With some minor issues Remedy finally releases a very solid game
Now as for the game itself, I found it to be a truly enjoyable experience. I enjoyed the cheesy voice overs, being that the main character was a write, and I imagine that is what an Alan Wake book would probably read like. I know some people disliked narrative, but it actually helped me to get deeper into the game. The story itself is strong and I really have to give props to Remedy for really fleshing out the world (Radio shows and the Night Shadow TV series really helped with the overall package).
The world / levels themselves where nice as well. The dark fog rolling in, light effects, and overall size of the maps and detail in the world showed that Remedy put a lot of effort into making the game. I was however disappointed with the supporting characters models, but this is just one of the minor flaws that I focused on.
The other flaw being the action. Now Remedy knows how to make a good action game with the Max Payne series. And the action as a whole was not flawed. I thought that light as a weapon was kind of funny, but it makes you do something other than just shoot everything that walks. Again, I would like to see what changes are made with a new character or just what happens in future games.
My one BIG complaint with the game is the dodging mechanism. The left bumper is really overused for the game. Holding it to run, and then tapping it and a direction to dodge really didn't feel natural. Often I would find myself turning and running away from an enemy instead of dodging. I would have liked to see dodge setup as a different button all together. My last minor gripe is that i would find myself burning batteries just because I was used to using the left trigger to aim. Not that that was the games fault, but it just took some getting used to.
The Good - the atmosphere, levels, light mechanics, overall ambiance of the game is extremely well done
The Bad - dodging
The Ugly - supporting characters are low quality compared to Alan