Alan Wake is a rather competent, if largely by the numbers, shooter. However, it wants to be something more. It wants to be a smart story-driven psychological horror experience – but it fails miserably. The writing is so bad that it makes you dread the moment when it will waltz again into the spotlight. You can't help but think who wrote this crap? Then you notice it's the same guy who wrote the original Max Payne. How...?
Pros: Gorgeous outdoor environments, excellent lightning, the use of light is incorporated well into gunplay, good gunplay, gameplay tries to mix things up, great sound effects and music, solid level design
Cons: Idiotic-beyond-belief decision to spoil all major (plot) moments in a written form 10-15 minutes before they actually happen, ridiculously self-indulgent writing, shockingly poor story and voice acting, moronic characters, poor atmosphere, stiff body and face animations, predictable gameplay and story, underused and repeated secret messages,often illogical