# Alan Wake PC **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 17, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090 "2012-02-17T02:34:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/1 "2012-02-17T02:34:38Z")
So it came out (finally) on PC today. I never followed it really, once it was announced it would not be released on PC (hate you Microsoft!) and had long forgotten about it. But I heard good things: Everyone said it had a great story, and a lot of people compared it to heavy rain (which I’ve never played but I surmise it’s a type of adventure game). Someone I know also compared it to Uncharted. Which I now think was pure BS. Jeebus, I thought this was an action adventure game, and instead I’m greeted by survival horror! God damn it, there was a reason why I couldn’t play Amnesia for more than 30 minutes! I’ve already screamed 3 times, scaring my wife half to death. Any tips for a scardy cat? The story DOES seem pretty interesting so far. I feel like I’m one of those Japanese horror flicks. I’m just afraid I’m gonna chicken out and not finish the game. Damn it, I should of looked up reviews first. Anyone else pick it up? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/2 "2012-02-17T02:50:37Z")
Played it on XBox when it first came out. It starts out pretty good, but if you’ve played it for about two hours or so, you’ve already seen pretty much everything it has to offer. The story is okay by video game standards, but really not that impressive. Comparing it to Uncharted doesn’t make any sense at all, unless the comparison was, “This game is absolutely nothing like Uncharted.” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/3 "2012-02-17T15:50:51Z")
I finished the Xbox version a few months ago. There are a few “jump” moments, but when you start thinking of it as a third-person shooter rather than survival horror, it loses some of its shock value. As for tips: use the “cinematic dodge” often. You can make Taken back off by sort of “flashing” your light at them: a quick high-beam tap, and they’ll cover their eyes and back away from you, giving you time to run. Which is another thing: you don’t have to fight everyone. Sometimes running to the next safe haven is the best strategy. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/4 "2012-02-17T16:31:59Z")
Yahtzee’s review of it is pretty much all you need to see. The game is…okay. As survival horror it’s sub par. The story is acceptable and derivative without being particularly striking. The combat is decent without being exceptional. I didn’t find it particularly scary, myself, though. Compared with, say, System Shock II this game hasn’t gotten out of the starting gate. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/5 "2012-02-21T00:38:05Z")
Apparently the PC version is selling well. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/115918-Alan-Wake-Rockets-Into-the-Black](http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/115918-Alan-Wake-Rockets-Into-the-Black) > [@](#): > > The PC version of Alan Wake recovered its complete development and marketing budget in just 48 hours. > [@](#): > > “We are very happy with the sales and hitting #1 on Steam at launch was nothing short of amazing,” Remedy Executive Vice President Aki Järvilehto wrote on the Alan Wake forums. “We recouped our development and marketing expenses during the first 48 hours. And yes, we’re certainly very excited about PC.” I’m not surprised. Alan Wake seems just like a game PC players would love. Maybe this will teach publishers not to treat the PC-market as an afterthought. Probably not. ---
**Author:** ![Vic\_2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9fc29f/32.png) [@Vic\_2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vic_2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/6 "2013-10-13T03:50:45Z")
Alan Wake is such an amazing game! Definitely in my top 10. I’ve played it six times now, just for the combat and atmosphere. But the story never ceases to be intriguing. It starts off that way, naturally, but then even after you beat the game it goes even deeper. My friends and I still talk about our different interpretations of it all. If you don’t buy, at least rent it. This is a game you’ll never forget! ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/7 "2013-10-13T04:48:02Z")
Played it on Xbox, and it was a pretty boring game. It needed to mention Stephen King more. I never quite finished it because I had pretty much zero interest in doing so. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/8 "2013-10-13T09:13:48Z")
By contrast it is one of the few games I’ve finished. Different strokes I guess. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/9 "2013-10-13T22:48:14Z")
I too was one of the ones who played it for a few hours, didn’t like the gameplay. What i do remember however was being struck by the games engine, especially on the ferry ride at the opening as you approach the town and just thinking “You could make the most awesome HP Lovecraft game with this”. ---
**Author:** ![Vic\_2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9fc29f/32.png) [@Vic\_2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vic_2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/10 "2013-10-14T07:35:01Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > By contrast it is one of the few games I’ve finished. Different strokes I guess. Yeah, I guess so. And it’s hard to put into words just what the difference between AW fans and AW critics is. All I know is I played it not having any specific expectations and the atmosphere just took me in! ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/11 "2013-10-14T08:42:46Z")
> [@Vic\_2.0](#): > > Yeah, I guess so. And it’s hard to put into words just what the difference between AW fans and AW critics is. All I know is I played it not having any specific expectations and the atmosphere just took me in! Yeah, I knew nothing about it. All I can say is that it was relatively short, I liked the atmosphere, and I wanted to see what happened. 99% of the games I play, I get about half way through, have forgotten what I’m fighting for, and the basic gameplay mechanic is not enough to keep me interested. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/12 "2013-10-14T23:55:58Z")
> [@Vic\_2.0](#): > > Yeah, I guess so. And it’s hard to put into words just what the difference between AW fans and AW critics is. All I know is I played it not having any specific expectations and the atmosphere just took me in! I was going to say I didn’t have any expectations going into it, but on second thought, that’s not true. In the run-up to the release, they released a series of short, live action films to advertise the game. The shorts were wonderfully creepy, with a great _Twin Peaks_ vibe to them. And, near as I can remember, were wholly unconnected to anything that actually happened in the game. So, I spent a good portion of the game looking for themes that had been introduced in the shorts, hoping that they’d be resolved in the game, only to find that the themes didn’t even exist in the game in the first place. So, that was a little disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/13 "2013-10-15T00:28:20Z")
The mood was great, but the action bits were really annoying to me, to the extent that I gave up on the game about half an hour in, just barely past the tutorial part. ---
**Author:** ![Vic\_2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9fc29f/32.png) [@Vic\_2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vic_2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-wake-pc/613090/14 "2013-10-15T13:13:43Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > The mood was great, but the action bits were really annoying to me, to the extent that I gave up on the game about half an hour in, just barely past the tutorial part. Heck, that’s one of the things I liked the **most** about the game. But yeah, I’d say the combat immediately following the tutorial is a good representation of the rest of the game’s combat. It does introduce new weapons and new enemies, but you get a lot more of that first setup than anything else. So it was probably a good thing you called it quits.