Alan Wake Xbox Series X Review

[Endike Baur]

WhenAlan Wake first launched back in 2010, it had the unfortunate task of going up against Red Dead Redemption. The initial batch of people jumping into the game was small, but thankfully over the years, it's gained a cult following via word of mouth. Fast forward to today and developer Remedy Entertainment is working on bringing a connected universe to fans, gathering games such as Control and Alan Wake into one shared franchise. As a result, Alan Wake Remastered has arrived in the hopes of garnering a wider audience, and absolutely succeeds at brushing up this classic horror title.

The story of Alan Wake sees the titular character taking a vacation with his wife Alice, in an attempt to break out of a period of writer's block the successful author is facing. What transpires is a horror-fuelled adventure, as Wake's upcoming book - that he can't remember writing - appears to be coming to life before his very eyes. The game merges survival horror elements from titles such as Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark, whilst also sprinkling some horror iconic film influences, including sequences reminiscent of The Shining. For anyone who has grown up reading Stephen King novels, the story of Alan Wake will resonate massively.

All of this is broken up into segmented chapters, giving the feeling of a TV series playing out. Each episode begins recapping the events of the previous one, and every single chapter closes out on a cliff-hanger, begging you to continue forward. It's an addictive loop, something Remedy also attempted with Quantum Break but failed to nail as hard as they do here. Alan Wake also understands how close the horror and comedy genre are, succeeding in blending them both in darkly humorous ways, without sacrificing the tension.

The story is approached linearly, with players controlling Wake through a variety of environments. Some moments give the feeling of a more open-ended game, but the story funnels you down one path. Your time will mostly be spent fending off shadowy figures in some pretty unique combat. Before raining down gunfire, you'll need to whittle their health down with your trusty flashlight. It means you'll have to come face to face with the enemies in some truly terrifying encounters, made even worse when you're forced to fend off multiple foes at once.

Outside of combat, you'll be exploring the world and finding all sorts of collectables. Being a remaster, Alan Wake does little to change up the core experience, meaning there are still far too many objects to find in the world. With over 100 manuscript pages, 100 thermos cups to find, and several other collectables, you'll spend an extraordinary amount of time combing the world for anything you find. It felt over-saturated back in 2010, and it still detracts from the experience, especially for completionists. It's especially irritating when some of these items contain key story elements that you could potentially miss.

There are also a few QR codes, which were seen in the original, but here they link to completely new rewards. New for the remaster are a series of videos that can be unlocked by simply scanning them on your smart device. While we don't want to reveal what the contents are, they do work to flesh out Remedy's plans for a connected universe, providing more Alan Wake lore for fans who want to expand their knowledge.

Once the main campaign is done, the remaster also packs in the two superb post-launch episodes: The Signal and The Writer. For anyone who's invested in the story, these are paramount to understand the full picture. In all honesty, it's baffling that Remedy omitted them from the main game and added them as paid DLC, as they feel like a necessity in regards to the overall narrative. Luckily, they're both included here as part of the main admission fee, so be sure to spend a few extra hours unveiling their secrets.

As for the remastered visuals, it's a pretty strong upgrade, sometimes looking like a brand-new game entirely. Remedy has pumped a lot of love into their cult classic title, ensuring that returning fans feel at home and new fans understand what the fuss is all about. The core experience remains the same, with all the same problems the original faced, such as a cumbersome camera, some frustrating enemy encounters and floaty controls, but the visual experience of it all brings it up to 2021 standards.

The 4K resolution looks incredible, especially on Xbox Series X, and is accompanied by a smooth 60fps during its gameplay. Cutscenes don't pack the same punch, remaining at 30fps, but the main game is the best Alan Wake has ever felt. Lighting is a particular highlight, increasing the moody atmosphere even more than the original version. The way the light reflects off enemies as you shine your flashlight never ceases to get old. Character models have also been improved, and while the lip-syncing looks off in a fair few situations (Remedy is looking to address this prior to launch), they fit more within modern standards than their 2010 counterparts.

If you've never played Alan Wake, this is the best possible way to experience the game. For anyone who loves horror or Remedy's other titles, there's a ton to unpack here with an engaging narrative and stellar gameplay. The remastered enhancements bolster the game even further, giving it a place in today's gaming world, and while the gameplay doesn't perhaps hold up as well as it did in 2010, Alan Wake Remastered is still as joyous as it was back then and a perfect treat for the Halloween season.

From spending sleepless nights anticipating the release of Fable II, Daniel has always been a massive advocate of Xbox. His obsession with Fable was only the beginning of a love for the RPG genre. Outside of gaming, Daniel can also be found attending gigs or creating poorly constructed drum solos

I fairly recently played through Alan Wake faster than any game in recent memory in an attempt to finish it before it was removed from Game Pass. I absolutely loved the atmosphere and Stephen King vibe and rather enjoyed the combat too. Which is all saying something as I generally find 3rd person cinematic action games fairly uninspiring and have failed to get into, or finish, many games that are highly rated.

@awp69 Well, I wouldn't necessarily say they're wrong. I tried it for the first time earlier this year, and gave up a couple of hours in because the combat is such a chore. Naturally it's all a matter of opinion and if this ends up on Gamepass of PS+ I'll definitely give it another go to see if the enhancements make it any more palatable, but I certainly expect a lot of those saying it has aged well may be blinded by nostalgia. I still personally rank Ocarina of Time as my favourite game of all time, but I can't imagine I would still think that if I had played it for the first time in 2021 rather than 1998

@PapaGlitch

Yeah, it probably really has to do with the benefit of nostalgia as their review mentions. I never played Uncharted until the collection with my PS4. I found that first game especially ROUGH, and the subsequent games ok. A lot of people seem to criticize the combat in those games as well. Maybe if the reviewer hadn't played the original PS3 versions, and had the nostalgia for them, he wouldn't have scored the collection a 9.

Also, I find it interesting that it seems with any game that the combat is often one of the first points of criticism. Is there a game with universally loved combat? I found the combat in the Witcher 3 fine, and others act like it sh*t in their cornflakes. ?

@awp69 I used to visit it because of my PS4 but Push Square staff has become a Sony trolls den. Sorry to be this straightforward but looking at the articles and reviews on there, how can it be explained with kinder words? Someone help me. @NEStalgia, maybe?

@BlueOcean I know we have had differing opinions sometimes but I agree with you on this. Their review very much reeks of "ah this is some xbox exclusive from years ago not really fussed about the ins and outs of it"

@NickTheGeek You are right but I see many people rightfully complaining about Nintendo on Nintendo Life while Push Square being continuously obsessed with everything Xbox including Game Pass as a potentially negative thing. Nintendo Life and Pure Xbox are open-minded and Push Square is pure propaganda.

@Jaxx420 The Push Square articles about Game Pass, Phil Spencer, Bethesda, etc. are cringeworthy and reviews are as subjective as possible. The Psychonauts 2 review was fine, though. It depends on the person but part of the staff is propaganda at full speed.

@BlueOcean If anything the staff at Push Square are more critical and negative about Sony and their recent moves (as they should be imo) and more complimentary about Microsoft and Game Pass asking when/if Sony are going to do something similar. Just a few examples. There are many more.

@BlueOcean Honestly I don't have a problem at all with the staff at Push Square. They've been on-point since the start of the PS5 era. They were very very cringe in the PS4 era but they've really become a lot more professional lately. Most of the actual articles have been solid, on point, and featuring blunt criticism of Sony's missteps and slaps in the face, same as most of us here.

It's the commentariat there that's the problem. Sammy is non-stop ripped a new one and even told he should just go to PXB since he clearly loves Game Pass so much. Parts of that community are so zealous they're at war with the staff for dare saying the obvious.

Granted, the "Sony buys another studio, so much amaze, the world is brighter today!" type articles get annoyingly fawnish, but that's been minimized. Heck, Psychonauts 2 got a better review than R&C Rift there. I think the staff is just fine, and represents "real" PS fans well. It's the reality distortion bubble among the hardcore console warriors that make the place hard to take in large doses, as they seem to be more dominant and omnipresent than NL or PXB, and more to the point, while PXB has a few obsessives, and NL has many, only the ones at PS seem to be so aggressively confrontational - and more to the point, humorless.

3a8082e126