Full ReleasePC

Alan Wake

Remedy Entertainment · Horror, Action, Adventure

Overview

A Dark Presence stalks the small town of Bright Falls, pushing Alan Wake to the brink of sanity in his fight to unravel the mystery and save his love.

When the wife of the best-selling writer Alan Wake disappears on their vacation, his search turns up pages from a thriller he doesn’t even remember writing. A Dark Presence stalks the small town of Bright Falls, pushing Wake to the brink of sanity in his fight to unravel the mystery and save his love.

Presented in the style of a TV series, Alan Wake features the trademark Remedy storytelling and pulse-pounding action sequences. As players dive deeper and deeper into the mystery, they’ll face overwhelming odds, plot twists, and cliffhangers. It’s only by mastering the Fight With Light combat mechanic that they can stay one step ahead of the darkness that spreads across Bright Falls.

With the body of an action game and the mind of a psychological thriller, Alan Wake’s intense atmosphere, deep and multilayered story, and exceptionally tense combat sequences provide players with an entertaining and original gaming experience.

Enhanced for the PC

Includes Alan Wake Special Episodes “The Signal” and “The Writer”
Experience Alan Wake’s Pacific Northwest in higher resolutions and higher fidelity than the Xbox360 version.
Fully configurable mouse and keyboard support, or if you prefer to play with the Steam or Microsoft gamepad connected to your PC, you can do that too!
Lots of customizable graphics settings and support for 4:3, 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios!
Multithreaded engine that takes advantage of quad core CPUs.
Additional features our fans have sought after such as field of view adjustment as well as “hide HUD”.
Works with AMD Eyefinity 3D 3-screen mode.

From the game's Steam store page.

THE GAMEQ VERDICT9,998 reviews analyzed

What players are actually saying

1. Summary

Alan Wake is remembered, and recommended, for its story. Players describe a Stephen King novel crossed with Twin Peaks and The Twilight Zone, told as a six-episode TV season with "previously on" recaps, end-of-episode songs, in-game Night Springs broadcasts and manuscript pages that foreshadow what is about to happen. The story comes up in 41% of all reviews, well ahead of any other topic. The moments people quote back are the night-time Pacific Northwest forest, the Old Gods of Asgard concert on the Anderson farm and the Poets of the Fall soundtrack. About one in ten reviews mention Alan Wake 2, many of them from players working backward from the sequel or from Control who treat this game as required reading for the Remedy universe, and most of those reviews recommend it.

When reviews fault the game, it is usually for the gameplay. Shine the flashlight, burn off the darkness, shoot, repeat: 40% of negative reviews call that loop, fought against a handful of enemy types and mostly in dark woods, repetitive or boring. Around one in five negative reviews also complain about controlling Alan himself: a sprint that runs out after a few seconds, a dodge on the same button that fires when it shouldn't, and an off-center camera. Plenty of reviewers praise the story, fault the combat and recommend the game anyway. Of the reviews that pair the story with a complaint about the gameplay, two thirds give it a thumbs up. Those who turn negative tend to decide the combat costs more than the story is worth, and some of them suggest watching the cutscenes on YouTube instead.

2. What keeps coming up

What players praise

The story and its mysteryHigh

The story is the main reason the game is recommended. It shows up in 41% of reviews and in 50% of negative ones, because many negative reviews open by praising it before turning to the gameplay ("the story is great, but"). Players praise the premise of a writer trapped in a novel he doesn't remember writing, twists that kept them guessing about Alan's sanity, and manuscript pages that spoil events shortly before they happen, a device several reviewers single out. Some say the story is what kept them playing to the end. Opinions on the writing itself differ (see the section on Alan and the narration below), and the ending divides people.

The soundtrackHigh

Music comes up in 13% of reviews. Players single out the end-of-episode licensed songs ("In Dreams", "Space Oddity" for those who played before it was replaced, Depeche Mode, Nick Cave), Poets of the Fall's "War" and the Old Gods of Asgard concert fight to "Children of the Elder God". A few say the game made them fans of the band.

Atmosphere and the Twin Peaks / Stephen King feelHigh

Atmosphere, mood and the "vibe" of the game appear in 12% of reviews, and 7% compare it outright to Twin Peaks, Stephen King, David Lynch, The Twilight Zone or The X-Files. Players love the misty forests, the small-town diner, the logging equipment and the sense that every unlit spot is a threat while every street lamp is a safe haven. They call it creepy and tense, and praise the dynamic lighting and fog. Some reviews, negative ones more often than positive, complain that most of the game takes place in very similar dark woods.

Essential homework for Control and Alan Wake 2Medium

Alan Wake 2 comes up in 10% of reviews and Control in 5%. Many players bought or replayed the game to prepare for the sequel or after Control's AWE expansion, and most of these reviews recommend doing the same, some with a suggested order (Alan Wake plus its two specials, American Nightmare, Control with AWE, then Alan Wake 2). A few who played the sequel first say this one feels dated by comparison, and a few others prefer the original to the sequel.

It still looks good and runs wellMedium

Plenty of reviews say the game still "holds up" visually, praising the lighting, landscapes and draw distance. Players report it running well on low-end PCs, ultrawide monitors and the Steam Deck, where several say it plays very well. The faces and the pre-rendered cutscenes are the exception (see frustrations).

The episodic TV presentationMedium

About 7% of reviews mention the episode structure, recaps and cliffhangers. Some players say it makes the game easy to play one episode a night, like a TV series, and others like having a recap when they come back after a break. A few find the recaps redundant when playing straight through.

Side characters and world-buildingMedium

Barry Wheeler is the side character reviewers bring up most, as comic relief that lightens the dread, though a few find him grating. Sheriff Sarah Breaker, the Anderson brothers and Cynthia Weaver also get affectionate mentions. Reviewers point to the Night Springs TV episodes, Pat Maine's radio call-in show, QR codes and the developer commentary as the details that make Bright Falls feel lived in.

Great value on saleLow

Reviews that mention price mostly talk about buying it on a deep discount, often for a few dollars. The usual advice is that it is easily worth it on sale, and a few say it is only worth it at that price.

Where players are split

The flashlight-then-gun combatHigh

Combat or gameplay is discussed in 28% of reviews, and opinion on the core mechanic divides. Fans call burning off the Taken's darkness with the flashlight before shooting them unique, tense and satisfying, especially with flares, flashbangs, the flare gun and environmental kills like spotlights and explosive tanks. Some argue that using those tools well is the key to enjoying it, and a couple of reviews give the same advice: "Play it more like Max Payne and less like Resident Evil". Detractors call the mechanic a gimmick that makes every fight take longer than it should and never changes after the first couple of episodes. Plenty of positive reviews also call the combat repetitive ("The combat is fine, but repetitive"), so for many players the question is how long the idea stays fun.

Alan, the narration and the writingMedium

Alan himself is contested. Some find him compelling, a flawed, pretentious writer whose arc is the point, and love the noir-style inner monologue. Others find him insufferable, flat in delivery and cruel to his wife. A few dozen reviews, most of them negative, call him unlikable, annoying or a jerk, and some complain that the narration explains what is already on screen. Alice as a passive damsel and stiff dialogue in some scenes are other complaints, while some players read the cheesiness as deliberate B-movie charm.

Is it actually a horror game?Medium

Reviews that say how scary it is mostly say it isn't very scary, and some call it an action thriller rather than horror. That is a plus for players who dislike horror ("Give it a go even if you don't like scary games") and a disappointment for those expecting Silent Hill or Resident Evil tension. A smaller group did find it frightening.

The two Special episodesMedium

The Signal and The Writer, included free on PC, come up in about 4% of reviews and split sharply. Some call them the best part of the game, with more creative level design (words you light up to spawn objects, shifting rooms) and the real conclusion to the story. Others say The Signal is an exhausting wave-defence slog, The Writer has frustrating platforming and no-death achievements, and both double down on the base game's weaknesses. Some reviewers also point out that the game never tells you the specials exist; they sit at the bottom of the Episodes menu.

The endingMedium

About 4% of reviews comment on the ending. Admirers love the "It's not a lake, it's an ocean" finale and how much it leaves to interpretation. Critics call it abrupt, anticlimactic (an easy final "boss") or obvious sequel bait, and some say they had to read a synopsis to understand what happened.

CollectiblesLow

Players like the manuscript pages because they deepen the story, and some enjoyed hunting the Night Springs TVs and radio shows. The 100 coffee thermoses and other filler collectibles, the Nightmare-only manuscript pages and the lack of any per-episode tracker frustrate completionists, and several say chasing them breaks the flow of combat sections.

The original versus the Remastered editionLow

The Remaster comes up in 3% of reviews. Some recommend it (on Epic or consoles) for better faces and visuals. Others say the Steam original is the better PC version because the Remaster has graphical glitches on AMD hardware, odd lighting changes and little real upgrade, and some prefer the original's look and atmosphere outright.

Difficulty and the "play it on Easy" adviceLow

Players disagree about whether the game is too easy or unfair. Several only realized after finishing that they had been playing on Hard, and reviewers explain that the PC release's Normal is the console version's Hard. A recurring piece of advice is to play on Easy for the story, while a smaller group says Nightmare is where the combat finally becomes tense survival.

What frustrates players

Repetitive combat and low enemy varietyHigh

Repetition is the complaint negative reviews make most: 40% of them (against 9% of positive ones) call the gameplay repetitive, tedious or boring, and some add that you have seen every enemy type and weapon by the second episode. Versions of "shine light, shoot, repeat" turn up in positive and negative reviews alike. Several negative reviewers say the repetition is why they stopped, and 7% of negative reviews suggest watching the story on YouTube instead. Negative reviews written after two to twenty-five hours of play raise it more often (over 40%) than those written within the first two hours (27%).

Alan's stamina, the shared sprint/dodge button and the off-center cameraHigh

About 21% of negative reviews complain about how Alan controls. The sprint lasts a few seconds and there is no meter, so faster enemies catch him. Dodge sits on the same button as sprint and often fails to register or fires when you meant to run. The camera sits off to one side, so Alan drifts diagonally, which makes aiming and the platforming sections miserable. Some reviewers joke that Alan needs cardio. In negative reviews written within two hours of play, the controls (23%) come up nearly as often as repetition (27%).

Cheap encounters: spawns behind you, stunlocks and possessed objectsMedium

Players describe enemies spawning directly behind them mid-attack, axes thrown from off-screen that are nearly impossible to dodge, and hits that stunlock Alan until he dies. Possessed barrels, wheelbarrows and machinery, the bridge sections and flocks of birds come up as unfun, and cinematic camera pans that take control away during live combat cause cheap deaths. Checkpoints placed before long dialogue or cutscenes mean replaying them after each failure.

Padding, pacing and losing your gearMedium

Some reviews say the game runs a few hours longer than its content supports, naming Episode 3's long forest trek, the final episode's slog back to the lake and the roadblocks that keep forcing another detour. The game also strips Alan's weapons and flashlights at the start of nearly every episode (and sometimes mid-episode), which some players call an artificial reset that makes saving ammo or exploring for supplies pointless.

PC technical problemsMedium

About 3% of reviews report technical issues. Crashes on launch or mid-episode come up most. Others describe a black screen or frozen display on exit or alt-tab that forces a PC restart, stutter at checkpoints, and poor frame rates on some modern systems (fixed for some by DXVK or launch options). Some players say the forced motion blur gives them motion sickness or headaches, and they share the "-noblur" launch option and community fixes. Isolated progression bugs and lost saves also appear.

Alan Wake 2 and the Remaster are not on SteamMedium

Epic comes up in 2% of reviews and pleas to bring Alan Wake 2 to Steam in 2%, and several of the most upvoted reviews are exactly that request. Most of these reviews still recommend this game, but some players have left negative reviews in protest over the Epic exclusivity of the Remaster and the sequel, and owners of the Steam original were disappointed not to get a discounted or free upgrade path.

Dated faces and low-quality cutscenesLow

The environments hold up, but some players mock the stiff facial animation and lip sync, and a few say the pre-rendered cutscenes look blurry and low-bitrate next to the in-engine graphics, especially on ultrawide screens.

DrivingLow

Some reviewers enjoy the driving sections, mostly for running enemies over with the headlights. Others call the handling dated and the drives short hops between roadblocks.

Intrusive product placementLow

A small number of reviews joke or complain about the Energizer batteries, Verizon billboards and TV ad, and Lincoln and Ford cars. Most of these mentions are jokes, and a few say the placement breaks immersion.

The removed "Space Oddity" trackLow

A small group objected when a 2024 update replaced David Bowie's "Space Oddity" with another track. Their reviews cluster in September 2024, and they say content they had paid for was removed without warning.

3. The player conversation

Review volume jumps around Alan Wake 2's launch in late October 2023 and stays high through 2024, 2025 and 2026, with many reviewers playing to catch up on the lore, replaying a 360-era favourite, or picking it up for a few dollars in a sale. Critics are often affectionate: half of the negative reviews mention the story, many of them to praise it, and plenty of positive reviews concede that the combat is repetitive. Negative reviews are a small minority, and the complaints they make most often are boredom with the combat and frustration with the controls.

Sentiment has been very stable, around 86% to 88% positive every year from 2021 to 2026. The one clear dip came in early September 2024, when weekly positivity fell into the 60s as players reacted to the "Space Oddity" removal. Requests to bring Alan Wake 2 and the Remaster to Steam run through the whole period and occasionally turn into protest thumbs-down.

4. What the developers could do

Trim encounter padding and add variety in any remake or future update. Repetition is the most frequent complaint, raised in 40% of negative reviews, and players name the long forest treks, wave-style ambushes and the lack of new enemy types after the second episode.
Split sprint and dodge onto separate bindings, make the dodge reliable and offer a centered camera option. Around one in five negative reviews blame the shared sprint/dodge button, the short stamina with no meter and the off-center camera for cheap deaths and miserable platforming.
Bring the Remaster and Alan Wake 2 to Steam, with an upgrade path for owners of the original. Several of the most upvoted reviews ask for a Steam release, and some players leave negative reviews over the Epic exclusivity.
Fix the PC exit and alt-tab black screen and add an in-menu motion blur toggle. Some players report having to restart their PCs after quitting, and others say the forced blur causes motion sickness and needs launch options or community fixes to turn off.
Signpost the two Special episodes after the credits. Reviewers point out that The Signal and The Writer are easy to miss at the bottom of the Episodes menu, and some consider them the true ending of the story.
Make enemy spawns and possessed-object sections fairer. Players describe enemies appearing behind them mid-attack, off-screen axes they can't dodge, stunlocks and camera pans that take control during live combat.
Add a per-episode collectible tracker and fix the Remaster's AMD graphical glitches. Completionists complain that there is no way to see which thermoses or pages they missed, and players steer each other away from the Remaster because of artifacts on AMD hardware.
Restore or clearly communicate changes to licensed music. The September 2024 replacement of "Space Oddity" caused the one clear dip in sentiment, with players objecting to purchased content changing without notice.