Americans like their lakeside cabins, they do, and it’s easy to see why. Cosy fire-lit huntsman-like existence, replacing freshly shot deer carcass with mod cons like spaghetti hoops and chocolate bon bons. All alongside a glass-like puddle bordered by skip-perfect stones.
Lovely.
But this Utopian retreat is almost always spoiled by the murder of a loved one, or many loved ones. I’ve seen loads of films, it happens all the time.
And so it is with Alan Wake. He’s a writer, you know, and all writers need a retreat. Remember The Shining? That didn’t involve much in the way of sunshine, lollipops or rainbows, if I remember correctly, so Alan should have known better.
Stay at home, have a few laughs, stop your blood from spilling all over the shop in a murder intrigue.
But where’s the game in that, hmmm?
So Mr Wake has made the transition from Xbox 360 to PC. It’s only taken two years, but it looks the absolute business here. It was okay on the console, but the PC version smashes it to pieces and eats its brain for good measure.
You won’t find much comfort while playing. The whole atmosphere is sweat-drenched and edge-of-seat nervousness, improved a hundred-fold if you’re playing on a TV screen with the lights out and no-one home.
Even better is the additional content – two episodes that were extra downloads for the Xbox are included here, and continue the story in ever-more mind-throttling ways.
Alright, so there’s some repetitiveness about Wake’s constant battles with demonic beasties, but the story is spiffing enough to push through this.
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