Alan Wake

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).

This game made me chose writing as a profession, haha. Great story but combat feels repetitive a bit.

For YEARS I've heard nothing but praise for this game. It wasn't until the Game Awards in 2023 where this series entered my mind again, hearing Herald of Darkness, and it getting stuck in my head for over a year straight. And FINALLY I recently decided to give this game a try.

Everything they say about this game is true. It is incredible. The gameplay is solid, the music is extremely memorable, and the story is compelling and engaging.

At first when the game teaches you the mechanic of using your flashlight to make enemies vulnerable to normal attacks, I was a bit worried that having to constantly use the flashlight against enemies would take me out of the immersion and make things feel sluggish, but the developers did a really great job not making it feel that way in most cases. The only glaring moments where it DOES feel sluggish is really only when the game is SUPPOSED TO feel that way, when you have little to no weapons and you're clearly meant to be running rather than fighting. When you are fighting, however, the game very often gives you many different options on how to combat foes, between the different flashlight variations, flares, flashbangs, and even giant lamps strewn about the environment. Not to mention the guns, but those really take a backseat and are mainly just a way to deal damage when you don't have access to the better weapons. I'm not sure how it is in higher difficulties, but I played on normal and found ammo fairly plentiful if you spent time exploring, but still difficult to get a hold of just enough to force you to conserve what you had.

Aside from the game's overly used battle theme, which gets a bit grating on the ears by the time you get to the end, the game's music is excellent, from it's soundtrack, to the licensed songs, and ESPECIALLY the stand out songs by the Old Gods of Asgard, a made-up band solely made for the franchise's universe which is made up by the REAL band the Poets of the Fall, who ever since finishing the game have been very quickly rising up my most played artist list on Spotify.

The game itself oozes charm, from it's compelling story, even to the smallest of details. I don't want to spoil any bit of the story itself, but I will mention a small detail that I enjoyed a lot: the Twilight Zone-esque in-universe show Night Springs, which you can watch short episodes of on certain TVs throughout the game. These shorts are live-action and you can tell the studio had a TON of fun making them. There's also many moments throughout the game itself that, again, I won't spoil but will surprise first-time players, and many of them are all extremely memorable. The way the game even foreshadows many of these moments in the pages of Alan's manuscript don't ruin the surprise, and almost make it feel more suspenseful, as sometimes you may know WHAT is coming but you won't know quite WHEN it's coming, and when it finally happens, not only is it catching you off-guard but also has you pointing at the screen going "OH THIS! I READ ABOUT THIS! OH NOO!"

Overall, an incredible game that I finally had the pleasure of playing. If my story sounds at all similar to yours, I recommend you play this game. I love it. And I can't wait to play Control and the two Alan Wake sequels when I get around to them. I just won't wait 15 years this time to do so.

Fabulous game, even for people who don't normally play games with combat.

I love watching people play games like Resident Evil, but when it comes to playing them myself - I suck at it! My aim is terrible and dying over and over again gets very frustrating. What I love about AW is that the combat is not easy but manageable. You get better at it as you play more and more, and the way they play with light makes it so interesting. Maybe it is the mechanics, chosen key bindings, or just that the story is so riveting you don't mind the combat sequences in between, but I am enjoying this game way more than I thought I would. I will die on this hill, driving SUCKS - I walked all the way to the coal mine because I hated getting into a car (again this is just my lack of skill, not a problem with the game)

Don't be hesitant, I got it on a deep sale but it is well worth the full price and more. I am already scoping out getting AW2 so I can play as soon as I finish the first one + DLC

It was an ok game. Fighting gets repetitive at some point because of enemy variety. Came to play it because i played "Control" first (actually liked that game) so i was interested what happened in a prequel.

Started off great!!! I enjoyed the story telling and was intrigued but it became boring very quickly for me with repetitive enemies and game play.

Still he's the torch bearer
And it couldn't be much clearer
A war needs its warrior, true and right
But the darkness within him
Held her hostage
Had he seen her drowning
Would have saved her from the darkness of the lake

I can't recommend anyone play this game until Epic Games allows the sequel Alan Wake 2 to be sold on other PC game stores, instead of exclusively selling it on the (much worse than steam) Epic Games Store.

Game still holds up on a first visit in 2025. The gameplay and storytelling are still pretty unique. Perfect for short bursts of play on steam deck too.

Recommended for: If someone asked me to describe Alan Wake as briefly as possible, I would say: "Stephen King: The Game." That also immediately indicates the main target audience. Do you enjoy a good story in the supernatural thriller/horror genre, combined with excellent voice acting, strong dialogues, and interesting gameplay? Then this game is definitely a recommendation.

Alan Wake is probably less suitable for people who prefer pure action. Since the game strongly focuses on storytelling, it is very linear. The combat is not amazing either. It’s certainly not bad and even interesting at first, but as the game progresses, it can start to feel somewhat repetitive due to the limited variety of enemies and weapons.

My experience: I really enjoyed Alan Wake. I am a big fan of the genre and found the story amazing. I also thought the dialogues and voice acting were very well done. The combat might have been a bit too simplistic, but I didn’t find it bothersome. At the very least, it didn’t get in the way of the story or the rest of the gameplay.

Just as a side note: the story somewhat reminded me of a movie I once saw, In the Mouth of Madness by John Carpenter from 1994. If you know that movie, you should definitely give Alan Wake a try. And vice versa, of course!

Technical: I had no technical issues while playing.

Personal rating: 5/5

most unique story ive ever experienced, gameplay is kinda dull tho, still pretty great game

Innovative, creative, atmospheric, immersive, and creepy. Great story. Combat can sometimes be frustrating BS, but not game-ruining by any means.

Funny thing--this game has quite probably the absolute worst, most hilariously bad, rigid, awkward facial animations that I've ever seen, relative to when the game came out. They look like marionettes. Or, like a bad ventriloquist act. This was a contemporary of Skyrim, and that was light years ahead for facial animations. Anyway, doesn't matter--that's not why you're here. You come for the story in a game like this, and it's great.

The game tries too hard to be a movie.
Small variety of enemies, messy storytelling. Same freaking woods All The Time.

10/10
The characters' premise fits my needs of perspective.
This might not mean anything, and I apologize if this isn't misleading.
I don't leave bad reviews, all efforts are a perfect score.

Really good game very interesting story, pretty nice characters & great soundtrack.
The gameplay was alright it was solid but very repetitive.
Overall I loved this game and I kinda want to buy Alan Wake 2 now especially because the first game had an open ending😅.

8/10!

Edit: I found out that there are 2 Special Episodes that continue the Story and I just played them too. They still lead to an open end tho. Overall i would rate them 8/10

Alan Wake 2 Next... Gonna Update the review here when I finished it since it's not on steam unfortunately!

The good: burning the darkness away with a flashlight is super satisfying. The story and setting are creepy and moody in the best way. I like the episodic format of the game. Alan's got a sick fit (hello elbow pads).
The bad: Following NPCs felt miserable. Alan moves like he's 800 years old, which made combat harder than it needed to be. Some parts of the game felt unreasonable in terms of resources vs enemies. Figuring out where to go and navigating the paths was kind of confusing. Overall, these annoyances got easier to deal with the more I played and I'm really enjoying the game.

Alan Wake is worth the hype that its cult classic reputation has earned. In 2024 it's a beautiful look back into over a decade ago, to an era when games were first figuring out how to present it's story to the player in a way that satisfied its own esoteric internal logic.

Even if you pay attention there will be numerous times where you have absolutely no clue what is going on, sometimes that seems to be intentional, but at all times it is to the games benefit. Alan Wake, interestingly enough, is kind of an asshole. Especially in the beginning he is abrasive to a fault and pretty rude to his wife, especially in flashbacks. But Wake spends a majority of the story in utter confusion, high stress, and high pressure situations. Not only does his character evolve overtime and slowly soften towards those he once treated as expendable, but I think the authentic writing keeps him too confused and panicked to be the asshole he is in the beginning.

The soundtrack and world building are of an extremely high quality. The music made for this game can be found on Spotify and in isolation are well made songs in their own right. The TV shows scattered around the levels are short, funny, and aid in the general atmosphere they're going for. Everything crafted here is intentional and done with so much care for a clear vision this game was aiming for.

The Gameplay itself. I hesitate to say it's good, but I wouldn't say it's bad. Fighting enemies, for the most part, is fun. Having to deal with two parts to every enemies cycle is enjoyable to manage, and I had a number of times in the late game, on Hard, where I ran out of ammo due to not conserving enough and I had to weave my way through a patch of enemies. Running off the beaten path is also rewarded either with collectibles or more ammo. The part I despise, is the objects flying at you. They're introduced with no warning or explanation, you oftentimes don't have enough time to stop them before they get a shot at you, and worst of all the stamina and "dodge" mechanics are laughable at best and are easily my most frustrating part of this experience.

It's a shame the sequel will likely not be on Steam in the foreseeable future.

I love this game (and Alan Wake in general). The combat is surprisingly rewardingly masterable for such a simple formula, the environments and atmosphere feel like a love letter to Lynchian horror like Twin Peaks whilst amplifying the developers' Finnish background by tainting the waters with a pinch of rural western Americana, the story while hard to follow at points is gripping and entertaining... There's a little bit of cheese in the dialogue especially with all the literature references, but all in all, I feel it enhances the experience and vibe.

A very good game with just some minor flaws such as the game can be confusing on where to go, but the atmosphere and tension it creates is excellent, although the combat can be tedious sometimes, but nonetheless a fun game. I would rate it an 8/10.

Amazing story, beautiful atmosphere and full of action!

The camera angle isn't great, there's blur effects absolutely everywhere, and the controls are sluggish, but ammunition is plentiful, so the gameplay feels like resource management with minimal player input as to how efficiently those resources are spent.

The story has some interesting ideas though. I need to write something long-form again.

Graphic not so outdated and gameplay still fun. Good story.
Needs a little mod with dxvk to fix the FPS but totally worth it.

The concepts are unique and could have been fun had the execution been better. The game is very repetitive and feels lacking at times.

Great story, mediocre gameplay.

Don't play it on hard unless you really like being irritated by a writer with congenital heart disease and severe asthma.

On the surface level, Alan Wake is a good game that has good elements of horror in it. It has got a well-constructed environment and has a good story too, putting you in the shoes of Alan as you journey through Bright Falls. However, one of the major problems with this game is that each mission gets too repetitive and annoying. There's hardly an enemy variety as you repeatedly battle the same enemies throughout all missions, including even in the DLC chapters. The combat is also not good and there have been moments where the game bugged out, forcing me to restart missions again.

If you don't have a problem with repetition and bad combat design, then I would probably recommend Alan Wake as it has a great story, and Alan is a good character to play as.

Amazing story and very interesting gameplay too. I absolutely recommend this game. I was captivated from start to finish.

One thing though: Those specials unlocked at the end suck ass. It's gauntlets of very bad fights with some story hidden behind. Don't recommend that part at all.

this game has been my all time favorite for the past like 10 years, im just writing a review for it now so steam knows i like it. pc controls feel a little weird but that might just be because ive always played it on console. this is the game to ever exist

Alan Wake is one of the most atmospheric and engaging psychological thriller games I have ever played. Developed by Remedy Entertainment, it follows the story of a bestselling writer, Alan Wake, who travels to the small town of Bright Falls with his wife to escape writer’s block. However, things quickly take a dark turn when his wife disappears, and he finds himself trapped in a supernatural nightmare, with shadowy enemies hunting him and pages of a manuscript he doesn’t remember writing coming to life.

The game’s biggest strength is its storytelling. Inspired by Stephen King and Twin Peaks, Alan Wake delivers a gripping narrative filled with mystery, psychological horror, and mind-bending twists. The episodic structure makes it feel like a TV series, keeping players hooked with cliffhangers and suspense. The game’s setting is equally impressive, with beautifully eerie environments, dense forests, and fog-covered roads that enhance the sense of isolation and fear.

Gameplay revolves around light-based combat, where players must use flashlights to weaken enemies before finishing them off with firearms. This unique mechanic adds tension, forcing players to manage batteries and ammo carefully. However, combat can become repetitive over time. Despite this, the excellent atmosphere, well-written characters, and haunting soundtrack make Alan Wake a memorable experience. It’s a must-play for fans of psychological horror and narrative-driven games.

Alan Wake is a really solid action survival horror with a great story supported by excellent writing and voice performances. While I do recommend this game it is with the caveats that there is kind of a steep difficulty curve at points but that could be an issue with me playing it more like an action game than a survival horror, and the sequel being an EGS exclusive as of writing this review and for the foreseeable future.

Amazing game, I would recommend you play the remaster as it just looks better but great game. Play the 2nd if you enjoyed this one.

enjoyable story for the price its worth a few hours

Alan Wake is a standout game that I highly recommend to anyone who loves a good story-driven experience. The unique episode structure is a fantastic, out-of-the-box approach that makes the game feel like a captivating TV series. Each episode is packed with suspense, leaving you eager to see what happens next.
The plot is intriguing and keeps you hooked from start to finish. You'll find yourself constantly playing to uncover the mysteries surrounding Alan Wake and the eerie town of Bright Falls.
However, it's worth mentioning that the first two chapters take a bit of time to start properly. The pace in the beginning may feel slow, but it quickly picks up and becomes an engaging ride. Additionally, the adventure is quite closed in terms of exploration. The game tends to guide you by the hand through each level, which might not appeal to those who prefer a more open-world experience.
Despite these small issues, Alan Wake offers a remarkable narrative and an innovative episodic format that makes it a must-play title. Dive into this dark and atmospheric world; you won't regret it!

I really enjoyed this game and highly recommend it. It's a shame we most likely won't get alan wake 2 on steam.
The story and the idea of the game are really interesting and keeps you captivated all the way to the end.
The gameplay may not be innovative but it's interesting and i liked the idea of the darkness and the taken, the use of light sources too.
The characters are interesting too and the manuscript pages add a nice touch and more informations to the game.
Let's not forget about the soundtrack, which i love and is one of the best ones ever i think.

This game is about Night Springs, and... Coffee thermos.
Watch it on YouTube for the story. Other than that, there's nothing much to 'write' home about.

Oh, and the ending is a massive nothing burger.

Really good. Fantastic voice acting, music and atmosphere. And, for a 12 year old game, in my opinion it looks really good.

Now I have to replay Control to get what were the references to AW,

Alan Wake has to be the most Absolute Cinema game I ever experienced. Would love to play the sequel but that's only in the Epic Games store sadly. hopefully one day but this was a fantastic experience still.

Overall, wouldnt recommend it. The game play gets old pretty fast. The story is fine. Didnt have any memorable characters. Had to push myself to finish it. 5/10

at first i was a little bit skeptical about this game as graphically isn't the best cuz it's really old, anyways the history and the game deserves an oportunity which you won't regret. 9/10

PD: some enemies may be annoying cuz they can spawn behind you sometimes without hearing them so keep that in your mind when you're playing on high difficulties.

One of the best story telling survival horror games of its time, up there with the likes of silent hill or resident evil, whilst still retaining its own unique style and gameplay compared to its peers. Not much else to say, its a bloody good game :)

This game has a great fantasy story, the twists in the story are mind-blowing, and the ending too, this is definitely one of the best stories in gaming lore.

I Recommended ➟ 8.5/10 ✅