(SPOILERS – Play it yourself before reading!)
The Alaska Tapes mainly impressed me with its atmosphere. The idea of exploring a place that people visit as a kind of dare because something mysterious supposedly happened there and taking photos works well and creates a calm, slightly unsettling feeling. I especially liked the moment when you find cameras in the forest it subtly suggests that other people were there before you and that something might have happened to them. This kind of indirect storytelling worked really well.
However, the game didn’t really feel like a horror experience to ME. There is this silhouette that sometimes follows you, but after seeing it once, it becomes clear that it doesn’t pose a real threat (at least for now). Because of that, a lot of the tension is lost.
The ending was okay... the scene where you get shot in the forest, with bullets flying past you beforehand, is a good idea. Still, I think the tension could have been built up much better. For example, it could have included a section where you try to return to your car while hearing things like rustling leaves or cracking branches. Getting shot in a quiet moment like that would have had a much stronger impact.
Overall, it’s a game with a strong atmosphere and interesting ideas, but it still has a lot of potential when it comes to building tension and delivering on the horror aspect.