My thoughts on Alan Wake 2 being cancelled.

    This is hardly news and I almost didn't put it on my blog but I thought I'd explain why it saddened me. Alan Wake was a game I really enjoyed and I was also impressed by its intrequal, Alan Wake's American Nightmare.

    The appeal of the Alan Wake games is they were a interactive commentary on the relationship between writer and audience. It was a horror game which the conventions of such a story were fighting against our interests. People died to create suspense and poor Alan knows they're dying because he wrote it that way.

    The Alan Wake series was flawed because of the dull, repetitive combat as well as the somewhat bland environments but there was too much to like not to get into the spirit of the game. Given more time, we could have seen where Sam Lake saw the series going and what sort of new experiences poor Alan would find as his connection to the Old Ones grew.

    Despite this, if you played American Nightmare, I can't say the series didn't have a ending. Alan Wake's confrontation with Mister Scratch can be considered a proper resolution to the storyline and we can assume our hero will have his happily ever after. There's other plot lines but nothing I'd consider dangling.

    So was I disappointed with this announcement? Yes, but I'll get over it.