• Atmosphere is great. Not only is it aesthetically interesting, but the brutalist architecture and midcentury décor are a great complement to the game’s themes. The Federal Bureau of Control is an arm of the US government, and predictably choked by bureaucracy and procedure. Institutions like the FBC are the closest thing most people have to alien intelligences in their lives - uncaring, inscrutable collectives that seem to know everything about you, or at least more than you’re comfortable with, and channel that info to unseen ends. They were there before you were born, and will be there after you die, and will probably file a report about your death to be locked away in one of countless file cabinets, just for archival purposes. The environmental design of the Oldest House reinforces this uncanny bureaucratic vibe, which dovetails nicely with the actual alien threat which has infiltrated it to wreak havoc. The Hiss corrupts locations with cubic outgrowths and harsh red glare like a cancer’s spreading mutation, suspending corpses in midair and pushing mindless singsong babble out of their mouths. Chef’s kiss.

• Great performances, ESPECIALLY in the multimedia. Dr. Darling’s presentations could be delightful or haunting but always interesting (also, the FMV fit so well into the game’s style). Arish’s VA might be my favorite of the tertiary characters, it just sounds really authentic. I generally thought Courtney Hope did a great job as Jesse - my only complaint being there were a few places where I expected a lot more emotion out of her, and it felt strange for her to be so restrained. Could be up to direction though.

• Story was… sufficient, but elevated by the atmosphere and performances. The plot never really wowed me, and I only failed to predict certain story beats because I WAS expecting to be wowed and figured they surely wouldn’t go the predictable route. For something that takes extensive inspiration from the SCP project, I really expected things to go a little more off the rails, although I appreciate that there was at least one “content screw” moment.

• Gameplay is solid. Yeeting random bits of sheetrock at aliens never gets old, and the shooting feels good enough. I thought the different forms of the service weapon were cool, although I pretty much used Grip and Pierce the entire time. The mod system, however, felt strange. There’s a lot of different ones, some specific to each weapon form, but I usually just stacked whatever increased my DPS for weapon mods, and a mix of stat and ability boosts for personal mods. I think I would’ve preferred Bioshock style upgrade stations, or otherwise another system with less randomness.

• DLCs were okay. AWE is an extended ad for Alan Wake 2, largely disconnected from the main story with one or two standout scenes. Foundation is a bit of falling action for the main story and offers some interesting lore and a different environment, but feels largely anticlimactic, especially given the lack of emotional stakes as compared to the main story.

It’s an easy recommend at its current $10 sale price on Steam if you’re looking to get lost in a very intentional, unique setting for a little bit.