilet because, according to Rose, Mr. Stuckey is there. Along the way, he meets a sweet old woman with a lantern, who advises the writer not to go into the dark, because it’s dangerous there. The old lady’s name is Cynthia Weaver, and we’ll come back to her later. In the toilet we are met by another old woman, who is dressed all in black. She claims that Carl couldn’t make it to meet him, but she brought the keys and instructions on how to get to the cottage on the lake. For Alan, everything looks ordinary, but the player understands that this is not an ordinary old woman. We know that this is the Dark Entity in the guise of Barbara Jagger.

Although she wore a human form, calling the Dark Essence intelligent meant applying a human concept to something that was completely alien to everything human. However, she found the only dark enough place in the entire diner. The light pouring into the corridor tormented her terribly, but she endured. The writer will soon correct the situation. He heads to the only place where power still belonged to her.

So, the Dark Entity lured the Wake family to the lake and kidnapped Alice. Alan dives into the depths of the lake after her, but does not have time to save her, after which he floats to the surface, where he again sees the old woman. He doesn’t care that this is the same grandmother he met. He doesn’t remember her. The main thing is that she says that Alice can be returned. She points to the house, where Alan hurries, straight to the typewriter. The dark entity changes tactics and begins to accuse the writer of the fact that it was because of him that Alice died, forcing him to experience a terrible feeling of guilt. And I will remind you that all this is already happening in the Dark Abode – a place where the Dark Essence rules everything. It only seems to Alan that he has surfaced and everything is fine. Obsessed with the desire to save his wife, he begins to write.

A dark entity touched the girl to lure the writer into a trap. Now it was night, and he lay helpless, drugged, illuminated only by the glare of static from the TV screen. The shadows thickened in the room as the Dark Entity leaned towards the writer, ready to touch him again: “Get to work, boy.”.

Dr. Emil Hartman.

Also, do not forget about Mott, who was looking for the Weik family. There was no point in him following them, since, firstly, it would attract unnecessary attention to his person, and, secondly, he already knew that they would be in one of Karl Stuckey’s houses. But the Dark Entity mixed up all the cards for him and his accomplice, preventing him from kidnapping the girl.

Mott checked all Stuckey’s rental cottages. The Weiks were nowhere to be found. It was already dark when he found their car parked at the end of the road near Cauldron Lake. It was some kind of nonsense. The wakes must have taken a wrong turn, but there was no sign of them, and the car had clearly been stuck there for more than an hour. Frustrated, Mott stood on the rotting remains of the footbridge that once led to Diver Island – before the island sank many years ago. The boss won’t like it.

Alan continued to write while in captivity of the Dark Entity. He writes his novel called “Leaving”, hoping that in the end he will save Alice and everything will be fine with them. But the Dark Essence constantly whispered various corrections in his ear, dictating his conditions. With each page of the manuscript, the Dark Essence became stronger. With the remnants of his sanity, Alan began to realize that he was being used and if he finished the novel, then Darkness would swallow the whole world. He finds a shoebox in Thomas’s house, thanks to which he understands what to do. He writes himself into the pages of the novel, but erases his memory so that everything that happens is a surprise to him. The darkness should not suspect that he wrote something else into history. Something that can stop her. Alan inserts Thomas Zane into the story, who was able to appear and illuminate the house, thus giving the writer a chance to escape. Alan, all exhausted, gets into the car and drives away. But due to fatigue, he loses consciousness and gets into an accident. After all, Alan worked non-stop for seven days. For seven days he simply fell out of reality, and those around him did not even notice that he began to change it.

Hartman had never been so worried as during the week after Mott managed to lose the Vekes. Their car was parked along the path that once led to Diver’s Island. Hartman thought about Thomas Zane’s house, submerged in the depths of the lake. Weick is about to start writing. They need to be found, and as soon as possible. As soon as Hartman heard on the police wave that Sheriff Breaker had detained Weik, he immediately got into the car and rushed into the city.

In parallel to this, he contacts Mott. It is unknown how, but the doctor got wind that Alan’s wife was missing. Perhaps he read it on one of the pages, since there were a large number of them in his office. In any case, he convinces his partner to put on a kidnapping act and force Alan to bring them the manuscript. At the same time, Barry, Alan Wake’s best friend and agent, unexpectedly arrives in the city. The writer is very happy about this. Well, of course. There is no documentary evidence of this, but for some reason I personally think that Alan changed reality in such a way that Barry would appear at the right moment. This is his friend. His support and support. And a little later I will still give one proof of this thesis.

When Barry already believes Alan and himself is faced with a manifestation of Darkness, Rose, through whom the Dark Essence operates, will contact them. She befuddled the girl by promising a false reward in exchange for fulfilling a simple request.

After being touched by the Dark Essence, Rose fell into dreams where everything was drawn in black and white. The old lady promised that her wishes would come true. She will become Alan Wake’s muse. Rose smiled so wide it hurt. She tipped the contents of a bottle of sleeping pills into the coffee. And deep inside the girl screamed in horror.

And after that Agent Nightingale appears on the scene. To be honest, playing through the game for the first time, I didn’t even understand why it was needed. Judge for yourself, an FBI agent appears out of nowhere and has a big grudge against the writer. So big that Nightingale starts shooting at Alan even at the risk of hitting a civilian. And this despite the fact that the writer did not take any drastic actions. Nightingale constantly pursues Wake for no apparent reason, citing some terrible crime for which he must be caught. But there is no information about what the writer did. There’s not even a hint. And Nightingale always answered direct questions vaguely, or even avoided answering altogether. And then it dawned on me. Alan erased his memory for a reason. The darkness should not have guessed that he knew how to defeat it. She must think that everything is going according to her plan, and she is getting stronger, and Weik’s escape is a minor misunderstanding. And so that she would have no reason to doubt her omnipotence, Alan wrote Agent Nightingale into the story. A character who pursues the hero for no apparent reason and does not allow him to relax. It was needed to maintain the balance of darkness and light. From the final minutes of the game we know that Thomas Zane disdained this rule, upsetting the balance. This is what he paid for. Alan didn’t want this outcome for himself, so he decided to play by the rules. He called Barry to his aid, and created Nightingale as a counterbalance. The balance of power has been maintained and, most importantly, for Darkness it all looks like a complete picture. Like, this is how everything should be.

The most interesting thing here is that Nightingale is most likely a completely fictional character with no past. If with Barry Alan simply distorted the world by calling on a real person, then Nightingale was written from scratch. He doesn’t know anything about himself and drinks constantly. Classic pulp thriller character. And Mr. Weick is a master of such literature.

He’s already seen this moment. I read about him on the page. Nightingale was overcome by a feeling of déjà vu and the horror of realization: he was the hero of a story written by someone.

Nightingale tried to find meaning in the manuscript. She was strange and incoherent. The agent didn’t understand half of it, but everything looked plausible. Impossibly believable. He pulled out the flask, reaching a page that described how he reached the page that pulled out the flask. It wasn’t the booze that melted my brains.

After some time, Alan and Barry get to the house of the Anderson brothers, who also encountered the Dark Entity, but did not influence it so much, which is why it did not have such a great influence on them. Alan finds a record of the brothers’ song, the lyrics of which read: “Look for the Most Holy Lady, maddened in the night.”.

So the holy lady is Cynthia Weaver. This is the old woman we met earlier, in the diner, at the very beginning. In addition, it was this woman who was engaged in laying out boxes with useful supplies, indications of which are visible only in the beam of a flashlight. She knew it would be useful to someone.

Cynthia Weaver worked hard following her manic rituals. Sometimes she fought with herself, but in the end she always gave in. Like a ghost, she wandered the halls of the abandoned Bright Falls Power Plant. Marked hiding places with reflective paint, which could only be seen by the eyes of someone touched by the darkness and saved by the light – just like Cynthia herself. She strengthened the defense line and stocked up in case of war, which Cynthia knew would definitely begin. And it will be a war between the forces of light and darkness.

Cynthia Weaver is a woman who personally knew both Thomas Zane and Barbara Jagger. She was a fan of Zane and his work, and was also very envious of Barbara. She was so jealous that she was even a little happy when she drowned in the lake. But she was still the person whom Thomas trusted completely. Probably the only one besides Barbara. Before removing himself from reality, he came to Cynthia and told her the whole truth, entrusting her with a certain key for protection. Thomas promised that one day someone will come for this key. Cynthia set up a fully lit room and kept the key there, constantly monitoring the quality of the light bulbs so that even a tiny shadow would not appear in that room.

So, in the room Alan finds a nutcracker – a thing that his mother gave him as a child. An item that she supposedly got from the boy’s father, whom he had never met. The thing that Alan gave to Alice a long time ago, and which for some reason ended up here right now. But, in addition to the nutcracker, there is also a sheet of autobiography, in which it is precisely said that mother gave this thing to Alan. Except it was written from the point of view of Thomas Zane. Alan says that this is completely impossible, because Zane has removed himself from reality.

Cynthia Weaver.

There is a theory circulating online that Thomas Zane wrote the entire story of Alan. Allegedly, even the writer himself is only a figment of Zane’s imagination, which he invented for the complete destruction of the Darkness. Needless to say, she’s a little stupid? The pages indicate that he, on the contrary, tried in every possible way to correct what he had already done. And theorists suggest that he risked once again competing with the Darkness? Hardly.

True, there is another theory that claims that Thomas Zane is Alan’s biological father, who left him with his mother and went to live in Bright Falls himself. But this is generally complete nonsense of fan fiction lovers.

What really happened? Before leaving, Thomas Zane prescribed a weapon against the Dark Entity in this world, which had no appearance, and left mentions of it in a single box. This something was supposed to be in the box of Cynthia Weaver, who was supposed to protect it all. But, as far as I understood, the very essence of this item was ephemeral and Alan, while writing the plot, needed to give this item a certain form. And, since as a child he believed in the magical properties of the nutcracker, he gave it this shape. Alan’s phrase after reading plays into this idea: “Zane wrote it into reality… in the story that I came up with”. But perhaps this twist was not entirely clear to me, so I would not refuse your assumptions in the comments.

In any case, Alan understands how to defeat the Dark Entity.

The novel I wrote in the house came to life. Under the influence of the Dark Entity, I wrote a horror novel, but it still had no ending. The novel was not completed, and the last, unfinished page of the manuscript still stuck out in the typewriter office at home. If only I could go back there, if only I could read that page, I would write my own ending to the novel and save Alice.

In Dark Abode, Mr. Wake uses a nutcracker to fill Barbara Jagger’s shell with light. Thus, the writer expels her from this world and she can no longer prevent him from finishing the work. The writer sits down at the typewriter and reads the last sheet. Thanks to Thomas’s notes that he read earlier, Alan understands what Zane’s mistake was. The poet simply wanted happiness without giving anything in return. There must be balance in everything. If there is a Dark Entity, then there must be a Lady of Light. If you call on an ally to help you, then Darkness must also have a confidant. If you want to save your love, then you need to sacrifice something. Alan begins to write the last page, with which he rewinds time in Bright Falls. Thanks to this, the entire period of time during which events with the Dark Essence occurred completely disappears. All characters that were damaged by Alan’s manuscript have returned to their original state. But, of course, for the sake of balance, certain edits were made. So, now Rose has become the Lady of Light in order to protect the new key, and Nightingale has become the new container of the Dark Essence, because it cannot be completely removed from this world. But most importantly, he saves Alice. Alan understands that a miracle requires a sacrifice, so he locks himself in the Dark Abode, freeing his beloved wife, because everything has its price.

At the end, Alan utters the phrase “This is not a lake. This is the ocean,” which can be interpreted in two ways. The first explanation is that Alan realized that the Dark Entity lives not only in the lake. It exists in many places in this world and the fact that the writer temporarily defeated this piece does not mean anything. The second explanation is that Alan understood the limits of what was possible. Since he influenced Barry during his writing in Bright Falls and he came, wouldn’t a writer be able to change the whole world?? Could he become something like God within this world?. Personally, of course, I am inclined to the first option.

The second phrase belongs to Alice, and she asks Alan to wake up. And many theorists immediately came up with a bunch of hypotheses that Alan actually had an accident and is now in a coma. Like, his brain came up with all this, and we are deep in the writer’s subconscious. Well, they tried in vain, because this phrase is just a lead-in to the DLC, where the writer, one might say, really fell asleep.

Alan finished his novel “Leaving” and had a nervous breakdown. The writer analyzes his actions and understands that almost everything that happens in this city happened because of him. If he hadn’t been freaking out, he wouldn’t have left Alice alone in the house, and she wouldn’t have been dragged away by the Dark Entity. Moreover, if he had not pretended to be a sufferer, he would not have driven himself into a creative crisis, as a result of which they had to come to Bright Falls. Alan really blames himself for what happened. Therefore, his consciousness splits into two entities: one of them lies in a state of semi-delirium in the house and wants to remain forever in the world of the Dark Abode, and the second wants to survive, so he experiences a nightmare written by himself in a dark version of Bright Falls.

It is surprising that in two plot additions Alan was presented as a villain, demonstrating all his complexes and psychological instability. During the passage, we will encounter various manifestations of his self-flagellation. Deep in his soul, Alan considers his books disgusting, and his relationship with Alice dead, because the writer himself destroyed them with his behavior. Alan even considers himself disgusting, which is why he tries to destroy. At the same time, another part of his mind is looking for bright pieces of his memories that are connected with Alice, thanks to which he does not go crazy. Alan accepts his shortcomings, but instead of continuing to beat himself up, he wants to make things right. Start a new life and behave differently. He gets to the house, connects with his other half, which, in fact, symbolizes self-acceptance, and begins to write a new novel. The novel, which will be called “Return”.

Alan in the process of writing the manuscript.

I think that after such a deep dive into the abyss of plot twists and turns, you now also think that he is beautiful. It is complex, confusing and not entirely clear. But at the same time, the plot is completely finished, it’s just that the clues for unraveling it are not directly in the cutscenes. The player needs to read the found pages of the manuscript, watch TV and, in general, be extremely attentive. So attentive, as if life depended on it. This concentration on details makes it possible to maximally immerse the player in the atmosphere of what is happening, forcing him to unravel this tangle.

I would also like to point out how excellently the various game details and conventions are woven into the narrative and gameplay. Take, for example, the collectables. Many players love this part of the gaming experience and try to collect them all. Instead of adding ridiculous posters or figurines, the developers added items that fit perfectly into the overall flow of the story. Firstly, these are the pages of the manuscript, which are one of the central elements of the plot. This is exactly the book that Alan wrote, and throughout the entire passage we will collect it. Secondly, thermoses with coffee. Alan knew that he had been in the Dark Abode for 7 days, spending them on almost constant work. He also knew that after escaping he would have to make even more efforts to defeat the Dark Entity. As a result, thermoses with coffee were included in the script of his life, which would allow the writer to keep on his feet. Thirdly, televisions that broadcast events from the missing week in the life of Alan Wake. Thanks to them, the player can understand what the writer was doing at one time or another. In addition, they give certain clues that will play a big role in drawing up an overall picture of what is happening.

The same principle applies to the plot and gameplay elements. If you think about it this way, then Alan too often comes across various shields with batteries and cartridges, and weapons in this town are much more common than they should be. Of course, this is all a thought-out moment by the writer. He understood what he had to do and placed similar things in his path. This is especially clearly confirmed in the forest, when Alan finds flash-noise grenades.

The laws of this world deserve special mention. Stephen King never created invincible evil. These may be extremely dangerous ancient entities, but they must also be vulnerable. Yes, the reader should not be sure of the protagonist’s victory, but he must realize: there are no hopeless situations. For example, the novel “It”, in which Pennywise had to scare children and feed on their fear. No emotion – no strength, although this is the most ancient entity from beyond the Universe. The world of Alan Wake lives by these laws. Firstly, the Dark Entity cannot simply rise from the bottom of the lake and begin to rampage. In order to gain power, she needs a creator who will fit her into this reality. Secondly, works without an ending only loosen the leash a little, without letting the essence off the chain. The work must be completed, and until then the Darkness must follow the instructions of the author.

The dark entity followed the pattern that was laid out for it in the manuscript and grew stronger, moving like a storm from one scene of destruction to another. However, she was still forced to adhere to the plot, and was chained to the dark place from which she came. When the romance reached its desired conclusion, the Dark Entity would finally be free.

Besides, according to Stephen King, there must always be a way to win. In the novel “Dream Catcher”, the alien who captured the mind could not easily cope with a person, and in the “Dark Tower” series, a shooter with revolvers had the opportunity to resist a powerful sorcerer. In contrast to the hopeless atmosphere of Lovecraft, King gives his characters a chance. Here too Alan had a chance to stop the Dark Entity and save his wife.

Besides, according to Stephen King, there must always be a way to win. In the novel “Dream Catcher”, the alien who captured the mind could not easily cope with a person, and in the “Dark Tower” series, a shooter with revolvers had the opportunity to resist a powerful sorcerer. In contrast to the hopeless atmosphere of Lovecraft, King gives his characters a chance. Here too Alan had a chance to stop the Dark Entity and save his wife.

And, without straying too far from the king of horror, I would like to note the rather frightening construction of the composition. The fact is that very often the player sees the trap into which the protagonist is sent, but cannot do anything about it. The moment with Carl Stuckey, who jumped out behind the leaving car, reinforces the gamer’s confidence that the strange granny was really not who she presented herself and that the protagonist’s family is going to a completely different place. The same thing happens with Rose, who lures Barry and Alan to her, being possessed by the Dark Entity. The player understands that something terrible awaits the protagonist, but cannot influence it in any way. And such obviousness, it would seem, should make perception easier, but, in fact, it frightens much more. The player realizes that something bad has already happened and that there is no way to fix it. He can only hope that things won’t get worse and follow the inevitable.

The dark entity in the guise of Barbara Jagger.

The gameplay is a linear third-person adventure, led by a game of light and shadow. Alan’s opponents are people, equipment and various objects possessed by the Dark Essence. The writer’s main weapon is light. Alan always has a flashlight in his hands, with which he burns out the darkness from the possessed. This happens until a characteristic click occurs, and a special circle that slowly narrows promotes better concentration. It is worth noting that you can burn with either a regular static beam or a focused one, which quickly burns both the Darkness and the flashlight charge. It will recover over time, but if you need to continue burning here and now, you will need batteries, which you need to look for in locations. As soon as Alan “burned out” the darkness, a characteristic flash occurs and this means that the enemy can be shot from some kind of cannon. We have a revolver, a hunting rifle and a shotgun available. The overall picture is complemented by auxiliary lighting elements that Alan can stuff into his pockets. These include a flare gun, flares and flash-noise grenades. The rocket launcher is quite rare and often means that a major mess is expected soon. In one shot, it is capable of creating an extremely bright spot of light, thanks to which not only the Darkness will be destroyed, but also the carcasses themselves will disappear, saving you from the need to shoot at them. Flash-noise grenades operate on the same principle: throw and forget about all enemies at a sufficiently large distance. But the flare is intended for defense. The fact is that there are a lot of opponents and, often, they sneak up from different directions. It is in such cases that this little thing comes in handy. It creates a long-lasting spot of light that prevents enemies from approaching you. At this time, you will have time to “burn out” one or two enemies and shoot them. It is definitely worth noting that opponents under the influence of Darkness are not susceptible to bullets, so “burning out” is simply a must.

It is also worth noting the colorful dodge that Alan has. During the enemy’s swing, you can press a special button, thanks to which Alan, in slow-mo, will dodge an attack or a thrown object, thus, firstly, protecting you from loss of health, and, secondly, giving a hint about where the rest of the enemies are. A very useful thing, without which a writer cannot cope.

The result is that the gameplay constantly keeps the player in suspense due to its dynamics. Opponents appear. If there are few of them, then you can cope only with a flashlight and a revolver. If there are a lot of enemies, then we use a rocket launcher or flash-noise grenade stored for emergencies. If enemies surround Alan, then we pray that there is a flare in his pocket. And all this, I remind you, in the impenetrable darkness of a spruce forest. Of course, if you run out of cartridges, you can always try to run to the nearest source of light, which are flashlights, but Alan is a suffocated person who runs out of steam very quickly. YES, and turning your back to the enemy, you risk getting a couple of axes thrown in pursuit, since you simply don’t see them and don’t have the opportunity to dodge delicately. Because of this, you almost always need to take the fight and engage in competent management of your resources, so as not to one day be left with empty pockets. And, believe me, this also happens.

Now it’s worth talking about opponents, who are also represented here by several types. There are the most common enemies possessed by Darkness that pose no particular danger. At a distance he burned and shot with a couple of cartridges. There are also dodgers who have a double attack. If you don’t dodge them, they take off a very large chunk of your health thanks to their double strike. There are runners who cause a lot of trouble. They quickly rush between the trees, stopping only for a couple of seconds. It’s easy to dodge their attacks, but it will be difficult to burn the darkness out of them. In the heat of battle, it is best to leave them for last, and also not to try to shine a light on them non-stop, because you risk being left without batteries. In addition, there are large men with axes and chainsaws. Let’s call them mini-bosses, in which you need to pour in more light and spend a lot of ammo. In addition, even a rocket does not take the chainsaw, as a result of which he will still have to be shot. But these were only human opponents. There are also possessed crows, which I attack in flocks and which cannot be defeated. By properly shining a light into them, you can drive them away for a while, but no more. All the same, they will return and will also cause inconvenience. This has an especially strong effect in cases where you need to run somewhere, and the crows constantly knock you out of rhythm. There is also a possessed technique, which can be called the most dull of opponents. Yes, it seems that a combine harvester or excavator rushing at you is a problem, but in reality it is not so. There is not a single problem in evading their attacks, simultaneously “burning out” the darkness. The only problem is that it will take a long time to burn and the most important thing here is that there are enough batteries. And towards the end of the game, possessed objects appear that will fly at Alan. And this is really a problem, since it will take a long time to burn them out, and they fly at the protagonist too quickly. So fast that you may not even have time to react with a timely dodge. And if it’s one object, then fine, but if there were two or three of them flying, and you missed one, then the rest will also fly right into you, guaranteed to send you to a checkpoint.

I can’t help but note a couple of interesting gameplay moments that play into the hands of the lore. For example, those possessed cover their faces with their hands to prevent light from entering their eyes. This is not said anywhere, but, most likely, darkness is burned out precisely through eye contact. At the same time, this fear is so strong that an enemy who has already swung a blow can be deflected with a flashlight beam. But, for example, nimble enemies can come out of a state of fear and hide in the shadows, and reinforced men with axes, on the contrary, with their heads down, will run towards Alan, trying to knock him down. A trifle, of course, but you should be prepared for all these gameplay features.

But it’s not just battles with possessed opponents that Alan Wake will entertain us with. The game very skillfully juggles its few mechanics, creating very interesting and unusual situations. From time to time, Alan will find himself in situations in which he has neither a weapon nor a flashlight. For example, together with the false kidnapper Alice, we will have to fight off opponents with only flares in our hands. Another time we will have to run away from the FBI, fighting off the possessed in the forest only with the help of flash-noise grenades. Somewhere we will simply be offered to run, dodging enemy attacks, and somewhere we will even be offered to ride in a car. At the same time, both day and night, using headlights as powerful flashlights. Well, the moment with the defense of the stage to the song Poets of the Fall is simply amazing both from the point of view of staging and from the gameplay side, because the enemies have been pressing from all sides for a long time and Alan needs to systematically fight them off.

At the same time, in the additions the developers did not neglect innovations and added several new mechanics. Well, as a mechanic, special scenes, thanks to which the gameplay changes a little. Now Alan remembers exactly that he is in the work, which means that words from the manuscript pop up here and there, which, upon contact with light, materialize. Often, some safe things jump out of them, deepening the narrative, or things necessary for further advancement. But there are episodes that force you to act very carefully. For example, the moment where everything is filled with the word “enemy”. You understand, yes, that as soon as you shine a light there, the enemy will materialize. Or the scene on the bridge, where there are the words “flash” and “explosion”. The flash will help kill opponents, but it will also set the word “explosion” on fire, which can harm Alan himself. Thanks to such alternations of gaming conventions, the gameplay does not get boring. Moreover, the game takes about 15 hours to complete. And this is provided that you go to the add-ons. Without them, Alan Wake can even run in 12-13.

The writer will have to fight with many people.

Now it’s worth talking about sound and music design. Sound in Alan Wake plays both a plot role and an informative one intended for the player. For example, there is a subtle save sound when reaching a lantern.

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