Alan Wake

 PC
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2165 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,547 out of 2165
  2. Mixed: 460 out of 2165
  3. Negative: 158 out of 2165
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  1. Eradan
    Apr 30, 2012
    5
    I waited for Alan Wake for years, promised from the hyped press that i would get a twin-peaked-stephen-king immersive and psychotic game. I loved Max Payne 1&2. I still love horror games. Sadly i was disappointed.
    The game is well packed, nice graphics, cure for the details, amazing audio but it smells clichè from the very beginning. The storyline is somewhat interesting but    I waited for Alan Wake for years, promised from the hyped press that i would get a twin-peaked-stephen-king immersive and psychotic game. I loved Max Payne 1&2. I still love horror games. Sadly i was disappointed.
    The game is well packed, nice graphics, cure for the details, amazing audio but it smells clichè from the very beginning. The storyline is somewhat interesting but sure isn't original and the pace is broken by the action part of the game, totally separated from the narration. It's like watching a - often mediocre - cut scene, starting to merge with the story and the characters and then been thrown in the same level over and over, in the dark woods, craving for a source of light, some ammo and the next checkpoint, hoping to end it quickly to go back to the real part of the game. Yeah, it's like this. Reach a location, watch a brief scene, find yourself in the woods at night, follow an absolute linear path through enemies, find that the only difficulties in engaging them is the poor camera control and the low ammo resources, reach the next location, start over. And that's not all, since the devs should have come to realize that this sucked hard they added a lot of manuscript pages to pick up during the "exploration" (read: straight on walk), the sad thing is that this poor written pieces of paper contain spoilers about your next location and the next chunk of story, making it even less interesting to watch.
    This game should have been a 9 for its atmospheres and its potential. Don't buy it unless its price falls under 10$.    … Expand
  2. Naatan
    Feb 18, 2012
    6
    The story is very interesting but the gameplay leaves much to be desired. It's incredibly linear in the sense that 90% of the time you are just following a path in the woods while you shine your flashlight on enemies and finish them off with your gun. There's some distractions in the shape of puzzles but even those are just rehashed over and over again. It just feels like you're watching aThe story is very interesting but the gameplay leaves much to be desired. It's incredibly linear in the sense that 90% of the time you are just following a path in the woods while you shine your flashlight on enemies and finish them off with your gun. There's some distractions in the shape of puzzles but even those are just rehashed over and over again. It just feels like you're watching a movie but you have to work your way through tedious and repetitive gameplay to actually get to the story. The repetitiveness of the gameplay aside most of what's happening is also very predictable. You just KNOW you're about to get attacked when you find more than a fair amount of ammo, and when you've gone through part of the story where you don't have weapons and you finally find some again; guess how long it takes before you get to use them? More than anything I just feel frustrated playing this game, frustrated by being force-fed terrible, predictable and linear gameplay just to get to what seems like a good story.… Expand
  3. v00d00m4n
    Feb 25, 2012
    6
    This game is waste of great potential, which was killed few years ago, when Remedy suddenly shifted to console market from PC, this cause a lot of troubles, forced them to waste to many time to port code to Xbox and optimize (downgrade graphics, physics, etc) it for crappy hardware, and because of this they have too little time to work game content itself, which forced them to cut half ofThis game is waste of great potential, which was killed few years ago, when Remedy suddenly shifted to console market from PC, this cause a lot of troubles, forced them to waste to many time to port code to Xbox and optimize (downgrade graphics, physics, etc) it for crappy hardware, and because of this they have too little time to work game content itself, which forced them to cut half of game which wasn't well-polished. From a great open world survival-horror-adventure, game squeezed to boring linear light-em-shoot-em-up, with many game design flaws, including total lack of melee combat which existed in almost every survival horror since the old days, because ammo is always limited in this genre and whenever you out of ammo you should fight your way with fists, pipes, axes, and everything... or you could just run away, but in Alan Wake you can not do either. Seriously, Alan cant even run like normal man, his run ability somewhere close to fat grandpa at the edge of heart attack - what was Remedy designers thinking when they limited run distance to about 10 meters? Dodging is barely works and sometime when you just want to run, Alan suddenly starts from dodge. Also enemies just the same everywhere, "taken" humans with shield of darkness, about 4 of them - white trash, cops, oversized, and special character, they only reminds me zombie, and zombies cant scare anyone. Remedy should look at Silent Hill, Cold fear or Dead space, to get the idea of how to make scary creatures. Playing linear levels where all you can do is aim flashlight, shoot, barely run and dodge away from non scary humans, and where all the adventure element are "go forward, press button to open gatedoor or pick up manuscript" - not fun at all, just boring and repetitive. Also i don't even want to talk about Riding part of game, it even worse and buggier than it was in Alone in the dark 2008 (which is by the way much better and more imaginative game than Alan, and Alan kinda ripped off many things from it, including episodic format and darkness)
    The only thing that could keep anyone playing is the story, however its very cut and some time parts just don't tied well together, because of Remedy cut too much, you always feel that something else should be between this and that and it was cut without attempt to smooth this out. And this story is impressive for non educated people who never saw Twin Peaks, and other Lynch movies and never reed King books. For me - a King and Lynch fan this story looks as predictable rip-off from Lynch movies and King books, its about 50% Twin Peaks, 30% King, 10% of other rip-off and about 10% of something original. But its well-written rip-off so i still consider story as good story, but nothing super-awesome.
    No let me talk about PC port specifics: for a game that was once PC exclusive 1st DX10 game, return to PC in form like this is insult to all the PC users who waited this game so long! GFX is worse than in time it was announced 5 years ago, dx9 only, textures blurry low res, render distance of high detail LOD is low and transition is noticeable, shadows pixelated just like GTA 4, cut-scenes pre-rendered at 720p 30fps, with a lot of compression artifacts, washed out colors that dont match gameplay gamma, and this really breaking immersion... so in addition to dated 5 years old gfx, laziness of Remedy to bring at least high res textures and real-time cut-scenes to PC, this game is slow as hell! Performance optimization not even here! With gfx like this this game should run at 60fps on 5 years old pc, but it barely runs at about 25 fps on 1 year old PC. And the funny thing - Remedy not even ported this game to PC, they hired Nitro games - 5 (yep u can see it in credits) noob monkey-programmers + 3 testers. this shameful team ported Alan to PC, and Remedy didn't even cared to provide em high res textures and real-time cut-scenes, and no one bothered to enhance gameplay after all the criticism of x360 version. Its just exact copy with few minor extra settings. Which is real shame, especially comparing to what this game once was on PC several years ago.
    This is real insult to all the PC gamers and yet another wasted opportunity to return this game to its original glory that was lost during transition to xbox 360. I hope after Remedy recieved a lot of money from PC crowd and covered development cost in 48 hours, they could invest extra more to bring PC gamers an excuse for all the troubles as 6 simple things 1) Good patch with real optimization of CODE (not the cut of already poor gfx) +dx1011 2) High res texture pack 3) Real-time cut-scenes 4) Render distance sliders that actually affects render distance 5) Tweaks to gameplay, Quick saves, or at least checkpoints after every pickup, and re-usable Save heaven checkpoins + melee combat, at least ability to knock out enemy with flashlight or gun, improvements to run and dodge 6) Modding SDK. After this i would not feel myself insulted and cheated.    … Expand
  4. Jackermy
    Apr 7, 2020
    5
    This game causes strange feelings. Firstly it has got a great story and some fresh ideas, but on the other hand, we got boring gameplay, useless methods to stretch the passage and a few puzzles that are not interesting at all. The game is linear and very boring, all that you need - kill some "taken" and go farther. Also, it is not a horror, quite bad atmosphere and you always got somethingThis game causes strange feelings. Firstly it has got a great story and some fresh ideas, but on the other hand, we got boring gameplay, useless methods to stretch the passage and a few puzzles that are not interesting at all. The game is linear and very boring, all that you need - kill some "taken" and go farther. Also, it is not a horror, quite bad atmosphere and you always got something to protect yourself.
    The game can not offer you a lot of types of enemies (4 types) or weapons (3 types).
    As for me, this game is unworthy of your attention, but you can play for this game just for the story if you are ready to lose some hours for killing enemies and finding a key in the nearest cab.    … Expand
  5. Geralt123
    Mar 13, 2021
    5
    This could have been a very good game, but it has one serious problem: the combat.

    The combat sucks so much, it is a major annoyance. You have like 20 bullets and a few batteries. Then come 3 waves of 3 enemies. You have to stun them with your torch and then shoot them. Sound fun, but isn't. You constantly run out of bullets and batteries. Running away is not an option because Alan can    This could have been a very good game, but it has one serious problem: the combat.

    The combat sucks so much, it is a major annoyance. You have like 20 bullets and a few batteries. Then come 3 waves of 3 enemies. You have to stun them with your torch and then shoot them. Sound fun, but isn't. You constantly run out of bullets and batteries. Running away is not an option because Alan can run fast only for 20 meters before he catches his breath.

    Other than that, the story and graphics are very well done. The whole atmosphere is chilling and frightening.

    I don't know how the devs could ruin a good game with a combat like this. Had they implemented normal doom-style combat, this could have been a great game.

    Other annoyance is the the camera is left and behind of Alan and you have to walk at a certain angle all the time.

    Seriously devs, why did you ruin this game?

    And needless to say, if you fail at combat, which happens A LOT, you will go back to the last savepoint and repeat the whole ´sh*t over an over again.

    5/10, with a better combat it would have been an 8.    … Expand
  6. Kujin
    Dec 3, 2020
    5
    With a traditional Remedy zaniness sprinkled through the game's story, Alan Wake is a game with a mediocre and boring gameplay, encouraging the player to stay put, point at the baddies and shoot. It's story is a cliche-riddled tale of nothing, barely exploring it's themes while being completely uninterested in it's characters. Alan himself is a prick you don't want to succeed, and twoWith a traditional Remedy zaniness sprinkled through the game's story, Alan Wake is a game with a mediocre and boring gameplay, encouraging the player to stay put, point at the baddies and shoot. It's story is a cliche-riddled tale of nothing, barely exploring it's themes while being completely uninterested in it's characters. Alan himself is a prick you don't want to succeed, and two years after beating this game i couldn't remember his wife's name. It's not scary, and it's attempts to mix up the gameplay loop are pathetic. I don't think I will ever think about Alan Wake as anything than a hiccup from Remedy, a step down from Max Payne and an unfortunate stepping stone to Quantum Break and Control… Expand
  7. elefsar
    Apr 22, 2021
    5
    Story is mediocre, game play is bad, action side is lacking fluent. Couldn't like it.
  8. Alexey970
    Jan 12, 2014
    6
    To be honest, the game is so-so. The storytelling is good, despite of everything other. The gameplay is quite poor. It's poorly copy-past the famous resident evil series, and contains no puzzles, no interesting enemies. So we are getting half novel story-telling, half shooting game very similar to Max Payne, and to be honest it doesn't justify my expectation. I pretty sure that you willTo be honest, the game is so-so. The storytelling is good, despite of everything other. The gameplay is quite poor. It's poorly copy-past the famous resident evil series, and contains no puzzles, no interesting enemies. So we are getting half novel story-telling, half shooting game very similar to Max Payne, and to be honest it doesn't justify my expectation. I pretty sure that you will get more fun by playing in resident evil or silent hill.… Expand
  9. Osmium
    Jul 30, 2013
    6
    Somehow, I never managed to find something special in this game. To me, Alan Wake is basically just another third person action shooter. It is one above average though, but still I found the gameplay itself to become very boring and repetitive after only around two hours into the game. I was also rather annoyed than fascinated by what I felt to be a pseudo in depth psychological horrorSomehow, I never managed to find something special in this game. To me, Alan Wake is basically just another third person action shooter. It is one above average though, but still I found the gameplay itself to become very boring and repetitive after only around two hours into the game. I was also rather annoyed than fascinated by what I felt to be a pseudo in depth psychological horror storyline. Graphics, sound, and atmosphere are all very good, but the gameplay itself just couldn't keep me entertained. I finished the game within less than 10 hours and won't give it another go.… Expand
  10. Mykwon
    Dec 8, 2012
    5
    Well, after playing quite a while, this is disappointing: the action is extremely repetitive. You just run around in the woods killing enemies. This only thing saving this game is the story with a lot of potential. But it ends very abruptly with a lot of questions asked, and a hope that they will be answered in a next opus. So overall, feels it should be more a movie than a game as theWell, after playing quite a while, this is disappointing: the action is extremely repetitive. You just run around in the woods killing enemies. This only thing saving this game is the story with a lot of potential. But it ends very abruptly with a lot of questions asked, and a hope that they will be answered in a next opus. So overall, feels it should be more a movie than a game as the game part itself is boring.… Expand
  11. sft
    Jul 29, 2013
    6
    The light fantastic (almost)

    Credit is due Remedy for making ALAN WAKE a story-driven game. It’s a partial success, though not a complete one. They have entirely eschewed the typical RPG tropes of dialogue trees and progression choices in favour of a linear, non-interactive structure. The story is played out in a series of cut-scenes and simple A to B tasks. Basically you just have to    The light fantastic (almost)

    Credit is due Remedy for making ALAN WAKE a story-driven game. It’s a partial success, though not a complete one. They have entirely eschewed the typical RPG tropes of dialogue trees and progression choices in favour of a linear, non-interactive structure. The story is played out in a series of cut-scenes and simple A to B tasks. Basically you just have to battle your way from one place to the next. There’s certainly a place for this type of game, and when it’s done well la Half-Life 2) it can be very rewarding. Unlike Half-Life 2, however, ALAN WAKE doesn’t quite pull it off. Firstly, there isn’t enough humour. There’s some but it would have benefited from more. And the story isn’t exactly original. But the main problem for me was the combat. I hated the way control is wrenched away from the player every time enemies approach. I get why they did it (there’s no other way of knowing they’re coming, apart from some audible warnings) but I often found myself disoriented when the camera had finished sweeping around and control had retuned. Several times the sweep lasted so long that by the time I had control again the enemies were right on me and it was impossible to avoid taking a hit. Frustrating to say the least. On the plus side the environments look very good and it’s quite atmospheric (although not as creepy as I would have liked Silent Hill still sets the bar for that). One other thing worth noting is that I found the special episode, The Writer, to be better than what had gone before. It’s even more atmospheric and far more inventive. Overall this is a good game if not an outstanding one.    … Expand
  12. Deific
    Oct 23, 2012
    6
    A game that could have been so much more. What could have been an open world master-piece became a cut down, linear, repetitive and tired novel in the shape of a game. The plot thickens in places but never leaves predictable, and both the writing and voice acting is cringeworthy in places, sounding like an amateur attempt at 'serious' crime/horror writing. Even one of the charactersA game that could have been so much more. What could have been an open world master-piece became a cut down, linear, repetitive and tired novel in the shape of a game. The plot thickens in places but never leaves predictable, and both the writing and voice acting is cringeworthy in places, sounding like an amateur attempt at 'serious' crime/horror writing. Even one of the characters criticises it as 'heavy on the metaphors' which it absolutely is - exhaustingly so. By the time you reach the end of the third chapter, you're willing the game to be over in the fourth, but still have several more to grind through, with the last couple feeling drawn out needlessly so. The 'climax' of the game, simply feels like the writers ran out of ideas, so threw in all kinds of surreal environments and events, none of which last more than a minute or so. The enemies through-out have no variation and you're still fighting the same enemies at the end as you were at the very start of the game. The visuals in places look fantastic (mainly during daylight which you rarely get to see), whilst in others (and for the majority of the game) they're pretty dire. The weaving plot does hold your interest at times and you do find yourself getting a little pulled in to certain twists, but they're over before you know it and you're back to predictable. Combat would feel satisfying if it didn't become tedious first. I bought it on steam for less than a fiver and it feels like I paid its worth.… Expand
  13. gerbils99
    Sep 7, 2013
    6
    The story is told in a unique and generally brilliant way, but the gameplay becomes incredibly monotonous by the fifth level. Could have been excellent.
  14. ingreenblue
    May 1, 2014
    5
    If you like your Stephen King, you will like the story. Graphics and sound design are superb. However, the game fails in terms of gameplay. Shine a light and shoot. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. There is almost no enemy variety and no real sense of progression. After the first few Chapters, the only thing that kept me going was the story.
  15. MD1032
    Feb 15, 2015
    5
    From an experienced gamer...

    This game wasn't worth the small 7 hours that I spent on it. In summary, the story shows great promise but is ultimately a let-down at the end, the combat is pretty horrible, and the graphics just aren't quite there. Please do yourself a favor, if you're not really into the suspense-thriller genre, and really like your combat to be interesting, please give    From an experienced gamer...

    This game wasn't worth the small 7 hours that I spent on it. In summary, the story shows great promise but is ultimately a let-down at the end, the combat is pretty horrible, and the graphics just aren't quite there. Please do yourself a favor, if you're not really into the suspense-thriller genre, and really like your combat to be interesting, please give this game a pass. You really aren't missing anything. This is at its core, a short, 100% linear game, with a low amount of content. The developers of this game used long S-shaped paths with lots of waves of enemies to bring up the play time, and the combat just isn't enjoyable.

    Spoilers past this point.

    Firstly if you don't have a lot of patience, I would recommend enabling cheat codes by setting "-developermenu" in launch options in steam. This will allow you to refill your ammo when you run out.

    UI: The highly offset camera angle is a constant nuisance. You will literally zig-zag through this entire game with W-A and W-D combinations the entire time. Walking in a straight line is extremely difficult. The slow-motion enemy deaths are way overused, and there's an irritating, lengthy camera sweep every time an enemy approaches from behind during which you can't do anything but watch it run/fly towards you and get the first hit. The funniest thing is that they combined the "sprint" key with the "dodge" key, so literally every single time you want to start sprinting, you will first perform a "front dodge" maneuver, so it will look like Alan is going to fall over and then all of a sudden he's running at full blast. Lazy and comical. Vehicle physics are barely usable. All of the cars basically have bald tires and 500 horsepower because they're so tail-happy it's ridiculous.

    Combat: It is actually possible to run out of ammo and get stuck at certain points in the game. Your only way of dispatching enemies is with guns, and there's no option to run past them in 90% of zones. The combat in this game is boring, there is no avoiding it. Right-click on an enemy with your flashlight to drop their shields, then use a small handful of weapons (you literally only get like 3 guns the whole game) to take down their health. Rinse, wash, repeat. Don't get me wrong, the combat is OK in small doses. The problem is that you'll find yourself fighting past wave after wave after wave just to get to the next Dan Brown-style mini cliffhanger at the end of each episode.

    Story: Alan Wake does not end with a resolution to the storyline, which is a shame, because the story in this game was well thought out and is quite good at its core. Instead of trying to figure out an ending that ties everything together and makes everyone happy, it half-resolves a couple things and asks a few more questions. This is SO LAZY, and a HUGE pet peeve of mine. You spend the whole game fighting all this garbage just so the dude can get his wife back, and then, it doesn't happen. Many of the elements in this game are borrowed.

    Graphics: Textures and effects range from incredibly detailed to cheesy and overused. The characters' faces are absolutely terrible for a 2011 game. Misshapen, not following the dialogue at all. None of the characters ever change clothes for the entire game. There's no visual or soft barrier for the environments, so once in a while, you'll jump down a small cliff and just die. Finally, there's this annoying blur effect that is used so often that it actually prevents you from properly seeing the graphics they did actually do right, things like smoke and lighting.

    Conclusion: 5/10 Good effort, but would not recommend.    … Expand
  16. TitaniumDragon
    Feb 21, 2013
    5
    This game is greatly overrated. What's wrong?

    Well, it starts off strong enough you get into the action quickly (none of this "oh I don't get to really play for an hour" nonsense) and you get into the mystery of the piece pretty quickly. What's not to like? Well, the problem is that Alan Wake suffers from two problems: 1) The action is terrible. 2) The story isn't great.    This game is greatly overrated. What's wrong?

    Well, it starts off strong enough you get into the action quickly (none of this "oh I don't get to really play for an hour" nonsense) and you get into the mystery of the piece pretty quickly. What's not to like?

    Well, the problem is that Alan Wake suffers from two problems:

    1) The action is terrible.

    2) The story isn't great.

    The first is obvious; in the intro, you learn how you burn the shadows off of enemies, then you shoot them to death. Okay, cool, so they expand on it right? No. The ENTIRE GAME'S GAMEPLAY is exactly the same thing burn the shadows off of enemies, then shoot them. There isn't even much variety in the way of enemies there are normal enemies, that cut you; fast enemies, which are harder to hit; and large enemies, who deal more damage and take more damage to cut down. There are moving objects that lift themselves up and hurl themselves at you as well, which sounds a lot better than it actually is the physics of it is awkward and the AI sucks, meaning they often "get stuck" on stuff.

    Thus the ENTIRE game's action consists of doing the same thing over and over and over again, to enemy after enemy after enemy, with little variation. Somewhere around episode 2 (of 6) it wears thin, and there's a lot more to go.

    The collectibles, likewise, leave something to be desired. Half of them are stupid, and the other half of them, while okay, suffer from the problem that searching for them messes up the gameplay and pacing; rather than trying to get out of the woods, instead you spend hours wandering around in the woods trying to find pages and thermoses and other nonsense. It sucks; the game plays a lot better when you aren't running around trying to find stuff because (let's face it) the gameplay wears thin anyway, it is even thinner stretched out like that. It doesn't help that Alan Wake can't run for very long, and has to slow down if you have him run for more than thirty feet or so that dude is seriously out of shape.

    Okay, so the gameplay rather sucks (even if the basic premise sounds interesting). What about the story?

    Well... again, the story kind of sucks too. The problem is that you start off the game with a mystery, and all's well, right? Well...

    It becomes glaringly clear what the answer to the mystery is early on, and without that mystery, there's just... nothing really substantive. Sure, the characters run around, and Barry and Sarah are okay characters, but Alan Wake himself is a bit bland and really it all feels a bit pointless. The story isn't terrible, but it isn't amazing either, which means that it doesn't make up for the mediocre gameplay. There is a brief upswing in the story in episodes 4 and 5, where it feels more fun, but the end of the game is as bland as chapters 2 and 3 were, and feels very empty due to the loss of any other characters interacting with you.

    Overall I can't recommend this game, but I don't discourage you from buying it either; however, it is average, neither great nor terrible.    … Expand
  17. Necrotaur
    Aug 11, 2012
    7
    Alan Wake is like playing a Stephen King novel, interspersed with (for the most part) bland shooting segments that I wished would be over so I could move on to the next exposition. Overall enjoyed Alan Wake, but the repetitive nature of the combat, and constant 'run through a forest with a flashlight' segments got boring fast. The controls and camera angle are a little awkward as well.Alan Wake is like playing a Stephen King novel, interspersed with (for the most part) bland shooting segments that I wished would be over so I could move on to the next exposition. Overall enjoyed Alan Wake, but the repetitive nature of the combat, and constant 'run through a forest with a flashlight' segments got boring fast. The controls and camera angle are a little awkward as well. The atmosphere is great though, and I enjoyed seeing the story unravel.… Expand
  18. keefbaker
    Oct 6, 2013
    5
    When big budget games screw up they screw up well. This game attempts to take Stephen King tropes and turn them into a computer game, it looks great, is well voiced but massively over-cutscened. Also the only real scares come from being overwhelmed by sheer numbers of enemies. I didn't complete this simply because I stopped caring. Sad really..

    It feels like a sci-fi channel movie.    When big budget games screw up they screw up well. This game attempts to take Stephen King tropes and turn them into a computer game, it looks great, is well voiced but massively over-cutscened. Also the only real scares come from being overwhelmed by sheer numbers of enemies. I didn't complete this simply because I stopped caring. Sad really..

    It feels like a sci-fi channel movie.

    Basically if you want a really scary game get Amnesia: The Dark Descent.... That's what you need,    … Expand
  19. violent
    Mar 11, 2012
    5
    I really like the scinematic cutscenes but the game got really repetative after a while. The "puzzles" are more like roadbumps that slow you down than real puzzles because they are so easy. They just take time to do. I really liked the beginning of the game but I eventually got tired of the repetative combat encounters that I stopped playing it.
  20. Vex
    Jul 6, 2012
    5
    First of all, I haven't had any performance issues whatsoever.... so the mediocre score I'm giving this game isn't reflective of it's performance at all. My main gripe with this game is extreme repetitiveness and lack of true innovation. I'm some 4 hours into the game right now and from what I've seen, the entire gameplay can be boiled down to "run through the dark forest -> get attackedFirst of all, I haven't had any performance issues whatsoever.... so the mediocre score I'm giving this game isn't reflective of it's performance at all. My main gripe with this game is extreme repetitiveness and lack of true innovation. I'm some 4 hours into the game right now and from what I've seen, the entire gameplay can be boiled down to "run through the dark forest -> get attacked by a bunch of dark psychos -> kill them all with a flashlight and a gun -> repeat until you've reached your destination". In this day and age when more and more games provide true choice and shape the outcome according to the choice you make, boring games like this with the 90s gameplay have no place on any serious gamer's shelf. The first hour or so was fun but after that I was bored to tears.

    Onto the more positive aspects: the atmosphere is decent, graphics are good and the surroundings look pretty and realistic. Too bad every good aspect is spoiled by extreme repetitiveness and dull gameplay with no true innovation.    … Expand
  21. Lukinsons
    Apr 2, 2012
    7
    Alan Wake has really nice story and dark atmosphere so play it only at night. The story is divided on few epizodes like some series. But there is only few type of enemies in this game. The optimization is very bad and after 2 episodes it will be very stereotype for you.
  22. BoredSeal
    Jun 1, 2013
    5
    Story and technical side of game are ok. But gameplay is very boring. Spending all the time running in predicted way and fighting all the time with same weapons and pointing flashlights is not my kind of fun. Most of older horror games are much more entertaining.
  23. violentine
    Jul 5, 2013
    5
    5 seems a bit rough score for a game that got so many positive reviews already. In all honesty, I don't know how the game managed to get so far with such a mediocre gameplay. I guess the trick is in graphics which are still beautiful and create a fantastic atmosphere suitable for the Stephen King-esque storyline. The story is definitely a homage to King with the writer in distress, weird5 seems a bit rough score for a game that got so many positive reviews already. In all honesty, I don't know how the game managed to get so far with such a mediocre gameplay. I guess the trick is in graphics which are still beautiful and create a fantastic atmosphere suitable for the Stephen King-esque storyline. The story is definitely a homage to King with the writer in distress, weird murderers and dreamlike locations near a very american mountain village. It's like cliche in a cliche. You're armed with a flashlight and a gun and must first use the light to sort of "break down shields" from enemies to be able to shoot them with your weapon. That's all there is to fighting mechanics. Use flashlight, shoot with a pistol. Run to the next area. Bad guys appear from the shadows. Use flashlight, shoot with a pistol. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. There are also collectibles for those people that bought this game with their last moneys and just HAVE to get everything out of it. The beginning of the game felt a bit like Resident Evil 4 which is a great game. You should play that instead.… Expand
  24. csabber
    Aug 19, 2013
    6
    The story in Alan Wake is quite exceptional comparing to other video games in the genre. Too bad the rest of the game can't match up to the well-written storytelling.

    The game kicks off interestingly where we meet our protagonist, who is struggling with writing crisis and a "little bit" of insanity. Soon we find ourselves fighting with shadowy creatures named 'The Taken' controlled by a    The story in Alan Wake is quite exceptional comparing to other video games in the genre. Too bad the rest of the game can't match up to the well-written storytelling.

    The game kicks off interestingly where we meet our protagonist, who is struggling with writing crisis and a "little bit" of insanity. Soon we find ourselves fighting with shadowy creatures named 'The Taken' controlled by a mysterious force.

    The fighting mechanics based on the power of light are unique. While this newish fighting scheme is fun at first it lacks deepness, so it becomes repetitive. Unfortunately nothing good can be said about the controls, which is one of the most discouraging features of the game: awkward movements, slow reaction times, super sensitive mouse controls

    One of the high points of the game is the voice acting. It phenomenally supports the great story, which pushes the player for resolution...that may or may not exists in the end. The end of the story will leave many with questions and bad taste, but the open nature of the conclusion is not necessarily a bad thing at all. However, the special chapters (The Signal and The Writer) will help put a proper end to this tale.

    After 6 chapters it is hard to think of any reasons why anyone, who is not a fan of Alan would start this game all over again. The replay value of the game is very low thanks to its linear nature. Other than some collectibles there's no point to return. Alan Wake is one of those games that would've been enjoyable on a big screen rather than with a controller in a hand.

    Rating: 65/100; Replay Value: 1/5; To Beat: 14-16 hours (incl. the specials); Played on: normal.    … Expand
  25. COMThing
    Jul 17, 2014
    5
    A very linear game with predictable gameplay. It might as well be a movie since the story and atmosphere are the only things worth noting amongst the many scripted events. As far as gameplay goes, you know something big is about to happen whenever you get a new piece of equipment or find a resupply cache.
  26. fasad
    May 6, 2014
    5
    Gameplay is extremely repetitious and not a lot of fun in itself. The enemy's can provide a few scares early on in the game, but you soon find yourself attacked by the hundredth fishman/lumberjack zombie and the effect is lost. There are only a handful of different enemies and very few unique environments the player can interact with, which reduces the gameplay into a pretty tedious grind.Gameplay is extremely repetitious and not a lot of fun in itself. The enemy's can provide a few scares early on in the game, but you soon find yourself attacked by the hundredth fishman/lumberjack zombie and the effect is lost. There are only a handful of different enemies and very few unique environments the player can interact with, which reduces the gameplay into a pretty tedious grind.
    A unique part of the gameplay is shining a torch (flashlight) on enemy prior to being able to damage them. However, you are rarely attacked by large numbers and are almost always provided with enough ammo and flares to easily keep out of trouble. Both player and enemies move slowly, and most combat takes place in an open environment, so backing away from enemies is an effective but boring tactic.

    The story is reasonably interesting, but it evolves slowly and is so "cheesy" it is hard to take seriously. All the characters in the game are extremely unlikable, and seem like they were designed by a child. This reduces motivation to progress through the game, as the only real reward for the gameplay is plot progression.

    Graphics and sound are generally impressive, but viewpoint is frustrating and not really suited for mouse control. The character controls are quite clumsy, and the dodging mechanic isn't really very useful (avoiding enemies is far more effective).    … Expand
  27. CharlyPlayman
    Dec 24, 2015
    5
    It's not a bad game but very repetitive, i thought it was going to be like Silent Hill but it has no puzzles and too many shoots, too much arcade and not scary and i found a not interesting story
    Pros: light effects and graphics + smooth controls
    Cons: repetitive + no puzzles + you get tired very soon playing it + not scary + odd story
  28. bancandrei
    May 24, 2020
    5
    The mechanics get in the way of the story. I will say for them that they are gripping, so that you don't get bored by linear pathways through samey environments, probably better than the interludes which are more on the boring side. Out of Stephen King's books the story seems to me most inspired by Bag of Bones, which is far from his best.
  29. erichlebt
    Feb 26, 2012
    6
    I have to agree with Naatan in every way. I was really looking forward to this cause I loved the old Silent Hill games and expected AW to be a little like those. The story is promising, atmosphere is excellent. What ruins this game is it's awfully dull game-play. Run through the woods, (due to bad camera position) try to aim and shoot some zombies or evade them (though Alan appears to beI have to agree with Naatan in every way. I was really looking forward to this cause I loved the old Silent Hill games and expected AW to be a little like those. The story is promising, atmosphere is excellent. What ruins this game is it's awfully dull game-play. Run through the woods, (due to bad camera position) try to aim and shoot some zombies or evade them (though Alan appears to be handicapped), get to a locations and maybe solve a switch-puzzle and watch another cut-scene of the indeed great story.… Expand
  30. vitalyx
    Feb 19, 2012
    7
    I'm making another review of Alan Wake, since I was able to tweak the settings and get half-decent performance at 1360x768 resolution.

    The game uses an original way to tell a story. The way the story is told is great - episodic format, TV and radio show sequences, manuscript fragments you find. All very original. The story itself is not bad too. There are bad things, like facial    I'm making another review of Alan Wake, since I was able to tweak the settings and get half-decent performance at 1360x768 resolution.

    The game uses an original way to tell a story. The way the story is told is great - episodic format, TV and radio show sequences, manuscript fragments you find. All very original. The story itself is not bad too.

    There are bad things, like facial animations and lipsyncing, even in prerendered cut scenes and low level of detail in models and textures. There are good things like lighting effects on sparks when you shoot the "taken", their smoky shadows, disturbance effects just before the "taken" appear and volumetric light effects - all look amazing.

    Ultimately, though, the gameplay gradually becomes more and more boring. It's original in a way, because you have to use the flashlight on the "taken" before you are able to shoot them. But it's not that engaging to keep doing this over and over again for the length of the game. For me, the story wasn't interesting enough to endure the frustrating gameplay. For example Dreamfall had gameplay issues too, but it had a very compelling story that kept me playing even through the tedious parts till the very end of the game. With Alan Wake I gave up in the middle of the forth chapter.

    So, to wrap it up, the game is not that bad to stop playing after 30 minutes, but at the same time not that great to finish it and say "that was a wonderful experience".

    P.S.
    It looks like Metacritic is full of fanboys and any rating in the yellow or red automatically receives mostly downvotes. We are all sharing personal opinions here. Sorry, I didn't like your favorite game as much as you did.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

30
#30 Best PC Game of 2012
19
#19 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
9
#9 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. Gamer.nl
    May 5, 2012
    70
    Alan Wake is a decent port with a few console-characteristics that cause a few annoyances. But PC-gamers finally have the option to enjoy Alan Wake's unique and gripping story.
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  2. Computer Games Online RO
    Apr 13, 2012
    82
    Yet as a finished result and, finally, as a product with an interactive purpose, Alan Wake suffers enough from trying to mix so many influences, ending very close to the "you love it or hate it" model. Eventually, maybe these are just the "pains of childbirth" for something more complex or for something else as deserving as interactivity, a new „species" that needs to be judged less for its interactive aspects and more for the ones that regard its style.
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  3. PC PowerPlay
    Apr 5, 2012
    80
    "A gripping rollercoaster ride." - Stephen King. [Apr 2012, p.52]
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