Alan Wake Remastered Review - IGN

Alan Wake Remastered is a fairly inessential upgrade for existing fans, but this moody mystery is still well worth a look for newcomers.

[NeoGamer232]

I played thru this on 360. Kind of disappointed they didn't do more to improve the remaster. Also extremely disappointed they did not include the American Nightmare story.

Essentially, since this is new to PS I thought they would've went all out on the remaster. But it looks like they just cheaped out and did the minimum to get sales.

[annoyedgamer]

No American Nightmare is a deal breaker and its exclusion wreaks of greed.

[Firebird360]

If sales are good, I'd bet anything American nightmare will be released later. For an added cost of course

[Neonridr]

do they include the 2 DLCs though?

[NeoGamer232]

Yes

[Neonridr]

@NeoGamer232 - I agree it should have included American Nightmare, but that's sort of an offshoot anyways. I'm glad they at least give the 2 DLCs as they were fantastic.

[NeoGamer232]

@Neonridr
American Nightmare was more story and I found the game controls to be tighter and more refined.

Any Alan Wake Remaster should have the entire Alan Wake story that was on 360.

[Amplitude]

Wait it doesnt include American Nightmare? lmao
I was gonna buy it on PC until i found out it was bloody Epic exclusive *pukes*.

Then was gonna pick it up for PS5 but nah that's just ridiculous. What a shame. Game is amazing though and if any of y'all have never played it i still recommend it <3

[darthv72]

The more people can play it, that passed up on it years ago, the better the odds that the sequel will finally get made.

[CaptainHenry916]

The sequel is already in development. I believe it's funded by Epic

[SCW1982]

A sequel to Control is in development.

[CaptainHenry916]

And Alan Wake 2

https://www.videogameschron...

https://www.eurogamer.net/a...

[DeadManMMX]

i actually hate when they rereview games from another era then complain about how antiquated their core systems are. All for the clicks.

[Axonometri]

It's IGN...

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

It's not just IGN, PC Gamer also did that with Diablo 2 Resurrected.

[TheDoomedGuy]

They shouldn't be reviewing. Self proclaimed gaming journalists and experts in the field...yet nobody voted for them and they constantly show lack of expertise and professionalism.

[melons]

I also hate how annoyed people get at IGN reviews. Every time their scores are one or two points to the left or right of the average, people lose their absolute minds. Baffling.

[MadLad]

It's because IGN many times have weird takes on games, and when there are much more in-depth reviewers like ACG whose reviews often don't show up on Metacritic, while IGN actually weighs heavier than other sites when affecting the metric, it becomes a problem.

Even with this review, they're more critiquing a more than decade old game still being that same game, just prettier.
That's what people wanted.

I've never seen people asking to rework any of the core of the title. Honestly, when the game comes up, many say it's one of their favorite games of that generation and they want a sequel.

And then they criticize the more grounded combat, in what is essentially a survival horror game, for not being more bombastic, and compare it to the combat in their power fantasy that is Control.

Don't get me wrong, I couldn't care less about Metacritic, but it does affect public reception for the average consumer. Games that didn't review very well are some of my favorite games all the same.
But when IGN's 7 means more than everyone else's 9 or 10, there are issues to be had.

[1Victor]

I agree melons I also wonder if that is the same score they gave the original as it would be a disservice to the community to score a remastered game lower than the original 🤷🏿

[GhostofHorizon]

I'm personally split on the issue. This particular version of the game just came out, they could have gone in and cleaned up some of the rough edges, they chose not to, it's fair to ding them for it.

I think it's useful for the people jumping into the game right now to be aware that the game is potentially dated in some parts because we've had some amazing remasters recently. They also didn't slap a full price tag on it so that's also something to keep in mind.

Still looking forward to jumping into this though.

[UnSelf]

They reviewed a REMASTER. There are major implications involved with that

[NeoGamer232]

If you are remastering a game for a newer era isn't it also important that you remaster the flaws that were in the gameplay and were annoying to gamers?

There are several things they could've done to bring Alan Wake forward. It is well documented that Alan Wake was overly ambitious for 360. Why didn't they spend the time to improve the core systems as part of the remaster but still keeping true to the game it was? The answer is simply money. By taking a minimalist approach they are going to make more money.

[CrimsonWing69]

Y’know I always thought the whole “IGN only gives 7’s now” to be hyperbole, but uh, here we are.

Also, unless I’m hearing things did this reviewer say, “Alan Wake Remastered is more of a Remaster than a Remake,”

Because I still can’t figure out how the hell anyone gets a Remaster confused with Remakes at this point in time… especially when it’s in the damn title.

[sourOG]

I never finished it on 360 so I’m hyped to jump back in.

[MadLad]

Kind of a shame they didn't include America Nightmare, even though they really switched up the tone, and it definitely felt like the small budget expansion it was.

The DLC they included definitely felt more like a continuation of the story than American Nightmare did.
I'm being told a sequel is in the works, so maybe they're simply omitting it as to not be cannon. Though I wouldn't be surprised if it pops up as dlc down the road, which would be crappy.

[sourOG]

I think that’s on gamepass. Is it a short dlc? I’ll play it tonight while I’m waiting for the remaster to unlock.

[MadLad]

Haven't played it in years.

I know it was fairly short. How Long To Beat has it sitting at about 4 hours for the average player.

But it was less of a DLC, more of a standalone story within the universe. Before it came out on PC it was it's own Xbox Live Arcade release.

[sourOG]

I will check it out thanks

[KingofBandits]

Can't wait to play this again. it was easily one of my top 360 games and top games of that gen. Glad to see it back, especially if this means more games in the series.

[Orchard]

Still pumped to play through this again, despite the mixed reviews.

I would’ve loved if they completely remade it and included American NM too - but the game is great regardless.

[hiawa23]

I am buying as I have been patiently waiting for the 360 game to receive the X1X, Series consoles 4K update. Since it has not, this is the next best thing..

[brewin]

I'm just happy more people get to experience the story! One of my top 10 all time favorite game stories. If you're a fan of the original Silent Hill, this is a must play! I'm buying in hopes they make a sequel.