With a global lockdown in effect, I got some more time to play games. Although many new titles were pending, I chose to revisit an old game just for the sake of nostalgia. I’d picked up Alan Wake for a good deal, so it was time to play it again. Was it going to be as memorable as it was after all these years?

For starters, Alan wake is not a horror game, it’s more of a mystery-thriller. But I still remember getting chills throughout the gameplay. That is the case even today.

Story:

Alan Wake is a renowned author who is on his way to a vacation in Bright Falls with his wife, Alice. Wake has been stuck with writers’ block and hasn’t been able to write for a while. Once they reach Bright Falls, he ventures to a local diner to pick up the keys to the cabin from the landlord but encounters a mysterious lady in black. She exudes a creepy vibe around her. She hands Alan the key to the cabin and says she’ll be visiting them soon. But it was the owner of the diner who was supposed to hand over the key. From here on things get murkier. At the cabin, Alan realizes the vacation was just an excuse, his wife was trying to get Alan back into writing, making him storm out of the cabin in anger. He then hears his wife screaming and rushes back to the cabin only to find Alice being pulled into the lake by a mysterious dark shadowy figure. He jumps into the lake in hopes of rescuing Alice, but everything blacks out. He sets out in search of Alice in the creepy mountains of Bright Falls.

Sound:

This is a very important catalyst for a mystery-thriller, I’d say Remedy struck gold. Right from the background music, to small things like the sound when you pick up the thermos, it’s well done and suits the premise of the story and the game genre. There is an eerie vibe when you’re alone and exploring at night, which always keeps you on the edge of your seat. A different song plays after you complete every chapter. I don’t know how to define it, because I’m not an audiophile, but I let every song play even though I could skip it. All of them gave me goosebumps. Throughout the gameplay, the music is so in sync with the setting of the game.

There’s a scene in Anderson farm. where you’ve to defend attacks from ‘The Taken’, while a rock song plays in the background. Watch out for this one, you’re gonna love it. The fireworks are a sight to behold. The whole setup is well done and requires a special mention.

In short, I can’t sing enough praises for the sound and music department of Alan Wake.

Graphics:

This is a 10-year-old game. So the graphics are good for the most part. I got 120+ FPS at 1440p on a 2070 super, so I’m not complaining at all. But the age of the game is apparent, with the character model textures, environment, and foliage all showing the lack of details that are found in the current-gen games.

Also, the lip sync is weird, and it looks like characters are speaking in some other language, not English.

What I really liked was the god rays, on street lamps and the flashlights you carry. It was really bright, and didn’t look like something out of a 10-year-old game. The same goes for flares and flare guns.

Gameplay:

Short and sweet, doesn’t overstay its welcome. It took me about 12 hours to complete the game. Alan wake is divided into 6 chapters.

Linear gameplay, along with small explorations here and there to find thermos and pages(manuscripts) from Wakes’ unwritten novel-Departure, a handful of cutscenes.

The gameplay involves you walking around the mountains of Bright falls, with a flashlight, in the darkness for the most part, and killing enemies. These enemies are dark shadowy, smoky figures(woodsmen and occasional dudes with a chainsaw) who are allergic to light. They are taken over by darkness. So that explains the torch. Well, that and the night part.

There are also darkness-possessed objects like barrels and carriages that throw themselves at you. There’s an option to dodge these at the right time to get a slow-mo cinematic effect, which is cool. Sometimes the darkness takes over bulldozers that attack you, so the developers did have fun making this game.

As for weapons, the flashlight is your primary weapon. These get upgraded as you progress in the game, when you find high capacity flashlights and eventually, lanterns. Guns are secondary, and that’s the uniqueness of the game. The ‘Taken’ fear the light, the brightness of the flashlight hurts them. Ammo for all these weapons are scattered around your path and highlighted so that you don’t miss them. Ammo is hidden in light pole boxes, tables and bigger crates.

Guns are fine. You need multiple shots to bring down enemies, except for flare guns and flashbangs. Revolvers, shotguns, hunting rifles, and flare guns, out of which flare gun was my favourite weapon. Very effective against multiple enemies. Throwable weapons include flares and flashbangs. Flashbangs are fun, and it’s very satisfying to see enemies get decimated when a flashbang goes off!

The ‘Taken’ attack at night. Darkness is where they dwell, which is most of the games’ premise. You get a slow-mo zoom out when they attack to show you where they are, along with a piece of tense music. They have generic one-liners like “Fishing can be a hobby, or a job!” which is probably to break the ice before they try to kill you.

As the game progresses, sometimes all you hear are footsteps at the last moment, just before they attack. These are moments sent shivers down my spine. Other than these aspects, there are quite a few instances of QTEs where you have to switch on generators or push away things that are blocking your path. There’s even driving, which surprisingly feels not too shabby. Especially in a game like this. The vehicles’ headlights can also be used to stun ‘The Taken’. There’s even a boost option to maximise the impact!

Collecting manuscripts of Wakes’ unwritten book is an optional task, which gives you a peek into the future. Collecting thermos feels very satisfying, and I made sure to check every nook and corner to find them.

References to pop culture are apparent, with the mention of Stephen king here and there, and a small reference to ‘The Shining’.

The game is worth playing. The story is linear and short. But you do end up doing the same things over and over again. The short length of the game helps with this. One more problem I had was with the view angles. It’s either to the extreme right or extreme left, never centred. I’m willing to let this slide, considering the age of the game.

Conclusion:

The pros definitely outweigh the cons. The linearity does make it a one time play only, which is a pity because, in the difficulty modes, you can only unlock nightmare difficulty after a playthrough. You can overlook all that because the storytelling is done perfectly and gives you a memorable experience. You’ll never forget this game.

When I finished the game, I realized, it was not just nostalgia that made me play this game again, it was how good of a game Alan Wake was. It still is as good as I remember.

Pros	Cons
Story is nailbiter material	Linearity affects replayability
Gameplay is simple	Some clunkiness is felt, since the game is old
Music and sound deserve all the appreciation	Characters lip movement doesn’t feel synced
Limited, but a good set of weapons	You keep losing good weapons like flare guns repeatedly in the story arc