ALAN WAKE - MY NEW FAVOURITE GAME

When my Xbox 360 got the old red ring of death last week, Oz (in Game, Exeter) kindly fixed the problem for me - and at the same time turned me on to my new favourite game: ALAN WAKE.
This game is just what the EON bailiff ordered - high action survival horror with the best graphics I've ever seen, alongside great writing, sympathetic characters ... and a plot straight out of Stephen King.
Set it the small logging town of Bright Falls it tells the story of horror writer Alan Wake who is taking a holiday with his wife Alice in order to break a writers block. Alice soon disappears and Wake has to unravel the mystery of what exactly is happening in Bright Falls.

Most of the game is spent running through the shadows while being attacked by 'The Taken', residents of Bright Falls who have been consumed by the darkness. Weapons are a torch, (the Taken shun light) and various handguns, shotguns and flares.

Gameplay is reminscent of Silent Hill 2, and my alltime favourite game, Resident Evil 4. The tone of the game is very filmic in quality ... with elements of King's Misery, The Mist and 1406 ... and the best supporting character is Wake's literary agent Barry, who at one point fights off the Taken with stage lighting for a gig he's organising for stoned out aging rockers Asgard. What more can you ask for!