Alan Wake

The story really was something else! The way the mystery unfolded kept me completely invested. Definitely the highlight of the game for me.

After all these years finally finished the game. It was just as good as reviews made it to be back in the day!

Stephen King novel as a game?

Yeah, the best way to describe Alan Wake is to be sucked into a weird, thrilling and a bit scary world, full of meta-references to the whole genre. And this was cool story-wise!

Foreshadowing – oh my god, this is the best part of the game. Finding a note that contains a vague spoiler does not feel “spoiling” at all, even more - this is why I wanted to proceed further every time!

The plot becomes more and more intriguing and a bit weirder with the whole play-through, and it’s the story that made me complete the game. But…well, the Stephen-King-ish style strikes back with the ending. He likes to create absurd endings and explanations, that give a weird after-taste. And Remedy did the same. The Magic Clicker ending is not bad, it totally makes sense in this kind of universe, but it does not feel, you know, as satisfying as the rest of the plot?

But this game is old enough for the gameplay to be weak. Collect batteries, collect bullets, now point the flashlight and shoot. That’s it. It was fun for the first chapter, but then I started hating it. Higher difficulty = more challenging. But I wanted to skip it, so lowered the difficulty to the easiest one just to get to the story instead. So instead of challenging, it became just boring, but fast.

But I would definitely recommend this! Yes, this feels a bit outdated, but even in 2025 enjoying A. Wake journey totally worth the time spent.

This game has an incredible. If you like Black Mirror, Twin Peeks, or the Twilight Zone then you gotta play this game! I cannot say more because I don't want to spoil but anyone who is a fan of those shows can probably already try to imagine why I'd mention them.

Alan Wake review

This is a fun horror-shooter with a deep story for a player to unravel. Graphics are good if a bit dated, sound design is perfectly fine as well. Gameplay however can get repetitive and boring. Despite that I would definitely recommend the game as the story is good and worth experiencing. I'm eager to play Alan Wake 2 if it ever comes to Steam.

I knew this game is good when I did not pause it while making food in kitchen -- I never heard NPCs repeating a phrase.

It's good, but not great in the story department. The gameplay is, at its best, okay -- but usually frustrating. However, its sequel (Alan Wake 2, not American Nightmare) is excellent and this is more or less required reading for it.

Its cool, Good story and mechanics and plus it will run on most potato's.

Great story line, amazing slow mo scenes of when the evil taken come out as a warning to the player.

For a game about plot, it has way too much combat.
And most of combat, is against the camera and the flashlight.

The story writing is so goooooooooood~ Just the story alone makes me want to recommend the game.
The combat? Fine, but kinda annoying. The "shoot enemy with gun" part is alright, but the "only AFTER you shine your light upon the enemy" part gets frustrating real quick, especially at higher difficulties. But well, it does add to the fun with all the resource management and strategy to tackle some stages. (for reference I played normal on main, then nightmare on SPs)

Personally would recommend play it at easy mode if you just want to see the story, normal for some extra challenges in combat, and nightmare (which you unlock after first normal clear) if you want more challenges in combat OR some extra notes for the lore. Good luck waking Alan :3

it's not... good?
It's... it has it's moments is the best I can say about the game. It's the only reason I'd recommend this game, that and the actual gameplay is serviceable enough to work as a nice brain turn off game as background noise which I feel there are too many of.

Mainly the most obvious issues is just how repetitive the actual gameplay is, it's a simple but pretty novel system of using a flashlight with a stamina bar to take out enemy shields that then allow you to take them out. Outside of that it's pretty arcadey and honestly overall feels like a worse version of resident evil revelations 2 which also had a similar flashlight system, except while that game had an even better combat system, alan wake shakes it up by throwing in not necessarily interesting or good enemies. Instead it's that you have two enemy types, inanimate objects and the "taken" which are basically zombies, while the zombies are self explanatory, the objects will hover and then go flying at you to clonk you on the head making you ragdoll. Shining a light on them makes them dissipate making them mainly more annoying than anything to fight.

This is all alleviated by the situations and ways they utilize these enemies. While a majority of the time it's just filler and gets repetitive very quickly, it manages to shake it up occasionally by having floodlight management points to make it about navigating the area while fending them off, or getting playful by having situations where getting ragdolled at the right moment is just genuinely hilarious. At a few points they have "taken" vehicles which will awkwardly shuffle forward and in reverse that just sent me laughing from just how funny it looks. You're fighting for your life from basically shadow zombies and then this stupid fucking forklift or whatever will just slowly ram into you and make you and everyone else collapse on the ground as it can barely pull back out. Genuinely some great moments there. Still it's overall not really a great system but not really "bad", just lacking.

Obviously though most people bring up the story and that's...
uhhhhhh
Like it's just bad which might make some people upset, but honestly the choice to make the main conflict be you against the darkness and you need to use the light is just so fucking direct and on the nose that they might as well have just said there's giant floating shadow blocks covered in blood that spells out the word "evil" you need to fight. It's not even humorous with it's use of "the darkness" like kingdom hearts or stranger of paradise. Maybe it's not for me, but I tried to think about if maybe there was a greater purpose to the use of darkness and light to see if maybe it needed to be a simple concept in order to deliver a broader message which...

Look when you try to sideline that as an element, you're left with the struggle between an artist and his creation and the consumption of the work and how this reflects to the real world of the artist, but in a direct way through the means of the game as a really really weird meta-commentary. Maybe that would be a really interesting direction for the game, except it doesn't ever come across as actually wanting to delve into that as a meta commentary and seems more like they just wanted to make the most incredibly mediocre horror plot I've ever encountered. They do so little with the actual story that it feels like filler for the gameplay, but I know that's not what remedy entertainment is about and there are actual twists and turns and occasional moments of dialogue that are a good time. Mainly just the interactions with barry since Alan seems to only be nice about his wife when she's gone and everyone else is a plot device. Except this gets weird when you think about it all as a meta-commentary since the main point of the story is that Alan has wrote all of this to happen before and on purpose. Except you... get the pages? You get pages of what will happen in the game as parts of his manuscript which, come on, he kinda sucks as an author, how in gods name is he world famous. So because of this you know that the point of the manuscript is that alan has written all of this to happen in order to allow himself to defeat the darkness by his own design due to the nature of the location. THAT'S REALLY INTERESTING. However while that would explain why the game is extremely linear and doesn't feel like anything other than room, enemies, room, enemies, chapter over, next chapters exposition. It's because of this though that it ends up being the equivalent of you know nothing in the plot will stop you unless it's to pad out gameplay time because we know Alans already written this to happen and it's meant to go somewhere.

So we end up with the story not saying anything, there being no stakes, and knowing pre-emptively by the game itself that it's going to be a linear path of nothing. It tries to make up for this by building intrigue with what exactly the darkness is, the odd implications of what the night spring videos could mean and the vague nature of the ending. Except because of this intrigue it feels like maybe the game could have been maybe even a quarter as long and have just been a telltale game, jesus it would have been better as a short movie to whatever real game experience they'd want to make later. It's just so weird. I want to see where this goes, but also I feel like this game itself isn't good it's just... It feels more like playing the game is a necessary evil in order to get into the remedy-verse, except so little actually happens that's important to remember that I could legitimately summarize all the important points with as much impact as it was delivered in the game within maybe a quarter of this actual review.

So bottom line, if you're up for just having an alright time and just have a video on in the background until the cutscenes happen you'll probably have an alright time and it's good for that.

edit: also I just realized that I think I'm just extra down on this game specifically because (ignoring the story because alans just isn't for me) I already have played most of control, evil within, evil within 2, resident evil revelations 1 and 2 and all of those games have elements that are all fundamentally better as a game than alan wake. Except for maybe evil within 1 but that game is just generally complete shit until you understand how that game wants you to play, and takes a while before it actually does some amazing stuff at the end.

The lore I am still confused about... But the gameplay is fun! I love the concept of the fighting mechanic, but it gets boring real fast, even with new things (like the "heavies" and the objects) coming into play. The lore is as I said, confusing but still very fun nontheless; which just means I can't put the pieces together, but I can imagine a lot of different ways to connect them, making it more enjoyable. The graphics are good for it's age, and so is the ost.
The difficulty feels nice, the hardest difficulty is just the right amount challenging. The extra modes are welcome, but they had annoying parts.
The most outrageous thing in this game is the collectibles. HOLY shit the amount of collectibles there are in the game. You are telling me I gotta collect 100 thermos, while collecting a crap ton of pages of the script, which you can't even complete unless you are playing on the hardest difficulty, all the while looking out for can pyramids and radios and TVs???? And then there are collectibles in the extras too... Great......
Overall a nice game to pick up and play, not so difficult to finish, but beware if you want to 100% it and you hate collectibles, because there are a lot of them.

This is one of the greats. Remedy really went for something that at the time was very unique. There hadn't been a ton of games exploring the steven king or twin peaks vibe, and they really nailed it w this one. Very special experience when this came out originally. worth giving a shot if you never have.

Although I typically do not play shooters, I picked this game up because I heard the narrative was really great. I played on easy, and that was a good setting for me - died here and there, and only occasionally had to do a section more than twice. The story was definitely worth it. In terms of genre, I'd say it's more of a psychological thriller than a horror game. Looking forward to checking out the sequel soon.

Alan Wake is a classic example of supernatural horror done well, with a gripping narrative and eerie atmosphere that keeps players on edge. If you're a fan of the genre, it’s an experience you shouldn’t miss.

Such a great game, I hope we get a sequel soon and it comes to steam and its not funded by epic games

The funniest part of this game by far is when the cop derogatorily refers to Alan Wake by calling him five different authors in the span of three minutes.

As someone who has completed the game on Playstation and near 100%'ed the sequel on PC, I find this a weird game to come back to. It's obvious, by the nature of Remedy's history, that this was a huge swing for them. Max Payne was sold to Rockstar for development money and Quantum Break/Control were mere twinkles in their eye, Alan Wake was the definitive next step for their plans. This was truly a make or break for them and thankfully it succeeded... for the most part.

The biggest, categorical flaw I can provide is that the combat of the original Alan Wake is wholly pathetic. As a team who'd defined bullet time and tight action scenes, it's a shock that this game feels the way it does. The shooting is powered by strong sound effects and explosive visual effects but feels dull in a structural mind. It lacks an impact that it desperately needs but I think it truly comes down to repetition. The gunplay is hardly challenging and the light mechanic is well-utilized but most combat encounters begin and end with the same scenes. The game tries to vary these engagements through varied environmental interactions, but it does little to quell the overarching sensation that you're doing the exact same thing every fight.

That is where my qualms with the game end, though. Outside of a few pacing issues and the obvious restraints that a $20 indie game from 2010 would have, the rest of the game is extremely solid. Bright Falls is a very charming environment and Wake's "fish out of water" attitude towards its odd citizenry is entertaining if not slightly overdone. Bright Falls does fall into repetitiveness too, given that most of the environments it provides is rural wooded areas that are usually doused in darkness but it never feels as notable as the combat due to the fun setpieces it provides. Cutting through log farms or across trapped farm lands almost never gets old.

While Bright Falls is great (and gets much, much more love in the sequel) the characters of Bright Falls are perhaps its strongest asset. The tight triangle of Wake, Barry Allen (Wake's Manager,) and Sheriff Breaker keeps the plot moving and provides a lot of space for the background characters to excel. The Andersons are amazing, Cynthia Weaver provides an excellent deuteragonist and Nightingale/ Hartman share an equal role as antagonists in their own right along with the Dark Presence. If there's any aspect of the game that should compel you to play this game, it's seeing Remedy have as much fun with these characters as possible and truly pushing their budget to the limit in creating setpieces with them.

I would be remiss, as I often am, to not mention Alan and Alice's relationship in a review. Alan is a very troubled character and absolutely deserves to be criticized as he is. He's an alcoholic, workaholic writer who's taken his burnout and put it onto his wife. The later developments in the story (Control's AWE DLC and AW2) do ease him into a likable character who's overwhelmed and dealing with his issues through his writing, but it should be noted that Alan is very unlikable in this game and that is intentional. I personally think it adds to his monologues through the game as he narrates his development into the titular hero, the little moments like the moonshine scene give him a good dynamic with Barry and show a fairer side of his character. Seeing as Remedy has slowly reformed his character over the decade since this game released, I don't find it as egregious as others do, but I can understand some long-term fans' reservations towards him.

Overall, as dated as it is, it's hard not to recommend this game as a fan. I can hardly think of any series, even my favorites, which I could write more about and I think it's truly admirable to see how Remedy as a team has refined themselves since this first game. Their writing is among the best in the entire industry and it's hard to not see them as a wellspring of refreshing stories if you can get through the beginning of their sophomore franchise (not including Death Race). The density of their thematic storytelling is truly unmatched.

If you can't finish this game but love the story, which I entirely understand, watch a recap and hop over to Quantum Break (tangentially related until Alan Wake 2) or Control (basically the world-building sequel before Alan Wake 2.) They are all small corners of a much larger map and I couldn't be happier that Remedy has worked so dutifully to create a large universe.

The game has an interesting story but frustrating combat mechanics. Enemies will appear behind you with little to no warning and dodging is not always effective. I struggled a bit multiple times on normal difficulty but other than that it's cool

The game can be a little repetitive, but it has some cool innovations, a good story and is pretty scary at times for a Teen rated game. I can see why it has a cult following.

❤ Audience ❤

☐ Beginner
☑ Casual Gamer
☑ Normal Gamer
☐ Expert

☼ Graphics ☼

☐ Bad
☐ Alright
☑ Good
☐ Beautiful
☐ Fantastic

♬ Music ♬

☐ Bad
☐ Alright
☑ Good
☐ Beautiful
☐ Fantastic

☠ Difficulty ☠

☐ Easy
☑ Average
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Hard
☐ Unfair

§ Bugs §

☐ Bugs destroy the game
☐ Lots of bugs
☐ Few Bugs
☐ You can use them for speedrun
☑ Nothing encountered

☯ Story ☯

☐ There is none
☐ Bad
☐ Alright
☑ Good
☐ Fantastic

⚔ Gameplay ⚔

☐ Frustrating
☐ Sleepy
☑ Boring
☐ Fun
☐ Challenging

۞ Game time / Length ۞

☐ Really short (0 - 3 hours)
☐ Short (4 - 7 hours)
☑ Few hours (8 - 20 hours)
☐ Long (21-50 hours)
☐ Very Long (51-100 hours)
☐ Extremely Long (101+ hours)

$ Price / Quality $

☐ Full price
☑ Wait for Sale
☐ Don't buy
☐ Refund it if you can

bit rough around the edges, but there's such a beautiful heart and some astonishing writing here that only gets more impressive as it grows into the sequel. hard to think about this game without talking about the second one, which is one of the greatest games ever imo and that fact boosts this up so so much. a must-play for anyone serious about video games and/or writing. if you love (or despise!) twin peaks and stephen king this game is for you

the thing about this game is that I didn't really have true fun until a certain event happens 3/4 of the way through the game. the intrigue carries this experience heavily and I daresay the game doesn't truly have game play to rival the story until the dlc.

A surprisingly good game, that I ended up liking a lot more than I initially thought I would. Has a bit of that Xbox360 jank, but it's well worth it.

Great game. Runs very well on GTX 1650 high settings. It's better experienced with controller.

I hate Horror games......But alan wake is not thats much scary... I just complete 2 seasons and i like it very much. I gave it 8/10.

1. Story & Atmosphere – 9/10

Alan Wake throws you into the eerie shoes of its titular character, a bestselling writer grappling with creative block and a missing wife. Set in the foggy, oppressive town of Bright Falls, Washington, this psychological thriller unfolds like a Stephen King novel crossed with a Twin Peaks episode. The story follows Alan as he searches for his wife, Alice, only to find himself hunted by shadowy, possessed townsfolk and unraveling a supernatural mystery tied to his own writing. The narrative is delivered through a clever episodic structure, complete with cliffhangers that keep you on edge.

The atmosphere is the real star here—dark forests, flickering streetlights, and a constant sense of dread make every moment feel alive with tension. The writing is sharp and self-aware, blending pulp horror with introspective depth. While the plot can get a bit convoluted by the end, the ride is gripping, and the mood is unforgettable.

Pros:

✅ Taut, suspenseful storytelling with a unique premise.

✅ Haunting atmosphere that nails the horror-thriller vibe.

✅ Memorable characters, especially Alan and his snarky narration.

Cons:

❌ Ending feels a tad rushed and ambiguous for some.

2. Gameplay: Combat & Exploration – 7/10

Alan Wake mixes third-person action with light survival horror elements. You’ll fend off “Taken”—shadow-possessed enemies—using a flashlight to burn away their darkness before finishing them with a revolver or shotgun. The light-and-shoot mechanic is fresh and satisfying at first, tying cleverly into the story’s themes, but it can grow repetitive over time. Dodging is clunky, and combat encounters occasionally feel padded.

Exploration is linear but rewarding, with manuscript pages scattered around that flesh out the lore and foreshadow events. The pacing balances quiet, creepy treks through the woods with intense action beats, though it’s not as open-ended as modern titles. It’s solid but not revolutionary.

Pros:

✅ Light-based combat feels thematic and fun.

✅ Manuscript pages add depth and incentive to explore.

✅ Decent variety of weapons and enemy types.

Cons:

❌ Repetitive combat loop wears thin by the end.

❌ Controls can feel dated and stiff.

3. Open World & Exploration – 6/10

Bright Falls isn’t a true open world—it’s a series of large, linear levels—but it’s dripping with personality. The misty forests, rustic cabins, and desolate roads create a cohesive, immersive setting. Exploration is limited to finding collectibles like coffee thermoses and hidden caches, which add charm but not much depth. The game’s strength lies in its directed experience rather than freedom, and while the environments are gorgeous, they’re more of a moody backdrop than a playground. Fans of sprawling exploration might find it restrictive.

Pros:

✅ Beautifully crafted, atmospheric locations.

✅ Collectibles enhance the world’s quirky vibe.

✅ Nighttime visuals are stunningly eerie.

Cons:

❌ Linear design limits true exploration.

4. Technical Performance & Graphics – 8/10

For a 2010 game, Alan Wake still holds up visually in 2025, thanks to its moody lighting and atmospheric effects. The interplay of light and shadow is masterful, with flashlights cutting through fog and darkness in a way that feels ahead of its time. The remastered version (2021) polishes things further—smoother textures, better framerates, and enhanced details make it shine on modern systems. The soundtrack, featuring haunting tracks by Petri Alanko and licensed songs like “Space Oddity,” elevates the mood perfectly. Voice acting is strong, with Matthew Porretta bringing Alan to life. That said, the original PC port had optimization issues, and even the remaster can stutter on lower-end rigs.

Pros:

✅ Striking use of light and shadow.

✅ Fantastic soundtrack and voice work.

✅ Remaster keeps it relevant and smooth.

Cons:

❌ Occasional performance hiccups on weaker hardware.

Final Verdict: Is It Worth Playing?

Alan Wake is a roughly 10-12 hour plunge into a dark, cinematic nightmare that blends action, horror, and storytelling with flair. It’s not perfect—combat can drag, and the linearity might disappoint some—but its gripping narrative and oppressive atmosphere make it a standout. If you love a good yarn with a side of spooky thrills, this is a must-play. It’s a cult classic for a reason, and a perfect lead-in to its sequel or Remedy’s broader universe.

Final Ratings:

Story & Atmosphere: (9/10)

Gameplay (Combat & Exploration): (7/10)

Open World & Exploration: (6/10)

Technical Performance & Graphics: (8/10)

Final Score: 7.5/10 – A chilling, stylish thriller that shines brightest in the dark.

I mean I only played this game because I'll play the second game on my ps5. I didn't enjoy the repetitive gameplay and the story overall, ending was ok tho. You can pass this game before playing the second one I guess.

Graphics and Visuals: 6

Gameplay Mechanics: 7

Story and Narrative: 7

Sound and Music: 10

Performance and Optimization: 10

Longevity: 7

Innovation and Creativity: 8

User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX): 9

Characters: 7

Value for Money: 9

I'll give 8,0/10

9 / 10

+ Very well written story
+ Mechanic and setting
+ Music

- Too short
- Very difficult at times when resources are scare (gun, flashlight)
- Remastered version not in steam (not to blamed but it be nice)

Story rich, i don't play games that often but this one got me invested so i finished pretty fast. The fighting is repetitive and so becomes boring quickly, but overall rly gooood, good good good

Excellent atmosphere and story. Gameplay is solid but I would of liked more enemy variety and get rid of the possessed object enemy entirely.

Alan Wake can be an abolute fever dream of a game, feeling downright Lynchian at times in addition to the Stephen King influences it wears on its sleeve. That's enticing, but it's not enough to carry the game through some of the clunkiest TPS gameplay I've ever had the displeasure to slog through, with sluggish controls, half-baked light mechanics and tedious vehicle sections. On what I thought was normal but seemed to be hard mode, encounters devolved all too often into swarms of bullet sponge enemies coming at you from offscreen. Even if you get this for free or next to free, there's no reason to play this for action horror over one of the Resident Evil remakes. Not even worth watching a playthrough either, when you can find a far better Pacific Northwest-set mindbending mystery out there in Twin Peaks. There's a reason it took me around a decade to finally play this, and now that the licensed music is gone too Alan Wake is truly less than the sum of its parts.

Honestly I was annoyed by the writing at the start of the game, but as the game went on I started to love the camp. Definitely a game that grew on me that I would have otherwise not have recommended only 2 hours in.

Biggest complaint is that snippets of lore are hidden behind the hardest difficulty that must be unlocked through a first playthrough, even though the game doesn't really have the juice for more than one playthrough in the first place. Still, there's a lot to love (Barry).

Alan Wake sees you playing as Alan Wake. His name is Alan Wake, and he is a writer. Alan Wake is pressured by his wife to take a vacation to Bright Falls in order to get over the writer's block he is experiencing, when suddenly the two of them are assaulted by mysterious dark forces that threaten to swallow the town whole.

Alan Wake is pretty classic "I miss my wife horror"; mildly depressed slightly grizzled mid 30s man tries to be just a little bit happier and now suddenly loses his wife to The Horrors TM. The gameplay of Alan Wake is relatively straight-forward, you're armed with various standard guns and a flashlight, and you'll use the flashlight to "burn" the shadowy enemies that assail you. There are a couple different types of shadow demons, with varying levels of health and speed and attack types, but overall the game follows a pretty repetitive loop as you traverse through the woods and mines and town. The story does a decent job of stringing these loops together though, it's an occasionally surreal horror tale that really keeps you guessing as to where they'll take the plot next. Alan Wake starts to wrap within itself, becoming this kind of meta-story of the effects of isolation and writer's block, and overall it's relatively interesting. Though to be frank, I only really played this game to give some prior context before I inevitably pick up Alan Wake 2. This first game got a tad boring in some segments, but overall for its very cheap sale price of ~$5, it was pretty alright.

An easy recommend sitting at a comfortable 8/10 from me. Graphics, gameplay, story, and atmosphere are all exquisite, but with some small hiccoughs every now and then with wacky character movement and/or platforming and exploration that can be too distracting at times (though this might just be on me for stopping to investigate every odd blade of grass). Pick it up when it's on sale and you won't regret it!

Solid single player story. The Horror is not that Hardcore so if you are looking for something that is not that hard to get into I would recommend it.

I am terrible at these games and I finished it in 16 hours.

A good 7/10 game In my opinion.

This thermos simulator is great! There are 100 to collect and tons of different environments to collect them in! Only 1/4th joking. Seriously the game holds up well and the story is good enough. The people taking trash about this game are probably dumb 13 year olds who know nothing about story telling

Would recommend for players looking for entertainment on an underpowered handheld device.

Works well on Steam Deck. Story exists. Gameplay exists. It was $2.

The game is good but it has not aged gracefully. The graphics are simultaneously the best and the worst. The ending is incomprehensible unless you play American Nightmare. The gameplay gets old really fast. It is kind of a walking simulator. But it's interesting if you like Remedy's games (which I do).

I will only talk about the story because gameplay is just a thing you have to suffer through it this game.
The story is not great. The idea behind it is solid, completely ruined by poor execution. It is sort of told on 3 levels: manuscript, in-game experience and cut scenes. Every story and especially horror story should have tempo. Tension rises and drops in a pulse, always increasing until it culminates. Big reveals usually happen in a deep valley, where suspense is the highest and lead to a high tension scene eg a fight, a chase or something of the sort. Fights with hundreds of oil stained copy paste mobs are supposed to be peaks, cut scenes and manuscript are supposed to be valleys of this pulse. The problem here is that everything plays the opposite role: fights are very dull and boring and actively ruin tempo, by turning a supposedly active scene into a "flash the light for a bit and shoot 3-6 times depending on if it's monster type 1/2/3"; manuscript on the opposite contain the biggest reveals, but it's impossible to time them. I may choose to read them as soon as I find them, but then it feels like something is constantly interrupting me. Cut scenes are the thing that is left. And to my surprise cut scenes are usually composed of mainly action scenes. Like things that would be sort of fun to do for the player like operate a helicopter away from oil-stained crows are packed into a cutscene.
All of this boils down to having to endure through pathetic gameplay of traversing the woods in attempts to find something that would shed some light on the story eg pages and hoping that next cutscene would end in "previously on Alan wake" and not being left in yet another copy paste forest with copy paste enemies. As a result instead of every aspect of the game combining to have big exciting reveals I got to experience main turns of the plot in an "aha, ok" moment, while reading a page somewhere between point A and point B.

Given that the game follows an episodic format, I will review and update on a per-episode basis after I finish them respectively.

EPISODE 1: A really good hook for a game of its genre. Alan Wake seems to have it all: Is married to a caring wife, is a bestselling author, and is now on vacation to forget about his art block. Until he Accidentally kills a hitchhiker. This is a pretty compelling start, and the motif of the light and the dark seem to have direct correlation to Alice as she suffers from a phobia of darkness. There seems to be some sort of narrative that Alan is actually writing the events of what unfolds, but this is pretty vague and unclear. Enticing, compelling, and eerie. 9/10

Great horror/thriller game that holds up really well with somewhat repetitive gameplay. However, the characters and setting had me hooked from the start! I wish the 2nd one was on Steam - instead you’ll have to download Epic to play it

This is a tough one. The story is interesting however is bogged down by 95% of the game being insanely repetitive and annoying combat encounters. I have no idea why this game focuses on combat so heavily when the system is just "shine shoot repeat." Most of the missions are walk through forest, fight enemies, continue walking to forest. The "puzzles" are not even puzzles, and there are like 3 of them in the entire game.

Story slows down in some heinously bad chapters (chapter 3/4..?). I want to like this game but I feel like what I got out of this game to enjoy I could've watched a 30 minute youtube video and had just as good of a time. 4/10

I normally don't finish games very fast, but this one only took me about 15 hours. The tie-ins with Control are nice. Story is good. Graphics are fine considering the age of it, but it would've been nice to have some higher res textures. The lighting is good despite having no ray-tracing. Combat difficulty for normal is perfect...most encounters are no trouble but I had to restart a few of them multiple times.

Content cut post-release
"This update removes the song Space Oddity from the game due to changes in licensing, and replaces it with a new original song by Petri Alanko, Strange Moons.
Alan Wake Remastered (2021) will not be affected by the update."

Fantastic Game! Not many games have it all. A great story with great voice acting. Good graphics(even if they are a bit dated). Fun engaging gameplay. Suspense and thrill. Action and exploration. I mean this game has a bit of everything and it is all mashed up very well. I found the gameplay to be a bit hard for me even on easy. I am getting a bit older and well... slower. The game is so engaging I pushed forward because I just had to see what was coming next and how the story would end. The game was also exactly the right length. I don't see a whole lot of newer games that compare to this one.
SPECS: Ryzen9, 32gb, 4060ti oc, ssd.

Alan Wake succeeds brilliantly at what it intends: creating a psychological dependency loop disguised as entertainment. The game's true antagonist isn't the Dark Presence but the realization that you've paid to experience artificial trauma when authentic horrors await outside your screen. That the majority of reviews are positive proves how effectively we've been conditioned to applaud our own psychological manipulation.

Has a heckin Deer festival, we need real versions of that everywhere.

Still holds up even today. Very pleasant gameplay, with enticing characters and an interesting story (à la Remedy).