All enemies are wrapped in darkness. It is a shield that protects them from bullets. The flashlight strips away the darkness until they stand revealed, and vulnerable. Alan points it at the Taken, and it slowly removes their shroud. Or he can overcharge the flashlight, consuming battery power, to peel away the darkness faster. A short burst of the overcharge temporarily stuns the enemy, as they cover their eyes. Once the darkness is gone, Alan can shoot away. It doesn't matter where Alan shoots the enemy, so aim for the torso to avoid missing. Alan's aim, even on a PC, snaps onto enemies, which is helpful, unless the player is attempting to shoot environmental objects. Of the three weapons I preferred the pump shotgun. The flash grenades, flares, and flare gun are useful to light up areas quickly, clearing the darkness from multiple enemies simultaneously.
All weapons, and the flashlight consume different types of ammunition. I played safely, and never ran out of ammunition. Ammo was abundant enough to not be an issue.
Alan continues through a series of dingy logging camps, groves, and river crossings until he arrives in a final confrontation with Taken Stucky. Afterwards, in the safety of the gas station Alan calls the local police. He tells them a story of half truths, but when he tells them of the location of the cabin he had rented, the Sheriff questions his sanity. She shows him a revelation that causes him to doubt everything he had come to believe.
This ends episode one. Alan Wake is composed of episodes, and every episode ends in a cliffhanger or a twist reveal. The original game was composed of six episodes. After each ends, the game plays the credits, and is followed by the next title screen. They flow into each other. Shortly after the release of Alan Wake, the developers released two special episodes. This made sense, because the ending of Episode 6 isn't a proper conclusion. The special episodes are free and automatically included in Alan Wake when purchased on Steam (and presumably elsewhere). But they are difficult to access. Instead of automatically starting Special 1 (or Episode 7), after finishing Episode 6, Alan Wake ends. To access Special 1, the player has to enter the main menu, select Episode, choose the difficulty setting, and then select Special 1.
Episode 2: Taken, begins with a flashback three years ago in New York City, Alice and Alan's home. Alan Wake successfully mixes combat and conversational sections. It paces out the game, reducing tension at times, revealing Alan's situation. It sneakily introduces small details that will be relevant later. In this section, when the lights fail, Alan consoles Alice, who reveals her fear of the dark. He tells her a story from his youth, how his mother gave him a broken light switch to overcome his own fears. She called it The Clicker. He gives it to Alice. Returning to the present, Alan is at the police station. He realizes he has lost days, and can't account for this time. During an interview with the Sheriff, and a check in with a doctor at the station, Alan's agent, Barry, arrives at Bright Falls. Barry is a good chum, who, initially concerned for Alan's writer's block, is more worried about his well being. While alone for a moment, Alan receives a phone call. An anonymous person claims to have Alice. They tell Alan to meet later in the National Park, no police.
I said earlier that Alan Wake isn't subtle. The major plot is clear from the beginning. Bad guys are clearly bad guys, and events don't surprise the player. There isn't some vast betrayal or massive reversal. At this point, I guessed the main plot. Alan made a deal to write a story for the darkness. At the end he rescues Alice. It took seven days, and now he is living the story. While true in general, this doesn't include the details of the story, or the minute and ambiguous ideas that feature at the end of Alan Wake.
Alan agrees to meet the kidnapper at the fictional Elderwood National Park, in the middle of the night. You could ask why, with the Taken predisposed to manifest in darkness, why the kidnapper wants to meet at night, and why Alan agrees. Nighttime is advantageous because people won't see the clandestine actions, but anyone that has hiked a mountain at night knows it is more difficult and dangerous. Lover's Peak, which the kidnapper says is easy, looks incredibly steep, with snow covering the summit.
Alan Wake's argument for this illogical decision comes in two parts. Alan quotes Stephen King in his opening narration of the game, saying, “... Nightmares exist outside of logic and there's little fun to be had in explanations. They're antithetical to the poetry of fear. In a horror story the victim keeps asking why, but there can be no explanation and there shouldn't be one.” This isn't to say Alan Wake forgoes explanation, but it allows it to gloss over any mistakes or incongruities, while also adding ambiguity, by refusing to answer every mystery.
Alan also explains another reason for irrational decisions. He says, “the characters have to be true to themselves, the events need to follow a logic that fits the story.” A story has to be true to itself, or it dies. A horror story, like Alan Wake (even though it isn't a horror game, Alan is experiencing a horror element), has to follow certain expectations. So Alan Wake has Episodes or Chapters. Every episode ends with a cliffhanger or a twist. Some things, which are obvious to the reader, have to happen to the characters. There have to be victims. Characters have to act according to their personality, even if it is irrational. This made me perpetually nervous that Barry, the coolest dude in the story, who perpetually ends up in dangerous situations, would die or turn traitor.
At this point in the story, Barry still doubts Al. Then he witnesses the Darkness attack the National Park Visitor Center, like a tornado out of hell. He can't help but believe. Alan travels alone to meet the kidnapper. At the encounterAlan Wake deploys one of its favorite tricks, managing the player's inventory. Alan is perpetually collecting tools to fight the Taken. But through story reasons, Alan Wake continually removes them. This happens between episodes, and at random points in any episode. The player can lose ammunition, batteries, or entire weapons. At its worst, Alan will lose all weapons, including his trusty flashlight. There is a small upside. Because Alan Wake is an action game, and not a horror game, he is never threatened while vulnerable. If Alan has no flashlight and no weapons, there will be no enemies. This reduces the player's tension, allowing them to relax. And when Alan Wake starts to hand back the flashlight, pistol, and ammo, it's a sign to prepare for combat.
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