Alan Wake is a pretty tense game so far. Tense, but not scary. In fact, the only time the game gave me a fright was when I was in an abandoned cabin, watching a TV, and at the very edge of my view I could see out the open window, and some shadow figure walked by it. No attacks, no musical cue... just the fact that I was not alone. It was so subtle, and I could have missed it if my camera were pointing another way.

But Alan Wake is mostly about tension. Walking through the dark forest, full of an unnatural fog, and then the same shadow enemies appear. Fighting off 3 or 4 of them at once can be tough if you've only got a revolver with under a dozen shots left... which is what kept happening to me in Chapter 2. It was tense getting from checkpoint to checkpoint, sometimes legging it when I ran out of ammo. Sometimes I don't make it and the tension becomes frustration. Mostly because I am so limited in ammo, and I'm unlikely to find any if I go back, that it's just a matter of getting lucky with that run/dodge button.

The story is pretty interesting, too, but I'm only two chapters in so I don't know all that much yet. Visually amazing, I'm playing this on my brand new 37" LCD. I bought the game a while ago, but I only got around to starting it now, and I am glad I waited. The atmosphere wouldn't have worked so well on my old crappy TV.

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	Suskie - August 28, 2010 (08:16 PM) I would call the game "scary," though I have a fairly broad definition of the word. I think tension is a form of scariness, honestly, and Alan Wake has it in spades.
	jerec - August 28, 2010 (08:30 PM) Maybe the first time I was ambushed on all sides by enemies it was scary, but now I expect it. The scary bits are the stretches that don't have any encounters, when you're expecting something to happen at any moment and it doesn't.
	zippdementia - August 29, 2010 (09:24 AM) I'd like to hear more about what people consider scary in video games. With examples. I don't know if I'll get my wish...
	Genj - August 29, 2010 (11:38 AM) When I was 13, the noises and dark ambient music was scary in Silent Hill, but now I'm 24 and it's just a bunch of wannabe Angelo Badalamenti bullshit.
	zippdementia - August 30, 2010 (12:10 PM) I still haven't beaten Silent Hill 1. The hospital freaks me out a lot. The thing that's most frightening to me about that game is the quick drop off of vision. It's freaky not being able to see what's making the wannabe Angelo Badalamenti bullshit.
	Genj - August 30, 2010 (12:16 PM) SPOILERS: it's was the PlayStation's sound processing unit all along.
	zippdementia - August 30, 2010 (12:49 PM) Oh. My. God.
	overdrive - August 30, 2010 (02:03 PM) You mean I wasn't really having the soul of Harry Mason enter my body, causing me to hear the same sounds he was? Fuck man, another dream turned into illusion.
	zippdementia - August 30, 2010 (02:46 PM) You do realize, of course, that now I'm going to be frightened every time my gaming systems make sounds. After all, I can't see the sound processing unit. I'll never know where it is... where it's waiting for me... what it's planning...
	Probester - August 31, 2010 (12:47 AM) Alan Wake, while being one of my favorite titles this year, isn't really anything close to what I'd say is a horror game. Sure, some parts are going to make you tense up, but nothing compared to Silent Hill 1, 2, 3...ah, screw it. You know, Silent Hill in general, including the more recent titles. I love that it's set in the same universe as Max Payne.