PopMatters: The game begins well enough by introducing us to Alan Wake, a somewhat pretentious and irritable author with a bad case of writer’s block, along with his wife, Alice, as they arrive for a much needed vacation in the scenic small town of Bright Falls.
Alan Wake 2 continues the writer's story, 13 years later.
Remedy has Alan Wake merch on sale, including a pretty blue thermos. Unfortunately, things haven’t gone according to plan, and many players who want a thermos find themselves without one, though it does appear that Remedy is attempting to fix things. Nevertheless, it has resulted in a lot of upset, illustrating just how much the thermos means to Alan Wake fans.
"I really, really, desperately wanted him to start it off."
The story borrowed HEAVILY from the King novel "The Dark Half" anyway. Figured there'd be some sort of lawsuit but seems King was in on and ok with it.
To me it's a mystery how anyone can award such a well-made and overall great game a score lower than 8/10.