4 Reasons Why Alan Wake is a Great Game Even Today

A couple of days ago, I noticed that Alan Wake Remastered was on sale on the PlayStation Store, and it was just $4! I obviously had to get it for myself, and that is exactly what I did. I know I was more than 15 years late to the party since Alan Wake was originally released in 2010, but I’m glad I joined the bandwagon because I really loved how unique the game was.

I purchased the game and put my Xfinity Internet connection to good use, and downloaded the game. Though the game is just nearly 28GB in size, it downloaded in a couple of minutes, all thanks to my superfast internet connection. In fact, if you look into Xfinity Internet plans, you can get a connection for yourself too at a super budget-friendly price.

Though the game is pretty old, it still has some immersive elements that make it a fun game to play. Here are some things that I really liked about Alan Wake:

The Game Has a Nice, Eerie Setting

Since it’s a horror game, Alan Wake actually has a pretty eerie setting throughout the game. There are only a few moments when you get to experience the game set in daytime, but for most of it, the game is set at night, with winds indicating that there are enemies nearby, ready to attack you.

Not just that, but the game is mainly set through woods in a mountainous area, which adds to the horror elements of the game. Plus, there aren’t that many people to interact with in the game, which also makes the experience pretty unique. If you want a game that’s mainly centered on one character, then Alan Wake is definitely for you to play.

You Don’t Have a Lot of Resources in the Game

Just like The Last of Us, you need to make all of your resources count. For most of the game, you have a flashlight and a revolver, but down the line, you get a couple of other resources as well to tackle more enemies at a time, such as a flare and a flashbang. For guns, you get a shotgun, a hunting rifle, or a flare gun.

Just make sure you utilize as much light as possible since the game has a lot to do with light against darkness, and you have to make use of as much light as you can. Also, you need to have batteries for your flashlight at hand so that you can stun enemies and defeat them faster; otherwise, you can use the regular beam of your flashlight to stun your enemies, but a bit slower than the focused beams.

It Has an Interesting Concept of Light vs Dark

Before Alan Wake, the only game series that I had played that emphasized light vs darkness was Kingdom Hearts. However, Kingdom Hearts was always more of a kids’ game with lighter tones, making it kid-friendly to play. Alan Wake, on the other hand, is from a different league. It has a very dark tone when I played which I enjoyed.

In the game, you master the power of light to traverse through the various chapters of the game. As I mentioned earlier, you use a flashlight against your enemies to stun them. These enemies are called the “taken”, and they are people clouded with darkness, making them attack you with axes and sickles. They also hurl their weapons at you, so you need to be quick with your dodging to avoid taking damage. If you ever feel overwhelmed by a lot of enemies, you can escape them by making your way to the nearest light (usually through randomly placed streetlights).

It Has an Intriguing Storyline

Another thing that had me hooked throughout the game was the intriguing storyline. You play as a troubled writer, Alan Wake, who was a very famous writer at one point, but then he faced a creative block, which is why he hadn’t been writing for a while. He then went on a vacation with his wife to a place called Bright Falls, and some surreal things started happening there.

His wife goes missing, and he finds himself stuck in a nightmare-like situation where he relives the manuscripts from a book he planned on writing in the future. Since he was a crime and thriller writer, all the events are of that nature as well. Page by page, it is up to Alan to figure out how he has to escape and save his wife, all at the same time.

Though it’s an old game, I recommend that you play Alan Wake, then Control, and then finally Alan Wake 2 for the entire story. The best part is that you can play Control through the PlayStation Plus game catalog if you get a subscription, and Alan Wake 2 is a part of the monthly games in October 2025, which gives you all the more reason to subscribe!