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    Alan Wake

    Game » consists of 14 releases. Released May 14, 2010

    When famous novelist Alan Wake goes on vacation with his wife Alice, he has no idea that the idyllic town of Bright Falls will soon be the site of a terrible battle between light and dark that could threaten everything, even Wake's own sanity.

    Love Alan Wake - Underrated?

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    Seppli

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    #1  Edited By Seppli

    Just got done playing episode 3 of Alan Wake. What a damn fine game. In terms of player direction, structure and pacing and flow, gameplay relevant graphics and sound effects, music, core gameplay and controls - it's pretty much perfect. The writing's a bit off, as are the VOs; and the character models are all set firmly in the uncanny valley - despite that, Alan Wake has to be commended much more than it has been. I struggle to name a better 'scary' cinematic gaming experience ever. As far as games with cinematic qualities go, this is right up there with Uncharted - just with a scary noire twist (that's a bit on the nose at times).

    If you haven't tried this one out yet, go save a copy from the bargain bin right now! It's bloody brilliant. Must play!

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    samfo

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    #2  Edited By samfo
    @Seppli: It was rated pretty well, i wouldn't say its underrated. Average of 83 on metacritic.
    You have to remember it had been in development for many many years.
    The result they produced was a great game although a bit short.
     
    Anyways it's not underrated. People just use that word for games that they like. /ends rant about use of the word underrated
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    GunstarRed

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    #3  Edited By GunstarRed

    I have a ton of love for the game, not quite action game and not quite survival horror. I'm glad I have the silly book edition, that Night Springs is so stupid, that Barry is so punchable and that Alan is the biggest cock. The Dlc add-ons are totally worth it also even if they both highlight some of the games biggest flaws.

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    GeekDown

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    #4  Edited By GeekDown

    I completely agree. Alan Wake is one of my top three games and it really deserves more recognition than it gets. I am extremely excited for Night Springs to come out or at least seeing what it is on the VGA's.

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    Lucifer

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    #5  Edited By Lucifer

    It's one of my favorite games this generation, caught me by total suprise.

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    Cloudenvy

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    #6  Edited By Cloudenvy

    It was decent, not interested in a second one at all.

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    Seppli

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    #7  Edited By Seppli

    @SamFo said:

    @Seppli: It was rated pretty well, i wouldn't say its underrated. Average of 83 on metacritic. You have to remember it had been in development for many many years. The result they produced was a great game although a bit short. Anyways it's not underrated. People just use that word for games that they like. /ends rant about use of the word underrated

    On a scale of 100, it definitely doesn't feel like an 83 to me. I've read and watched many reviews way back when it came out. None of 'em spelled 'Must Play' to me. I'm just here to vent my 'Must Play' sentiment and get it off my chest.

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    samfo

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    #8  Edited By samfo
    @Seppli: What would you rate it? i think the equivalent of a 4/5 seems about right.
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    benjaebe

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    #9  Edited By benjaebe

    I loved Alan Wake, especially the story, setting and overall ambiance. Definitely felt like it was underrated, but it came out at the same time as Red Dead Redemption which literally sucked all the oxygen out of the room. They couldn't have picked a worse week to release, but I bet no one thought RDR would be as popular as it was. The fact that it went Xbox Exclusive didn't help either.

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    breadfan

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    #10  Edited By breadfan

    I loved Alan Wake. Some of its mechanics and ideas weren't amazing, but it had a lot of character. Definitely one of my favorite games of this generation.

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    TeamJersey

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    #11  Edited By TeamJersey

    I love that game so much. Music is SO GOOD.

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    bybeach

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    #12  Edited By bybeach

    Well, it was under appreciatted I guess. I would have said underrated also, but SamFo makes clear the reviewers liked it okay enough. Just wasn't a big hit with ppl. Though imho Shadows of the Damned has the cake for that one.

    I myself would love to see another game, but I doubt there will be one. Still get mental shivers when I think of David Bowie's Space Oddity at the end of the game. Totally in context about....

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    reddjoey

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    #13  Edited By reddjoey

    Throw another log on the fire praising Alan Wake for me. I think it wasn't a success because it was a bot of a hard sell. It didn't really have anything other than a great story to lure people on the fence in.

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    Icemael

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    #14  Edited By Icemael

    I certainly wouldn't call it "pretty much perfect" as the combat is utterly mediocre, but aesthetically and atmospherically, the game fucking blew me away. It's easily one of the most beautiful, immersive games I've ever played. A sequel with fun combat would be a dream come true.

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    xyzygy

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    #15  Edited By xyzygy

    It's tied with Lost Odyssey for my favorite 360 exclusive. It's also a lot longer than I thought it would be too. Took me around 20 hours to complete first time, and then I did it 2 more times on the harder difficulties and then the DLC. 
     
    I'd agree with you in saying it's pretty near perfect.

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    TheSouthernDandy

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    #16  Edited By TheSouthernDandy

    I'd say the bigger problem with it was it was undersold. When you go up against a Rockstar game you're in trouble. People apparently enjoyed Red Dead. I loved the crap outta Alan Wake, I'd totally be up for more.

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    jozzy

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    #17  Edited By jozzy

    Good call, once it gets a reasonable price on Games on demand I will pick it up.

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    BUCK3TM4N

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    #18  Edited By BUCK3TM4N

    one of the few games that stands out for me, hopefully there is no sequel

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    deactivated-5afdd08777389

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    jacksmedulla

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    #20  Edited By jacksmedulla

    I enjoyed the premise and atmosphere, but, gameplay wise, it became stale fairly quick. Hopefully they will pull an assassin's creed and drastically improve everything on their second attempt.

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    deactivated-5cc8838532af0

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    Yeah I love Alan Wake. Got buried under Red Dead though.

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    zombie2011

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    #22  Edited By zombie2011

    Not underrated, however it wasn't played by as many people as it should have been.

    MS had it right releasing this in the summer when nothing else was coming out. However, WHY they released it the same day as RDR no one will know.

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    MikkaQ

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    #23  Edited By MikkaQ

    It was a cool game with cool atmosphere that I enjoyed and a decent enough story, but... wow. The gameplay had very little variety and the combat plain stunk. That flashlight mechanic was pretty poor.

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    triviaman09

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    #24  Edited By triviaman09

    The atmosphere, story, and pacing were really good but I found the combat very, very distasteful at times and the game is combat-heavy. Kind of weird given Remedy's pedigree. A lot of the time an enemy would come up behind you and hit you and there was nothing you could do about it. I think it's pretty fairly rated. I would love to see a sequel and to see more games use their setting and atmosphere the way Alan Wake does.

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    gamer_152

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    #25  Edited By gamer_152  Moderator

    It's a really good game and I'd love to see more video games looking towards the kind of thing it did in terms of atmosphere and story because it really deserves it, but I wouldn't call all of its components perfect, I think it's major flaw was that it all seemed rather repetitive by the end.

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    LittleBigJono

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    #26  Edited By LittleBigJono

    I really enjoyed this game through the first playthrough, then I went through it again to s-rank it and wanted to shoot myself. My own fault really, I should have just googled the manuscript pages

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    deactivated-601df795ee52f

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    It was an fantastic, one of the best games of this generation. Only gripe with Alan Wake is that's way too short, and for me had little to no replay value.

    Would like to purchase a copy and playthrough the DLC's, though.

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    Doctorchimp

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    #28  Edited By Doctorchimp

    I would definitely say it was overrated.

    The story was really sub-par and to make that game shoulder it along with boring combat, I couldn't even finish it.

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    xaLieNxGrEyx

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    #29  Edited By xaLieNxGrEyx

    Overrated disaster that fell victim to its DLC scheme. A great first half, but ultimately crumbles under it's own weight through repetition and lack of focus in story telling.

    A game that could have been so much, and ended up being just a game with a solid writing, cool atmosphere and an unreal shooting mechanic. It wasn't the rival to Silent Hill 2 that I wanted it to be. It wasn't the mind fuck I was hoping, and the ending left me with - well that was dumb. Also, the DLC does little to help clear the air and is a waste of money. (Besides the giant spinning wheel, which is total badass but also does nothing to progress the plot.)

    All in all a major letdown that every 360 owner should probably own or at least play to understand the above, if that makes any sense.

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    wickedsc3

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    #30  Edited By wickedsc3

    I loved Alan Wake. Very good game in my opinion.

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    Seppli

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    #31  Edited By Seppli

    @SamFo said:

    @Seppli: What would you rate it? i think the equivalent of a 4/5 seems about right.

    Look, I guess the ratings are okay, if you need to put a number on it. Then again. Now that I'm playing Alan Wake, I feel like 'I Must Play' Alan Wake and always had to. If I have to put 'Must Play' in numbers, that'd be a 5/5 and something around 90/100.

    It's not about numbers though. I just wanted to say. Play Alan Wake. You might not know it, and reviews might not spell it out for you, but you must play Alan Wake. That's the gist of it.

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    Seppli

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    #32  Edited By Seppli

    @triviaman09 said:

    The atmosphere, story, and pacing were really good but I found the combat very, very distasteful at times and the game is combat-heavy. Kind of weird given Remedy's pedigree. A lot of the time an enemy would come up behind you and hit you and there was nothing you could do about it. I think it's pretty fairly rated. I would love to see a sequel and to see more games use their setting and atmosphere the way Alan Wake does.

    Drop a flare?

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    mac_n_nina

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    #33  Edited By mac_n_nina

    I loved the game, but it's not underrated.

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    MrFwankie

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    #34  Edited By MrFwankie

    I loved the hell out of that game. It was just a shame that the most inventive game mechanics are only in the DLC.

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    punisherkaos

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    #35  Edited By punisherkaos

    i did enjoy that game but it could really have used more variety in the combat. There is basically only 2 types of enemies the entire game.

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    EnchantedEcho

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    #36  Edited By EnchantedEcho

    I loved it, probably my favourite game of this generation.

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    NTM

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    #37  Edited By NTM

    Yeah, the game's amazing. The only game of 2010 that was as good as Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect 2 to me, though in areas, a bit more important to me. I love it, the only thing I didn't like, or at least I think the only thing that needs improvement was some of the animations. Like the way Alan Wake runs seems a tad bit archaic, and near the ending is somewhat forgettable (not in a bad way though (if that makes sense)). I still play it now and then, and if you haven't done so, I recommend the DLC.

    Those are every bit as good as the regular game since it's as if you never stopped playing the story from the main game. I can't wait for a sequel. Oh, and one other thing, I don't know why some games are different than others, even if they are as great as one another, but I wish this had the same replay value as a Dead Space game does, because it oddly doesn't. I've only beaten it twice, and seem to not be able to get through it again. I haven't even tried the DLC after my first go through with those. I may want to play it again soon.

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    ComradeKhan

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    #38  Edited By ComradeKhan

    Amazing game... AMAZING... I find my self reminiscing fondly of Alan Wake more than any other game of last year.

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    downtime58

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    #39  Edited By downtime58

    It left me jumpy after playing it a couple of times - the pervasive sense of dread really took hold of me.

    So, long story short, I thought it was one of the more effective horror games I've played.

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    Enigma777

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    #40  Edited By Enigma777

    No, it's rated just right. 

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    emergency

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    #41  Edited By emergency

    Yeah I really enjoyed it, was very interesting.

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    fullmetal5550

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    #42  Edited By fullmetal5550

    I rented Alan's Wake and I thought it was good. If it was on PC I most likely would have bought it instead of rented it. Sucks they cancelled the PC version.

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    Kazona

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    #43  Edited By Kazona

    @Icemael said:

    I certainly wouldn't call it "pretty much perfect" as the combat is utterly mediocre, but aesthetically and atmospherically, the game fucking blew me away. It's easily one of the most beautiful, immersive games I've ever played. A sequel with fun combat would be a dream come true.

    I gotta agree with this. The best parts of the game were when you weren't busy fighting for your life. I just didn't particularly care for the way combat handled. Maybe it's just me, but the controls always felt too floaty--never precise enough--to be effective when taking on a multitude of enemies. Mind you, I'm not saying it was completely horrible, but I did feel it could have benefited from tighter controls. And other than that, I did love the tension I experienced during every fight, especially once the world itself became your foe, often proving even more dangerous than the human variety.

    On a sidenote, I only played the first DLC (The Signal), and I wasn't all the thrilled by it. Is the second DLC any better?

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    Vexxan

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    #44  Edited By Vexxan

    Loved Alan Wake, it was my GOTY 2010. I still have to buy and play the DLCs thou.

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    RsistncE

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    #45  Edited By RsistncE

    I think it was hugely underrated when compared to other games that came out in 2010. It was definitely one of my top games of the year, and may very well be one of my favourite games of all time.

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    AndrewB

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    #46  Edited By AndrewB

    Agree and am irritated that they're wasting time with the Night Springs stuff that will sell even more poorly. Just work on and give me Alan Wake 2.

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    senorfuzzeh

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    #47  Edited By senorfuzzeh

    @fullmetal5550 said:

    I rented Alan's Wake and I thought it was good. If it was on PC I most likely would have bought it instead of rented it. Sucks they cancelled the PC version.

    Yeah almost every Microsoft exclusive makes it the PC. But I feel like this one played well on the Xbox.

    I agree it was only a rent, Too short. And I figured after so long of making they game they wouldn't have need to make a sequel.

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    MetalGearSunny

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    #48  Edited By MetalGearSunny

    Meh.

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    bananaz

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    #49  Edited By bananaz

    I wouldn't say it's that underrated, just not super well known. It wasn't an easy game to market or categorize, so it didn't have a ready-made pool of genre-specific fans to tap. It wasn't a known quantity, so playing it meant giving it a chance. I bought it for $60 and don't regret it, but I won't pretend I wasn't worried when I did. I had to take a chance on it.

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