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. slippery
    Jun 13, 2013
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Alan Wake is the story of an interesting idea marred by derivative and underdeveloped storytelling, repetitive gameplay, interruptive loss of camera control, inaccurate controls. It's a story of great potential that's never realized simply because the developers really needed to outline and storyboard their story a little better. Alan Wake is a game that probably would have worked better as an adventure RPG style game, but in trying appeal to a larger market, tried to make an action game.
    **********

    Spoilers from here:
    THE GOOD. I like the atmosphere. I like the mystery. I like the episodic format. I like the initial idea of using light to force back the darkness.
    WHAT I THINK THIS GAME NEEDED. Variety. Oh, look! I'm back in the woods and HERE'S ANOTHER SAWMILL! This game had some lovely scenery, and I would have liked to have seen a bit more variety there. As well, many of the enemies are just cut-and-past. I almost think it would have been better if the enemies in this game weren't humanoid "taken" at all, but rather indistinct shadows. I'd have LOVED to see the great fog-effects of the engine used to create shadowy, swirling enemies that are just shadow and smoke and darkness. Especially if you add fog to the woods, and you have to spot shadows in the fog. That would creep me out.

    GAMEPLAY: I think guns were a bad idea. I know why they did it, but I would have liked to see simply light vs. darkness. Flashlights, flares, flareguns, even candles and lanterns. I think the light vs. darkness was a cool concept, but the guns just made it mundane. Again, I know why they did it, but I think it marred the uniqueness of the concept.

    STORY: I loved the mystery aspect. I loved when they cast doubt on Alan Wake's sanity. That was brilliant. But they didn't develop it as much as they could have. They could have contrasted Alan's sanity and insanity, waking and dreaming, sober and drunk with the light and darkness. It COULD have been the story of Alan's own light and darkness. The potential was there. The elements were there. But somebody wanted a game with more mass-market appeal and said "Let's make it a shooter." Note to developer: the guy who made that decision should be mopping the floor, not making creative decisions. A unique and memorable work of art requires RISK.

    The story had problems. First, Alan is writing crime fiction. The references to Stephen King and the homages to HP Lovecraft don't fit. Either make him a horror writer, or stop kissing Stephen King's a**. It just doesn't work. Second, If the darkness wants Alan to write the ending and finish the story so that the darkness can escape, why are all the taken trying to kill him? As soon as it becomes clear that Alan's trying to destroy the darkness, then I can understand the darkness trying to STOP him finishing the story, but up until EP6, Alan's under the impression that the darkness WANTS him to finish the story, and everything points in that direction. So why are the taken trying to fight him instead of trying to lure him back to the cabin? It just doesn't work. Again, they only did it to add action to what was otherwise a 3d third person adventure game built around a tone of suspense.

    Finally, the ending: Alan Wake writes the ending: he can write anything he wants. So why does he not escape? Why does his wife escape but he's still writing at the end? Why is the darkness not defeated? He did what he was told to do: he brought the light and filled the empty heart with it and drove out the darkness: but the only thing that changed was that Alan and his wife traded places. He's still at the mercy of the shadows. Why? Again, marketability. They want to set up the inevitable sequel. It's lazy writing and doesn't take any risks because it doesn't require the writers to figure out a cool way to let Alan win this time, but allow for the darkness to return again in another form.

    THE BOOK PAGES: cool idea, but not terribly compelling. Many simply told more or less what we were seeing anyway, just from another point of view. It needed more time to write it up properly. In a game like Doom3, the messages left all over the place led to caches (Alan Wake handled that VERY effectively and in a very unique and original way with the messages that only show up under the flashlight). But I didn't feel a real NEED to read Alan Wake's messages. I just didn't see anything there that was necessary.

    What this game needed most was consistency, more development, more focus on the ideas, and less playing-it-safe by company men looking to maximize the market potential of the game. I bought the game at 90% off on steam, and I still don't think it was worth the price.    … Expand
  2. VinDeagle
    Jul 24, 2013
    3
    I really wanted to enjoy this game, but unfortunately, its poor execution in regards to gameplay mechanics had me smashing inanimate objects. The story was interesting, which kept me going for a while. This is really one of the only strong points of the game. I could deal with the awkward camera angles and lack of a crosshair. The combat was repetitive, annoying, and pointless. GoingI really wanted to enjoy this game, but unfortunately, its poor execution in regards to gameplay mechanics had me smashing inanimate objects. The story was interesting, which kept me going for a while. This is really one of the only strong points of the game. I could deal with the awkward camera angles and lack of a crosshair. The combat was repetitive, annoying, and pointless. Going through and finding the collectibles was more of an annoyance than fun. The biggest thing that made me quit the game for good was the respawning enemies. What is this, 2002?… Expand
  3. Gamer147
    Aug 12, 2013
    3
    I wouldn't say I suffered, but I decided to quit after about two hours of gameplay. The port was done correctly, no bugs or whatnot- BUT, the game itself was really boring. The gameplay was really unrewarding, nothing interesting actually happened, the verdict on this so-called horror game was very easy to decide. It's not scary, not innovative, not fun to play, not interesting (at leastI wouldn't say I suffered, but I decided to quit after about two hours of gameplay. The port was done correctly, no bugs or whatnot- BUT, the game itself was really boring. The gameplay was really unrewarding, nothing interesting actually happened, the verdict on this so-called horror game was very easy to decide. It's not scary, not innovative, not fun to play, not interesting (at least two hours in) and quite repetitive. Thanks, but no thanks.
    (Also, shooting mechanics and point of view sucked, not very intuitive)    … Expand
  4. NotBrutalMoose
    Oct 11, 2013
    3
    I am writing for BrutalMoose. To quote him from his stream as of 10/11/13 "The game looks good, and could be scary, but isn't. Maybe it's just because I'm drunk, I don't know... alcohol might be affecting this game for me..."
  5. Vilio
    Feb 9, 2014
    3
    I bought this game in Christmas sale.
    First of all. Terrible shaking videos brings you on island, where you get wrong direction and your girlfriend disappear. Ok, nice start and there are some scary ghost in forest, many pages from book, where are future steps described....
    BUT! Main character is terribly crappy, unable to walk and run more than 50 meters. His position is on side, but    I bought this game in Christmas sale.
    First of all. Terrible shaking videos brings you on island, where you get wrong direction and your girlfriend disappear. Ok, nice start and there are some scary ghost in forest, many pages from book, where are future steps described....
    BUT! Main character is terribly crappy, unable to walk and run more than 50 meters. His position is on side, but he is moving to the center of screen, what is terrible first hour. After 1 hour you find him terrible clumsy. Ghost persons are coming from nowhere and you have to hit them with light from your lamp. And during this, he is terribly clumsy. When you are trying to run from them, they are faster and Alan is terribly clumsy to go around tree, rock. When Alan is hit, he is clumsy more than before...
    This game is joke. Creator was somebody who was creating main character and scene perspective completely drunk. When I see other games like Tomb Raider, Prince of Persia, where character control is helpful, not doing stupidities, I'm asking WHY ? WHY ? Why did I bought this terrible game ???????    … Expand
  6. tdebug
    Jun 19, 2023
    2
    Main difficulties in this game are controls and camera angle. If you are playing using controller, then also add poor aiming. Otherwise, the gameplay itself is just idea free.
  7. cbkiller
    Jun 28, 2012
    2
    Alan Wake had an incredible chance to be a great action game, however there are several fundamental flaws including the flashlight-based weapon system. Beautiful scenery in and locations in this game are largely ruined by the game being predicated on darkness. NOT FUN.
  8. Diablo92
    Jun 3, 2013
    2
    Its an "okey" type of game but its no where near awesomeness. Alan needs to loose the imagination.. I mean, ghosts haunting different things and then disappears? And then there's the flashlight issue, if you aim your gun along with your flashlight, your battery power will drain A LOT faster BUT if you quit aiming then the battery power goes right back to full in just seconds but the onlyIts an "okey" type of game but its no where near awesomeness. Alan needs to loose the imagination.. I mean, ghosts haunting different things and then disappears? And then there's the flashlight issue, if you aim your gun along with your flashlight, your battery power will drain A LOT faster BUT if you quit aiming then the battery power goes right back to full in just seconds but the only thing that happens is he turns the lens at the light end of the flashlight but turning the lens has nothing to do with using more power unless its malfunctioning.

    The game does not interest me very much but maybe to some writers but I have a feeling this game takes it a totally wrong direction.. So what do you usually get when you make a game from a video/movie/novel? Trash.. Take a look at aliens colonel marines, now take a look at star trek and now take a look at a bunch of other ones like avatar.. Same song and dance right? Exactly and thats why the outcome is always terrible. I have to admit though.... The GFX don't seem so bad, gameplay is kinda lame cause alan can't run very much at all but he can atleast run for say 3 seconds so thats something (FAIL) 2/10    … Expand
  9. debigman
    May 16, 2014
    2
    This game is buggered to hell. The voice acting is awful, it is way too hard, the learning curve is steep, the gunplay is HORRENDOUS. And bad hit detection.
  10. spielratz
    Aug 25, 2019
    2
    Terrible Game.
    Bad gameplay. You fight the same two guys over and over. The shooting action is bad. Makes me wish i would play Resident Evil 4 or Last of Us which had great combat.
    The only good thing about it are the town environments which look nice. Rest of the game is a real disaster.
  11. seuche
    Feb 17, 2012
    1
    who invented these terrible controles? its like swiming. a very annoying camera angle in combination with the swiming movement and no aiming feedback are ruining the whole gameexperience. its made for masochists rathers than pc gamers. im used to direct, complete and precice control in games. this thing is the complete opposite.

    because of that, its unplayable for me.
  12. Widden
    Aug 3, 2012
    1
    Extremely repetitive, moderately boring, and very disturbing to control (consolitis). If you want to just kill zombies, try Left for dead. If you're after a good story, try a good book. If you buy this, be ready for an extremely shallow, simple game.
  13. Rodundra
    Jul 7, 2013
    1
    First, I'd just like to say that I created a metacritic account JUST so I could warn people about this game. Do not get it. It is horrible.
    I've played a lot of bad games, and this one didn't seem too bad at first. The story telling isn't bad, though it isn't good enough to save it from the many faults the game has. First of all, the controls are sloppy. The sensitivity is very high. I    First, I'd just like to say that I created a metacritic account JUST so I could warn people about this game. Do not get it. It is horrible.
    I've played a lot of bad games, and this one didn't seem too bad at first. The story telling isn't bad, though it isn't good enough to save it from the many faults the game has. First of all, the controls are sloppy. The sensitivity is very high. I played on the lowest sensitivity and still had trouble controlling it well. Sometimes the controls are also unresponsive. In one part of the game, you are given flares that you have to hit a key to use. Well, sometimes I would literally spam this key when enemies were near me, and it still wouldn't work.
    Even though the game has okay story telling, it has very bad game-play. You will be killing re-skinned versions of the same few enemies throughout the game. A lot of the time, they will surround you, and you just won't be able to kill them. You have to shine your flashlight at them for a few seconds before you can even start shooting. Now, you may think that sounds like a new and interesting mechanic. Well, it probably would be if it were implemented well, rather than having to do this for every single enemy. They will charge you from different directions, making it difficult to kill them before they can get to you. Did I mention that they run faster than you as well?
    The game also seems to have frame issues. The fps dropped very low in a lot of areas, and I have a decent rig.
    Overall, I would tell you to avoid this game; perhaps buy it for console if you would really like to play it.    … Expand
  14. jaymeehuynh
    Apr 13, 2023
    1
    Seriously cannot understand why ppl rate this game this high. The narrative is just so so bad which annoys me to the max and the plot is just, ugh I can’t. Worst story telling and narrative ever. Will give 1 point for gameplay i guess. as long as he stops monologuing to explain the story and his feeling i would feel better
  15. HarryWebbinger
    Jul 23, 2012
    0
    bought Waky for 8 box on Steam, and must write, that this game is somehow a big fake after playing 1 and a half chapter ! the storyline is extremely boring and full of uninteresting stuff , and compared to games like Metro 2033 or Stalker f.a. a big bad joke. I wouldn't even allow my kids above 12 to play such a poor game.Ten years ago such a storyline would be worth 5 box maximum, butbought Waky for 8 box on Steam, and must write, that this game is somehow a big fake after playing 1 and a half chapter ! the storyline is extremely boring and full of uninteresting stuff , and compared to games like Metro 2033 or Stalker f.a. a big bad joke. I wouldn't even allow my kids above 12 to play such a poor game.Ten years ago such a storyline would be worth 5 box maximum, but nowadays this is a big fake from the whole game distribution system !! Don´t buy it and be happy about it , is my recommendation. A price about 20 to 30 Box for this is just unbelievable bad joke… Expand
  16. Digital_Kitchen
    May 14, 2012
    0
    God, this game is so aweful, if I facepalm any harder I'll be smearing brain into the back of my chair.

    Yeeaaarrrsssss ago, it got tauted is a "next gen" DX10 love child, and I was all.... ooooh ...if only the gfx were the worst part..... It suffers terribly from the "Mega Man!! Mega MAN!!! MEGA **** MAN!!!!!!!" issue so many games have. And it does that not with just gameplay, but    God, this game is so aweful, if I facepalm any harder I'll be smearing brain into the back of my chair.

    Yeeaaarrrsssss ago, it got tauted is a "next gen" DX10 love child, and I was all.... ooooh

    ...if only the gfx were the worst part.....

    It suffers terribly from the "Mega Man!! Mega MAN!!! MEGA **** MAN!!!!!!!" issue so many games have. And it does that not with just gameplay, but plot, and other **** too.


    For instance:
    You hear "beep beep beep" and he NARRATES that he got a text message and describes what it could have said, instead of **** showing you an eerie text message.

    And for some reason, there is a Big Daddy in the game, like 60% through, you find out that the light in the sky doing all the "Mega Man!!!" stuff is a guy in a retro dive suit.


    Yeah, at first I thought the gfx were bad
    ...then I thought the tutorial-mega-man **** was bad
    ...then I thought the action was bad
    ...then I thought the intrusive narration was bad

    But no
    THEN they added new "enemies" : Flying ovens and refrigerators that you have to kill with your flashlight. God, I kept playing it to get my $15 worth. Now I think I'd pay someone $15 never to have to touch it again.    … Expand
  17. kailip
    Jul 13, 2012
    0
    Alan wake. How **** a game can be. The game is all about running around in a **** forest (at least for the most part of this **** game), you get bored easily, the combat mechanics is completely retarded and the controls feel wonky, like if Alan is drunk. There's not much to do at the game, only runnin around, combat(which sucks) and collecting **** There's no variety at all. The story isAlan wake. How **** a game can be. The game is all about running around in a **** forest (at least for the most part of this **** game), you get bored easily, the combat mechanics is completely retarded and the controls feel wonky, like if Alan is drunk. There's not much to do at the game, only runnin around, combat(which sucks) and collecting **** There's no variety at all. The story is good but its so confusing and has so many gaps, as if they were tired of thinking about a story and just left it unfinished. The game has a good setting and is very immersive until you get bored on the first couple of hours of gameplay. Don't even try this ridiculous game.… Expand
  18. sweet
    Sep 28, 2013
    0
    I find it difficult to accept many of the positive reviews made here for this game. In all honestly, you could barely call it a game at all. It's more like an interactive story in the vein of Dear Esther than a game. It's boring and predictable, the controls are awful and the choices are superficial. It's about as horrific as ordering neopolitan icecream and discovering they gave you allI find it difficult to accept many of the positive reviews made here for this game. In all honestly, you could barely call it a game at all. It's more like an interactive story in the vein of Dear Esther than a game. It's boring and predictable, the controls are awful and the choices are superficial. It's about as horrific as ordering neopolitan icecream and discovering they gave you all strawberry. Do not buy even on sale.… Expand
  19. DocRockwell
    Jun 4, 2013
    0
    Cool concept, but poorly executed. I found it impossible to get immersed in the story because I kept having to deal with the stupid game. Things like objectives and paths being difficult to find. I was really surprised the feature "focus" that is supposed to focus on your objective rarely functioned and only seemed to be scripted to show you trivialities rather than things you're trying toCool concept, but poorly executed. I found it impossible to get immersed in the story because I kept having to deal with the stupid game. Things like objectives and paths being difficult to find. I was really surprised the feature "focus" that is supposed to focus on your objective rarely functioned and only seemed to be scripted to show you trivialities rather than things you're trying to find. Hunting around for switches and paths was very annoying.

    The attacks from bad guys got repetitive fast. Combat isn't very challenging (other than the fact that you have no crosshair and the 3rd person view is severely offset) and isn't rewarding.

    There are numerous detours to grab loot, but whats the point? I found it really diverting from the story, which is what I thought it was about. accumulating items and having to waste time going down dead ends to get ammo seems like a pointless chore for this type of game.

    I lost interest in the first chapter of the game alone. There were too many annoyances that dragged the game out and frankly the story up to that point wasn't compelling enough for me to suffer through the nonsense.    … Expand
  20. faultiestFlea
    Aug 5, 2013
    0
    This is shallow two-button gameplay combined with the worst of a high school creative writing contest all rolled into one. I actually played through it with a few of my friends watching, MST3K Rifftracks style. The writing is at least as cliche and stilted as 'This Island Earth'.
  21. lock3r
    Aug 7, 2013
    0
    The worst control system ever, camera is horrible, the only effect is lens flare, EVERYWHERE, every damn light has a lens flare effect on it. the story MAY be interesting, but i don't know because i found the game SO BORING that i stopped playing after 40 minutes of game, because i had no interest for the story, i had no will to go on, and most of all i was so sick of the character! I lostThe worst control system ever, camera is horrible, the only effect is lens flare, EVERYWHERE, every damn light has a lens flare effect on it. the story MAY be interesting, but i don't know because i found the game SO BORING that i stopped playing after 40 minutes of game, because i had no interest for the story, i had no will to go on, and most of all i was so sick of the character! I lost interest in half an hour. Really a bad bad game. BAD! Fortunately i payed it 3€! :P… Expand
  22. ananinami
    Dec 14, 2015
    0
    what a waste of money. you run with a lighter and shot ghosts. overrated game nothing for me but good for lil kids and the american nightmare is the same
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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

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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.
    Read full review
  3. PC PowerPlay
    Apr 5, 2012
    80
    "A gripping rollercoaster ride." - Stephen King. [Apr 2012, p.52]
    Read full review
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