Alan Wake Remastered review: VerdictĪlan Wake Remastered offers both newcomers and veterans the chance to experience one of the finest games of the Xbox 360 era in its best-ever form.
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The soundtrack is extremely fitting with folk tunes and sinister strings setting the mood, plus the voice acting is stellar from basically the entire cast. His inability to hop over small fences and medium-sized boulders can make traversing the game’s usually very dark environments more difficult than necessary.Ĭonversely, time has been rather kind to the game’s sound design. Wake himself moves with all the grace of a reversing tank, and he jumps like one too. It’s the animations that really let the presentation down. Though, you’re unlikely to be fooled into believing you’re playing a modern release. However, Alan Wake Remastered is by no means ugly, and its coherent visual design has aged very gracefully. Of course, because this is a remaster and not a remake of an 11-year-old game, it does look fairly dated in parts. Combat feels smooth thanks to the framerate boost and the idyllic yet sinister town of Bright Falls has never looked better. Presented in glorious 4K resolution at 60 fps on PS5, Alan Wake Remastered is easily the best-looking and best-performing version of the game available. Alan Wake Remastered review: Visuals and sound The narrative still remains open-ended, but the two expansions go a long way in making Alan Wake Remastered feel like a complete story rather than a tale that lacks a proper conclusion. These short episodes continue the core narrative and provide some enjoyable gameplay twists as well. The game feels like a loving tribute to the works of Stephen King, with a healthy dash of television classic Twin Peaks thrown in for good measure.īack in 2010, Alan Wake received some criticism for its fairly unsatisfying final moments, but the inclusion of the game’s two DLC chapters “The Signal” and “The Writer” alleviates this issue in the remaster. Story was where the original Alan Wake truly triumphed, and that’s still the case with this remastered edition. Mercifully, these sections are brief and don’t drag the otherwise stellar pacing down. The passage of time hasn’t been very kind to them. The enjoyable third-person gunplay is complemented by a couple of very simple puzzles, and some driving sections that didn’t control very well even in 2010. This does help keep the tension high, as you never become overpowered, but it can be irksome to lose all your best tools after purposefully holding onto them. Often you’ll finish a section, watch a cutscene and then begin the next segment with all your ammo and equipment taken away. One aspect that can occasionally cause irritation is how regularly the game strips you of all your items. The main campaign, however, runs a breezy eight hours in length, so there’s never really time for repetition to set in. Although, in the final third part of the game, there are a few combat sections that run a tad long. Thankfully, well-placed checkpoints keep the game from ever becoming too frustrating. Enemies are aggressive and love spawning behind you for added fright factor. It’s definitely not a brutally difficult game, but you’ll need to keep your wits about you. Speaking of challenging combat sections, even on normal, Alan Wake Remastered puts up a fight.
Choosing the right moment to burn a flare or unpin a powerful flashbang is essential in order to escape some of the game’s more bruising encounters. You also make use of additional items like flares and flashbangs which add some much-needed versatility to your arsenal. Halting a hulking enemy in their tracks with a powerful blast of light, popping off a few headshots, and watching your foe evaporate into a shower of shining particles never gets old. This was an innovative combat system back in 2010, and even in 2021, it remains extremely satisfying.
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In essence, you shine your torch to weaken an enemy’s defenses enough to pump them full of lead. Using a one-two combination of your gun and flashlight, you must stop the darkness that has infected the citizens of the remote mountain town of Bright Falls, Washington.