by Jack Cahill
Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake had the misfortune of releasing on May 18th, 2010. Not only was this the very same release date as Rockstar Games’ highly anticipated and subsequent commercial smash hit, Red Dead Redemption, but it was also sandwiched between similarly larger, more attention-grabbing titles such as Electronic Arts’ Skate 3, Capcom’s Lost Planet 2, and Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy 2. This resulted in it falling under the radar of many gamers–not helped by its (at the time) nature as an Xbox 360 exclusive–and as such, sales for the first few weeks following its release were lacking compared to its contemporaries.
Eventually, however, its fanbase and commercial success grew as word-of-mouth surrounding the game was provided by the comparative few who played it at release, resulting in it steadily climbing over time. Before too long, Remedy Entertainment’s then-latest work obtained widespread critical acclaim, and over a decade on, it is still considered by many to be one of the best of the developers’ catalogue and of the seventh generation of home video games consoles overall, in part due to its multi-media approach to storytelling.
Premise
Alan Wake entails a supernatural horror story surrounding its titular protagonist, a brilliant but troubled writer who has been struggling to write for the last two years. At the behest of his wife, Alice, he engages in a vacation from their home of New York City to the small town of Bright Falls, Washington. Despite his wife’s encouragement, the broody urbanite Wake finds himself a fish out of water amongst the town’s friendly denizens (see Video 1). After the couple arrive at the lakeside cabin they will be occupying during their stay, Alice reveals that she secretly brought Wake’s typewriter along with them, hoping that the change of scenery will alleviate her husband’s writer’s block. Frustrated at his wife’s prodding, Wake storms out of the cabin for some air and time alone, only to find himself rushing back in upon hearing her scream. He finds her in the process of being abducted by an otherworldly force known as the Dark Presence, which drags her into the town’s most famous landmark, Cauldron Lake.
Diving in without hesitation to save her, Alan wakes within his totaled car, possessing no memory of what he later learns was a week since Alice’s abduction. While searching for aid, he encounters—and is forced to defend himself from—shadowy figures known as Taken, who are weakened by bright light and hostile to anyone and anything that isn’t themselves. Eventually, Wake arrives at a gas station and uses its phone to contact the authorities, only to be informed by the responding sheriff of Bright Falls, Sarah Breaker, that the cabin he and Alice arrived at is nonexistent. Knowing that local law enforcement would never believe of the supernatural events he witnessed, Alan Wake himself–with the help of his best friend and agent, Barry Wheeler–is determined to uncover the otherworldly mysteries surrounding the small town and rescue his wife from beneath Cauldron Lake.
Presentation
Alan Wake‘s narrative and level structure are stylized to resemble a television miniseries, possessing six “episodes” that not only possess the kind of plot twists and cliffhangers you’d expect from the average TV drama, but also include “Previously on…” segments before the beginning of each episode following the “pilot,” which catch the player up to speed on the important events prior (see Image 1).
In addition to its straightforward and overt narrative, Alan Wake also includes a more covert form of storytelling in the form of its Manuscript, a category of collectible items to be found throughout the game. Manuscript pages provide additional context and depth to the story of Alan Wake, such as revealing hidden details and history pertaining to the characters and setting, such as an otherwise friendly and perfectly pleasant deputy reeling from an previous unhappy marriage, or . In some instances, they can even reveal to the player plot-important events that have yet to occur. The prophetic nature of certain manuscript pages further hints at one of the game’s most important reveals, that being what is causing the supernatural circumstances surrounding Alan Wake and Bright Falls as a whole.
Tying into its homages to literature and literary elements, Alan Wake–not unlike Remedy Entertainment’s earlier titles, Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne–also possesses in-game narration provided its titular protagonist, voiced by Matthew Porretta and modeled after Ilkka Villi. Porretta’s narration usually focuses on giving the player insight into Wake’s thoughts, allowing them to better place themselves in his shoes. For those who would rather listen than read, Porretta also provides aloud reading for any and all manuscript pages the player finds.
Gameplay
The core mechanics of Alan Wake are very accessible and traditional by the standards of third-person shooters. The player is in full control of its titular protagonist, and gameplay is split between combat and exploration. The former sees the player face a collective known as the Taken (see Image 2), various individuals who have fallen victim to the Dark Presence’s control, exclusively wield melee weapons such as axes and clubs, and are always encountered in groups. In order to be felled, Wake must use his ever-present flashlight to erode a shield of shadow that encases them, after which they can be dispatched via a variety of obtainable firearms, such as a revolver handgun, a double-barreled shotgun, or a hunting rifle. They can also be neutralized using other sources of bright light, those being flashbang grenades, flares, or, the game’s most powerful weapon, a flare gun.
Regarding the latter element of Alan Wake‘s gameplay, Wake will be placed within a number of environments in and around the town of Bright Falls, most of which encourage the player to take in their surroundings for one reason or another. Doing so will provide insight into the setting and its history, as well as various forms of collectibles. Aside from the aforementioned manuscript pages, the player can also find coffee thermoses, TV sets, and radio shows.
Influences
In their crafting of Alan Wake‘s story and themes, Remedy Entertainment drew on a number of other fictional works pertaining to the horror genre. The most significant of which was David Lynch’s landmark television series, Twin Peaks (see Image 3). Twin Peaks originally ran from 1990 to 1991, before receiving a prequel film subtitled Fire Walk With Me in 1992, and further, a third season subtitled The Return in 2017, seven years after Alan Wake‘s release. Much like Alan Wake, it tells the tale of an episodic mystery surrounding a small town in the State of Washington, which is ultimately revealed to be the result of supernatural forces at play. Alan Wake‘s Triple D’s Oh Deer Diner aesthetically resembles the Double R Diner, the in-universe source of the game’s supernatural elements, the Dark Place, brings to mind the series’ Black Lodge, and the character of Robert Nightingale, a dangerously volatile special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who involves himself in the mystery, even reads like a corrupted copy of Twin Peaks‘ empathetic hero, Special Agent Dale Cooper — Especially given Remedy’s initial plan to make Agent Nightingale Alan Wake‘s other playable lead.
Aside from Twin Peaks, Alan Wake provides a number of allusions to the works of Stephen King. The game opens with a written quote from King himself, with Wake reciting “Nightmares exist outside of logic, and there’s little fun to be had in explanations; they’re antithetical to the poetry of fear.” In addition to its main premise of a writer being faced nightmarish circumstances being found in many of King’s works, the game contains references to The Shining through a Taken Wake encounters early on recreating the famous “Here’s Johnny!” scene from the 1980 film and a later hedge maze he must navigate, an in-game car resembling the titular Christine, and the worldbuilding detail of Wake having previously retired his bestselling series of books by killing off its protagonist brings to mind Paul Sheldon of Misery fame.
Reportedly, King was gifted with copies of the game as thanks for allowing the use of his quote and providing a source of inspiration, although he was unable to play them on account of not owning an Xbox 360.
Supplementary Materials
The release of Alan Wake was accompanied by a number of connected works. One of which was Bright Falls, a six-episode, live-action miniseries made available on the web in the weeks leading up to the game’s release (see Video 2). It is a prequel set shortly before Wake and his wife’s arrival to Bright Falls, following intrepid reporter, Jake Fischer, and his arrival within the town to interview resident psychologist, Dr. Emil Hartman, on his latest book. The longer Fischer stays in the town, however, the more susceptible he becomes to troubling events, such as blackouts and his own behavior becoming increasingly and unconsciously violent. The webseries was shot in Oregon and Washington to best match the setting of the game, and includes live actors portraying members of the in-game cast such as the aforementioned Hartman, Oh Deer Diner waitress Rose, radio host Pat Maine, and even Alan Wake via in-story TV news.
A number of Alan Wake-related books have also been released. The original collector’s edition of the game included a 144-page metafictional book titled The Alan Wake Files, which–as its name suggests–expands upon the in-game story. The contents of the book are a compilation made by Clay Steward, a character within the world of Alan Wake who was compelled to write the book after having nightmares in which the titular character is present. It contains an autobiographical preface, the field and interview notes of FBI Agent Nightingale, six manuscript pages, excerpts from the works of both Alan Wake and Dr. Emil Hartman, and informative articles on the game’s events. The book even includes rave reviews from fictional sources on the back, further enhancing its authentic image.
2011, the year following the game’s release, also saw the release of a pair of graphic novels titled Psycho Thriller and Night Springs, respectively. Both were written by Sam Lake and Mikko Rautalahti, two of the game’s three writers and the former being Creative Director of Remedy Entertainment. Psycho Thriller follows Dr. Emil Hartman as he is pursued by an underling who has become Taken in the aftermath of the events of Episode 4: The Truth. Night Springs, meanwhile, follows Frank Breaker–former sheriff of Bright Falls and father of its current sheriff, Sarah Breaker–as he comes to the aid of the town’s residents during the events of Episode 5: The Clicker.
Reception & Legacy
Commercially, Alan Wake was initially lukewarm, no doubt a result of its aforementioned released around the same time as Red Dead Redemption and the latter, unlike the former, being available on both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. For comparison, where Red Dead Redemption reached one-and-a-half million in sold units in two weeks, Alan Wake achieved a comparatively paltry one-hundred-and-forty-five thousand within the same timespan (source?). Critically, however, reception was positive almost entirely across the board, with the majority of praise going to its visuals, narrative, and atmosphere. Time Magazine even awarded it the #1 spot of their Top 10 Games of 2010, with it beating out not only Red Dead Redemption, but other more conventionally popular titles such as Halo: Reach, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Mass Effect 2. This critical acclaim quickly resulted in an uptick in sales, and by December of 2011, Alan Wake sold a total of 1.4 million copies.
With their latest work finding both critical and ultimately commercial success, Remedy Entertainment found their preexisting intentions for a sequel greatly encouraged, though not before releasing two “special episodes” as downloadable content per Microsoft’s wishes, which they intended to serve as a bridge to the hypothetical Alan Wake 2. In time, Remedy revealed Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, a short, standalone title that served as a spin-off rather than a proper sequel (see Image 4). Released in 2012 via Xbox LIVE Arcade, it followed its titular protagonist after the events of Alan Wake, in which he finds himself pursuing Mr. Scratch, a villainous doppelgänger created by the Dark Presence. Compared to the first game taking after the works of David Lynch and Stephen King, American Nightmare is if Alan Wake was inspired more by those of George A. Romero and Quentin Tarantino (specifically Dawn of the Dead and From Dusk till Dawn, respectively), placing more emphasis on its refined combat mechanics and overall gameplay than it does story. Though warmly received overall, fans and critics’ desire for a proper sequel remained.
Alan Wake would continue to influence Remedy Entertainment’s following titles. 2016 saw the release of Quantum Break for the Xbox One and Microsoft Windows, an action-adventure game with a thematic focus on time travel. It originally intended to serve as Alan Wake 2, but ultimately became a new intellectual property at the behest of Microsoft, who wanted to diversify their lineup of games and one with interactive storytelling. In July of 2019, Remedy Entertainment were able to fully acquire the rights to Alan Wake from Microsoft, and August of that same year further saw the release of Control for the PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox One, which similarly revolved around supernatural phenomena and the dangers they pose towards reality. Later-released downloadable content for the game, titled AWE, would confirm that Alan Wake and Control take place in the same universe, and further hint at what has become of the former’s titular protagonist in the time that has passed since the events of it and those of the latter game.
With Control proving to be the commercial success Remedy required to fund development of future games, all the pieces were in place; the long-awaited sequel to Alan Wake would finally see the light of day, being released on October 27th, 2023, over thirteen years after its predecessor (see Video 3).
Through combining inspiration from multiple beloved sources and possessing an innovative, metafictional narrative that spans multiple mediums, Alan Wake grew into a gaming icon on par with Remedy Entertainment’s previous success, Max Payne, cultivating a devoted following in spite of the comparatively small resources behind its development. The passion Remedy Entertainment put into the game and its world was returned tenfold, and that support is what helped nurture the ingenuity in game development that led to Quantum Break and Control, cumulating in Alan Wake‘s grand return being made possible a decade on. The extraordinary depth behind what many might dismiss as a niche action-horror game can be summed up by the game’s final words, exclaimed by Alan Wake himself:
“It’s not a lake. It’s an ocean.”
