PC version:

This is a true, proper PC game through and through. It performs amazingly well. The game controls just as well on Keyboard & Mouse as on controller. The game is highly optimized, performing great on a variety of PCs. There is an in-game preset that varies from Very Low to Very High, as well as multiple settings. The game can even be customized with shortcut commands for various effects to be turned off or to be run on special resolutions. The game on max settings looks mighty better than its console equivalents. There are better textures, better shadows, the light shafts generated by different light sources are active at all times, compared to only story sections at night in the console version and there is the draw distance is higher. Plus the framerate is unlocked of course. The game also knows to use FXAA, and AA, between 4 to 8, or 16 (forgot if its 8 or 16). There is even a FoV (field of view) slider. It also knows how to properly use 2-4 cores (maybe more ?).


Game:

Alan Wake is great. It's a product of love and care, with attention to detail. The main thing going for it is its story. If you are one of those people who play games for their story, you owe it to yourself to play Alan Wake. It's exactly one of those games which you cannot stop playing because you want to see what happens next. Of course, you wouldn't be so engaged if the game wasn't dripping with atmosphere. You actually don't need me telling you this. Just look at the screenshots from Steam. Also, the voice acting? Some of the best in business. The main character, Alan Wake is one the better voiced characters ever made. Especially as he narrates his own adventure from 2 different perspective in the game.

From a gameplay perspective, it is engaging and dynamic. You actually uses a flashlight to either kill enemies or make them weak enough to be killed. The combat is frenetic. You are always surrounded, enemies don't wait up on you like say, Assassin's Creed and you constantly need to be dodging, checking your surroundings and monitoring how much ammo and battery life your flashlight has left.

I finished the main campaign in about 18-19 hours on Hard and then I played another 2 pieces of DLC for another 2 hours. The game is not hard. Just don't go guns blazing and be a good shot. There is one section in the 3rd act that may prove a bit difficult because you are sort of helpless, but besides that, I recommend starting on Hard for a proper experience.


The bad:

Not that many bad things I have to say about this game. Actually all of these might not even bother most of you.
• I experienced one or two crashes and maybe 2 bugs. So the game is not 100% technically perfect. Maybe 95%.
• Consider this as you will, but this games has no ... bosses, not really anyway.
• While the games is great as a whole and has some surprising elements that happen from time to time, it lacks some especially WOW element. There are maybe 3 set pieces, but they're not quite "WOAH DUDE".


Collectibles:

The game has 7 different types of collectibles.
• 3 are just for the sake of it (I didn't do them).
• another one are basically stashes of ammunition, indicated in the game like the stashes in Half-Life 2.
• another one are Radios. These are actually quite fun because they provide backstory on the game and fuel the universe's lore.
• second to last are TVs, which can be powered on and Alan can watch an episode of TV show closely resembling Twin Peaks. They are short, 1-4 minutes in length but are quite interesting indeed.
• the last ones, and most important, are Manuscript Pages. These foreshadow events that have not yet happened in the game. Some may consider these collectibles spoiler-ish, but they are intended to increase tension as you are keep on waiting for events to unfold. Of course, the presence of these Pages mean that Alan survives the events of the game one way or another, but they create incentive to explore. 50% of them are foreshadowing, 25% contemplative & character building and 25% backstory.


Replayability:

The replayability is decent. The game has 4 difficulty levels and the last one is unlocked after finishing the game once. In Nightmare difficulty (fitting name for the game's theme) there are Pages to collect that further expand the background of the story. The game is quite long as I said so maybe you won't want to replay right away.

Now, the STEAM achievements, for the people that care. The game has a lot of achievements for a singleplayer game and a surprising number of achievements for its included 2 DLCs. Most of these are story moments, but there are quite a few that needed a conscious effort. Actually most of the achievements for the DLCs need a conscious effort. And there are of course 16 achievements for finding every collectible in the game, main + DLCs.

[h1]RATING : 9/10[/h1] [b]PC version:[/b] This is a true, proper PC game through and through. It performs amazingly well. The game controls just as well on Keyboard & Mouse as on controller. The game is highly optimized, performing great on a variety of PCs. There is an in-game preset that varies from Very Low to Very High, as well as multiple settings. The game can even be customized with shortcut commands for various effects to be turned off or to be run on special resolutions. The game on max settings looks mighty better than its console equivalents. There are better textures, better shadows, the light shafts generated by different light sources are active at all times, compared to only story sections at night in the console version and there is the draw distance is higher. Plus the framerate is unlocked of course. The game also knows to use FXAA, and AA, between 4 to 8, or 16 (forgot if its 8 or 16). There is even a FoV (field of view) slider. It also knows how to properly use 2-4 cores (maybe more ?). [b]Game:[/b] Alan Wake is great. It's a product of love and care, with attention to detail. The main thing going for it is its story. If you are one of those people who play games for their story, you owe it to yourself to play Alan Wake. It's exactly one of those games which you cannot stop playing because you want to see what happens next. Of course, you wouldn't be so engaged if the game wasn't dripping with atmosphere. You actually don't need me telling you this. Just look at the screenshots from Steam. Also, the voice acting? Some of the best in business. The main character, Alan Wake is one the better voiced characters ever made. Especially as he narrates his own adventure from 2 different perspective in the game. From a gameplay perspective, it is engaging and dynamic. You actually uses a flashlight to either kill enemies or make them weak enough to be killed. The combat is frenetic. You are always surrounded, enemies don't wait up on you like say, Assassin's Creed and you constantly need to be dodging, checking your surroundings and monitoring how much ammo and battery life your flashlight has left. I finished the main campaign in about 18-19 hours on Hard and then I played another 2 pieces of DLC for another 2 hours. The game is not hard. Just don't go guns blazing and be a good shot. There is one section in the 3rd act that may prove a bit difficult because you are sort of helpless, but besides that, I recommend starting on Hard for a proper experience. [b]The bad:[/b] Not that many bad things I have to say about this game. Actually all of these might not even bother most of you. • I experienced one or two crashes and maybe 2 bugs. So the game is not 100% technically perfect. Maybe 95%. • Consider this as you will, but this games has no ... bosses, not really anyway. • While the games is great as a whole and has some surprising elements that happen from time to time, it lacks some especially WOW element. There are maybe 3 set pieces, but they're not quite "WOAH DUDE". [b]Collectibles:[/b] The game has 7 different types of collectibles. • 3 are just for the sake of it (I didn't do them). • another one are basically stashes of ammunition, indicated in the game like the stashes in Half-Life 2. • another one are Radios. These are actually quite fun because they provide backstory on the game and fuel the universe's lore. • second to last are TVs, which can be powered on and Alan can watch an episode of TV show closely resembling Twin Peaks. They are short, 1-4 minutes in length but are quite interesting indeed. • the last ones, and most important, are Manuscript Pages. [spoiler]These foreshadow events that have not yet happened in the game. Some may consider these collectibles spoiler-ish, but they are intended to increase tension as you are keep on waiting for events to unfold. Of course, the presence of these Pages mean that Alan survives the events of the game one way or another, but they create incentive to explore. 50% of them are foreshadowing, 25% contemplative & character building and 25% backstory.[/spoiler] [b]Replayability:[/b] The replayability is decent. The game has 4 difficulty levels and the last one is unlocked after finishing the game once. In Nightmare difficulty (fitting name for the game's theme) there are Pages to collect that further expand the background of the story. The game is quite long as I said so maybe you won't want to replay right away. Now, the STEAM achievements, for the people that care. The game has a lot of achievements for a singleplayer game and a surprising number of achievements for its included 2 DLCs. Most of these are story moments, but there are quite a few that needed a conscious effort. Actually most of the achievements for the DLCs need a conscious effort. And there are of course 16 achievements for finding every collectible in the game, main + DLCs.