August 12, 2025, marks the 15th anniversary ofAlan Wake. At the time, this game had to be one of the most interesting Xbox 360 exclusives, looking like no other game releasing. The original title remains a phenomenal experience to this day, being one of thebest games on the Xbox 360with its distinct visual look, amazing story, and fun third-person gameplay.Alan Wakestarted a universe of its own for Remedy Entertainment.
Games likeAlan Wake’s American NightmareandControlexpanded the story with added details, butAlan Wake 2pushed things to the max.Alan Wake 2ended up beingone of the highest-rated games of 2023, and for good reason. Even going back toAlan Wake 1after all these years,it still feels special, unlike any other game I’ve played.
Alan Wake’s Story Is Gripping
A Blast From Start To Finish
Probably the most notable aspect ofAlan Wake, besides its visual style, is the story. Very much inspired byTwin Peaks,Alan Wakefollows a writer of the same name as he soon enters the town of Bright Falls. His wife, Alice, soon vanishes, andAlan is placed right into a horror novel he had seemingly written. The opening hours are incredibly hooking, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t see through this game to the end.
Whenever a manuscript page explains something’s about to go down, it gives that powerful sense of dread.
Alan Wake’sstory is good because it doesn’t fall into the trap of many psychological horror games, where the danger is only metaphorical. Nothing’s actually trying to kill you.The danger inAlan Wakeis realwith the Dark Presence. The universe and how Alan needs to overcome all these obstacles feels very Stephen King-esque, with King even mentioned several times. This especially holds truein the dark ending, which is expanded upon in the DLC packs.
Further games in theAlan Wakeuniverse are fantastic, but one nagging issue has to be the DLC content. The DLC forControlandAlan Wake 2didn’t feel special, with few new creative areas to explore.However,Alan Wake 1did this right, giving a satisfying yet open ending. The Signal and The Writer have that “wow” factor, with wild areas to go through, living up to that psychological horror feel. Some parts in The Writer feel likeOnly Up13 years before that game was released.
A big part of the story is the manuscript page collectibles. These have to bemy favorite collectible in any game. The manuscript pages, written by Alan himself, are all voiced and give more details on what’s going on in the story, including what’s to come. Whenever a manuscript page explains something’s about to go down, it gives that powerful sense of dread. There are even manuscript pages exclusive to Nightmare mode, and this was one of the first games on the 360 I actually played on the hardest difficulty due to this feature.
Alan Wake Has Both Style And Substance
Got’s The Look And The Touch
Going back toAlan Wake, 15 years later,the visuals still blow me away. I played the Xbox 360 game through backward compatibility on an Xbox Series X, and it still doesn’t look like any other game out there. The harsh blacks and bright white lights combined with the Series X HDR implementation create a visual style that will never become dated. Even the visuals of the DLC packs are phenomenal because Remedy reuses areas from the base game, but the world is now completely distorted with a blurry haze out of a nightmare.
Enemies often come out of nowhere, Randy Orton-style, and this proves effective for a horror game.
I would recommend playing the original game over the remastered version for that authentic feel.Alan Wake Remasteredloses a bit of the original art style, in my opinion, plus Alan’s new face looks off. Not only doesAlan Wakelook gorgeous, but it plays surprisingly well. The third-person shooting feels great with satisfying guns, nice slow-motion after killing the last enemy, and a neat dodge mechanic essential for those no-death DLC runs.
One thing that’s refreshing after playingAlan Wake 2is that enemy encounters are much more abrupt and surprising. Enemies often come out of nowhere, Randy Orton-style, which proves effective for a horror game.Alan Wake 2, while having a much better audio design, has enemies often in plain view,so it’s not as scary in that aspect. The ending of The Writer DLC led to much excitement about a sequel, but for a while, it seemed like it would never come.
The Long Legacy Of Alan Wake
AfterAlan Wake, there wasAlan Wake’s American Nightmare, an Xbox Live Arcade title that’s more of a spin-off than a true sequel. The titlewas incredible, with superior combat to its predecessor, but it’s clear this wasn’t the game fans wanted. They wanted an actual sequel, but it took 11 years to come to life. In the meantime, there wasQuantum Break,a very underrated Xbox exclusive, and thenControlin 2019.
LikeAlan Wake,Controlhas a phenomenal art design that’ll blow you away. This gamehad ties toAlan Wake, which wasconfirmed to take place in the same universe in the second DLC pack. These added clues and details to what was going on in theAlan Wakestory were awesome for long-time fans, andAlan Wake 2finally came to fruition in 2023.
Alan Wake continues his journey in the Dark Place while introducing a new playable character, Saga Anderson. The second title has one ofthe best stories in horror gaming, which will be analyzed for decades. However, I still love the original and prefer it gameplay-wise.
Alan Wake 1nailed theResident Evil 4third-person action feel, whileAlan Wake 2tried to emulate modernRE, and I don’t think Remedy pulled it off very well. The survival horror gameplay isn’t even in the same league as modernResident Evil, and Remedy’s third-person action roots are very much attributed to the original’s fun factor. I still thinkAlan Wake 2is better overall. However, in terms of which game I’d rather play, I would pickAlan Wake 1, and that’s a testament to how Remedy perfectly nailed this 2010 Xbox 360 classic.
