So Alan Wake arrived in my letterbox yesterday afternoon and made its way in to my Xbox 360 about five seconds after I got home from work. I knew I wouldn't have much time for it as I've had a cold lately and been hitting the hay at around 10pm. Furthermore, I had to take my brother to and from Karate which involved picking him up from my parents house, so time was scarce.. so very scarce.

Alan Wake is the first game that I would suggest having a glass of red to. It's a horror story that plays out like a TV show, with episodes, and "previously on Alan Wake" teasers, but poor Alan feels like he's lost inside his book which he hasn't written yet. Still keeping up? As you play through the game, you collect manuscript pages of events that are currently happening. I am expecting a big twist, but it is hard to tell what to expect. Alan Wake, by all means, is a game that you can not have expectations for.

In the first hour I woke up and passed out from so many different things that I no longer am aware of what is and isn't real. I do know that there are a lot of angry people coming after me with axes and other metal objects that die after several bullets and a spray of torchlight. That's right, in Alan Wake, light is your friend. Don't question the science - it's in the authors writing, or something. In fact, if you stand under a lamp post your health regenerates back to full. Nifty, huh? Good, because if you take three hits with an axe you're dead.

Alan Wake is hard but not frustratingly hard. There are a lot of ways to tackle your foes, and the game even suggests in the load screens that if you're outnumbered just run to the next safe haven (lamp post). I am disappointed that it is not as open as I was hoping for, but from everything I had read about Alan Wake, it would have just been impossible to allow you to go off in any direction, particularly in the haunted national park that you spend most of the game in.

I'll be very interested to dive back in to this after work today, I just hope I can stay A.Wake.