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Developer (Platform): Remedy Entertainment (PlayStation 5)
Publisher (Release): Epic Games (Remaster – 2022); Microsoft Game Studios (Original – 2010)
Length: 7-8 hours
Genres: Adult; Sci-Fi; Fantasy; Narrative; Action
❗️Disclaimers❗️:
minor horror elements
flashing lights warning
this review contains low-level spoilers
recommendation: vibe check before playing and buy on sale
👍 Pros 👍
Strong story
Interesting episodic structure
Music and atmosphere are on point
👎 Cons 👎
Gameplay can be a little one-dimensional
Environments are mostly forests, which become bland quickly
Difficult to replay once done
👀 Synopsis & Trailer 👀
Troubled author Alan Wake embarks on a desperate search for his missing wife, Alice. Following her mysterious disappearance from the Pacific Northwest town of Bright Falls, he discovers pages of a horror story he has supposedly written but has no memory of. Wake is soon forced to question his sanity, as page by page, the story comes true before his eyes: a hostile presence of supernatural darkness is taking over everyone it finds, turning them against him.
He has no choice but to confront the forces of darkness armed only with his flashlight, a handgun and what remains of his shredded mind. His nightmarish journey to find answers to the mind-bending mystery he faces will lead him into the terrifying depths of the night.
🛎️ Introduction 🛎️
Alan Wake is a game full of realised and unrealised potential. Not fit for its time, its fantastic narrative is weighted down by eerie yet bland environments, interesting yet one-note gameplay mechanics, and a general feel that the technology of the time couldn’t quite capture the development team’s ambition. That said, there’s still this undeniable magic that works its way into the player, enticing them onward into the dark despite promising no answers or light at the end of it.
🧩 Plots 🧩
For fans of light vs dark stories and themes, Alan Wake will be right up your alley. The game shines in its narrative, with a carefully crafted mystery well-paced with red herrings to keep the player on their toes. Despite not being strictly horror, the game utilises quite a few of its tropes, with its most powerful being its ambiguity. Alan Wake promises it won’t give you answers, but it does weave a compelling tale that leaves you imagining your own.
Small, out-of-the-way town surrounded by trees…bad things could never happen here
Taking place in the idyllic town of Bright Falls, Alan’s arrival awakens a darkness with immense power, and the way the game works to manipulate reality with imagination is fascinating if not fully realised. Alan, the supporting and side characters, and even the town itself are all unreliable narrators in a story not even under the control of the one who’s telling it.
The regular monologues can take some getting used to and the cliffhanger end feels a little unsatisfying, but it’s clear Alan Wake was intended to be part of something bigger.
Stay close to the light; the dark really does hide nightmares
There are two DLCs, The Signal and The Writer (both included with the Remaster), but while interesting, both feel like the developer was gearing up for a sequel that, unfortunately, wasn’t coming for a long, long time (a decade), so they finish a little hollow.
…the game works to manipulate reality with imagination is fascinating if not fully realised.
🎭 Characters 🎭
Our titular character (voiced by Matthew Porretta and modelled after Ilkka Villi) provides the monologues I mentioned and, once you push past the arrogance, Alan Wake himself is a fantastically balanced protagonist. From substance abuse to anger issues, our bestselling author is not the traditional hero, with his own mental state regularly used against him in the game, conveying a relatability that makes his struggle compelling and his character flawed.
It might be picturesque, but there’s too much water for me
His relationships with others, though, are perhaps the strongest part of his character. Alan Wake’s colourful cast humanises and drives the story, providing much-needed connection where Alan’s colder demeanour might drive us away. Alice feels the weakest (granted she’s absent most of the game), but the likes of Barry and Bright Falls’ residents more than make up the difference.
…Alan Wake himself is a fantastically balanced protagonist.
👾 Gameplay and Graphics 👾
Alan Wake’s gameplay is where a ton of my contention comes from. It’s unique, employing mechanics not widely used and woven tightly with the story, but what you get from the beginning is what you get right to the end. There isn’t much progression or expansion, and although what is here is punchy and refined, there’s nothing to keep the third-person action fresh. And, please, don’t get me started on the platforming sections (especially those within The Writer DLC). A game whose focus is most definitely not platforming: Should. Not. Have. Platforming.
Clad in shadow; banished in light
Graphically, despite being a remaster, Alan Wake is a decade old and it shows. Initially eerie and full of surprisingly effective scares, the game’s overuse of forest environments worsens the feeling of stagnation. Darkness, while vital to the story, can wash everything in grey and green, lessening the developer’s intent to make Bright Falls feel like a character in its own right.
The soundtrack and sound design, however, are top-notch, with great use of music and a fine-tuned atmosphere. The footsteps of enemies you can’t see never lose their chilling effect despite the variety of enemies themselves being thin.
Stock up on batteries, your best friend needs them
…what you get from the beginning is what you get right to the end.
🧠 Final Thoughts 🧠
It’s almost time folks! Alan Wake 2 releases in a few days and you might think, ‘this review is pretty average, how can you be so excited?’
Simply: Control.
Alan Wake’s imagination is constrained by the technology of the time, but its strong story has ensured that, while previously abandoned, it’s never been forgotten. Thankfully, with this remaster and the utterly perfect blend of narration and gameplay within sister series Control, Alan Wake 2 will be a reality, and it’s a game a decade might just be able to bring to life.
The Phoenix Project 