Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Publisher: Remedy Entertainment
Steam Deck Compatibility?: Verified
Rrp: £11.39 (Gog.com, Humble, Steam and Epic)
Released: 16th February 2012
Available on: Gog.com, Humble, Steam and Epic
Played Using: Xbox One Control Pad
Approximate game length: 12+ Hours
Important note; This review is not for the Remastered version of the game.
Many years ago I played Alan Wake on my Xbox 360 and with the release of the sequel I felt it was time to go back and give it a replay. I’m doing this in part to remind me of how the story went (and I’m glad I did because there were large parts I’d totally forgotten about) but also of the general gameplay itself.
As I have mentioned above, this review isn’t for the remastered version. However, this one has been enhanced somewhat to work in greater resolutions than its original release on the Xbox 360 and it also comes packaged with the two DLC’s that followed it.
You might be asking ‘Who is Alan Wake?’. Well, he’s the game’s protagonist and is a writer from New York. The game occurs two years after he has written the conclusion to his best selling series and now seems to be suffering from some very serious writer’s block. Alan and his wife, Alice, have retreated to a small rural town in Washington called Bright Falls for a brief vacation. Unfortunately for Alan something has taken notice of his arrival and things go very wrong very quickly for him.
This is a game about light and dark, with Alan Wake trying desperately to rescue his wife from the darkness that has taken her. This darkness takes on many forms but the most common one that Alan will face are the Taken. These are the humanoid enemies that will appear around corners and attack with melee or thrown weapons. All of the enemies you face will be shrouded in darkness and while this shroud exists they’re almost entirely invulnerable (electricity seems to bypass it). The only way to remove the shroud is by using light, to ‘burn’ it off. Typically you’d use your flashlight but as you play you’ll encounter other light sources that you can use as well. Once the shroud is removed you can use your gun to dispatch them.
There are other weapons to be found, shotguns, rifles, flare guns as well as items like flares and flashbang grenades. Don’t get too attached to your equipment though as the game removes your weapons, ammo and batteries occasionally.
Unfortunately, you can’t accurately aim your weapons as there isn’t a crosshair to use and while shooting at where your flashlight is pointing does work it’s unlikely you’ll be making headshots. Thankfully the built in aim assist is reasonable and subtle enough that it doesn’t feel like you ‘snap’ to enemies.
The flashlight is by far the most used and most useful item in the game and not just because it helps you see. As I mentioned earlier light will burn away the shroud that protects the Taken and you can enhance this by focusing it on them. Doing this will drain its energy quickly and while they do recharge over time the Taken aren’t going to give you the courtesy of waiting. This is where the batteries you find throughout the game come in, a single one won’t charge the flashlight fully but two or three can.
The camera is kept close to Alan’s back which increases the sense of claustrophobia and limits your visibility. When you combine this with the fact that Alan apparently didn’t exercise much since writing his last book and can’t run for long can make combat or chase scenes quite intense.
Light isn’t just a way to ward off enemies or remove their invulnerable status. It can also be a safe haven where you can take a moment to rest, that is if you can find a working lamp post. While under these lights the Taken can’t hurt you, you recover any health you have missing and it also acts as a checkpoint.
Having played both this game and Control it really seems like Remedy has a knack for creating memorable set pieces. This game in particular has several that remained in my mind even when much of the story had been forgotten.
The game is separated into episodes, which seems like a missed trick when ‘chapters’ would’ve been more thematic considering Alan’s profession. But I understand it’s to keep a kind of ‘Twin Peaks’ feel which the game is clearly heavily inspired by. When you start an episode a recap of the last one is played, personally I never required that but if you took a break from the game for a while it’s a good way to bring the player up to speed.
Speaking of television, there are TV’s you can find dotted around Bright Falls which sometimes are interactable. These TV’s will show one of two things, either it’s something plot related or it’s an episode of an in-universe TV show called Night Springs. These are very short, live action shows that are heavily inspired by the Twilight Zone and I absolutely love them.
Throughout this game there are two types of collectible, coffee flasks and manuscript pages, neither of these grant any form of gameplay benefit. That being said, while the coffee flasks do absolutely nothing the manuscript pages do provide some context as to what is going on (or may occur).
As much as I like this game it definitely does show its age even with the slight glow up it’s been given. This is especially true in the cutscenes, some of the facial animations look horrifying and while I recognise this is technically a horror game the faces that looked this way weren’t in those scenes.
I honestly feel this game holds up quite well, yes it definitely shows its age but it’s not too bad. This game’s strongest suit is the story though, with its twists and turns. I can’t wait to play the sequel, but before I can do that I have one more game to work through. The questionably canon Alan Wake’s American Nightmare.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Alan Wake 2
Control
Silent Hill 2
