Thanks to Hamada for helping with edits.
Alan Wake, a third-person psychological thriller by Max Payne developer Remedy Entertainment, launched for the Xbox 360 on May 14, 2010. A friend at the time spoke highly of the game, touting it as a must-have exclusive for Microsoft’s console. Over a decade later, Alan Wake endures as a respected cult classic. Ordinarily, I prefer to review games that, for better or worse, escape the public’s attention, curios my audience likely never heard of. However, this has been a significant year for Alan Wake, inspiring me to finally play through my long neglected copy.
Upon beginning Alan Wake, the titular star finds himself in a dreary dream world, a premonition of, and tutorial for, what’s to come. (Image: Remedy)
Alan’s an accomplished author who penned several bestsellers. However, a lengthy strain of writer’s block left him in an artistic slump, spurring concerns those successes may be behind him. Alice, his wife, hoped a scenery change would reignite his creative juices and planned a vacation. The story proper opens with the couple sailing towards Bright Falls, an idyllic burgh nestled somewhere in Washington. After landing, Alan briefly stops at the local diner, where he meets a sinister-sounding, elderly woman. She pretends to be there on the landlord’s behalf (he was actually just using the restroom), giving Alan keys to a cabin nestled within Cauldron Lake. There, Alice is dragged into the water by a mysterious creature, and Alan jumps in after them… only to awake in a car crash one week later unaware of what’s happened in the interim. Things get weirder; en route to the nearest gas station, shadowy men begin hunting Alan, who then starts stumbling upon pages of an incomplete manuscript, titled “Departure,” he wrote yet doesn’t remember. Bright Falls is home to the Dark Presence, a supernatural entity that survives by manipulating imaginative minds – painters, musicians, writers – to produce works that sustain and power it. Having become the phantasm’s latest target, Alan is now racing to finish Departure and create a happy ending.
A surfeit of media inspired Alan Wake. Twin Peaks and Stephen King’s novels are perhaps the clearest influences, helping mold the personalities of Bright Falls and its inhabitants. Rod Serling’s 1959 anthology series The Twilight Zone begat the Night Springs sci-fi show seen throughout Wake’s world. Alan Wake even structures itself similarly to a television program, with its six “episodes” starting with “Previously on Alan Wake” recaps. Unfortunately, Wake’s stellar presentation is let down by its writing, coming across as a budget simulacra of the works it venerates. Alan is a serviceable protagonist, and a unique one when contrasted with Microsoft’s mascots; he lacks the machismo of Marcus Fenix, the stoicism of Master Chief, and the whimsy of Rare’s cartoony ensemble. But his supporting cast – save perhaps for bumbling sidekick Barry – are too one-dimensional or outright uninteresting. Moreover, Wake’s dialogue, overarching story, and smaller mysteries simply aren’t compelling.
Voiced by Matthew Porretta, Alan’s talkative, snide, and internally monologues about everything that happens to and around him. (Image: Remedy)
Alan Wake’s control setup is intuitive. You move the eponymous lead via the left joystick, while the right handles aiming your firearm and flashlight. Jumping is achieved by pressing the A button, reloading your gun and flashlight are respectively assigned to X and Y, and the versatile B button interacts with objects – generators, switches, and doors, usually. Selecting a weapon from Alan’s on-hand arsenal is performed through the D-pad. Dodging oncoming attacks can be done by pressing the L button just before impact, while holding said button allows Alan to jog for a limited time. Using the flashlight’s boost function is done by holding the L trigger, whereas the R trigger shoots. Alan’s projectile weapons, such as flash grenades, are used by pressing the R button. Ammo and batteries are scattered throughout the paths Alan stumbles through, so (at least on the normal difficulty) you’ll seldom find yourself short on either. Street lights and other lumination sources function as checkpoints and safe havens enemies cannot penetrate, and they’re generously spread across each episode.
Gameplay, however, is another area where Wake falters. Alan Wake’s scenario is split between daytime and nighttime segments; things are calm while the sun graces the sky, letting Alan explore leisurely, whereas the Dark Presence openly stalks him at night. It commands a small army of inconveniences, with the shadowy “Taken” serving as its common grunts. Audio cues alert the player to any oncoming Taken, and if Alan isn’t already facing them, the camera briefly pans to where they’re emerging from. Then, you shine Alan’s flashlight on them (which homes in slightly, helping players aim) to drain their “darkness shield,” leaving them vulnerable to gunfire. In Departure, Alan describes the Taken as being of a “dark intelligence,” lacking any but the faintest remnants of their former human consciousness. The mindless corpses prove as such, being less than competent adversaries – several I encountered obliviously walked into damaged power lines, killing them instantly. The Taken may teleport around you, throw axes, yield chainsaws, or be somewhat sturdier than others, yet all succumb to a standard flashlight and revolver. And though the Dark Presence expands its armada as its puissance escalates, that mostly amounts to flocks of birds and random objects it usually flings at you (these only require the flashlight to vanquish).
Ultimately, numbers are the only strength the Presence possesses, but dispatching its minions ad nauseam quickly grows tedious. (Image: Remedy)
Unfortunately, the level design never compensates for that deficiency. Several collectibles litter the countryside, incentivizing exploring off the beaten path. Some of them flesh out the world, others have practical effects, and a few are entirely pointless. Of these trinkets, the Departure manuscript pages are easily the most noteworthy finds; they give deeper looks into the characters’ perspectives and foreshadow upcoming events. Nevertheless, Alan’s linear trek through the (admittedly gorgeously rendered) village and surrounding environments is a boring, repetitive affair. He occasionally gets to drive a car, but rarely does Remedy employ any creative uses of Bright Falls’ terrain. And a few segments, particularly those with the black tornado, broke my immersion. Alan and the Presence are relegated to act out their parts in Departure’s script, sure, but seeing such a supernatural, brutal force unable to best this plodding everyman was pitiable.
Alan Wake failed to engross me, yet it was no failure. Remedy followed it up with two downloadable epilogue chapters, closing the story of Alan’s stay at Bright Falls. Spawning a modestly successful franchise, Wake inspired supplemental media and a side game, American Nightmare. Alan Wake and its pulp offshoot eventually came to computers, available on digital storefronts like Steam. Although Remedy sought to continue the series with a proper “second season,” their next collaboration with Microsoft evolved into the 2016 Xbox One title Quantum Break (another likely “Beat the Backlog” subject). Control, released last year, links itself to Wake through Easter eggs, pleasantly surprising series fans. And now Remedy owns the Alan Wake IP outright, a gain they’re leveraging. Control’s AWE DLC launches today, ushering in a proper crossover between the 2019 hit and its 2010 predecessor. And the studio has further plans for its “Remedy Connected Universe,” confirming a new project set within it is in development.
Remedy harbors unwavering affection for the writer, and I’m happy his story will continue. (Image: Remedy)
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