The Alan Wake We Never Got to Play

Despite an intriguing premise and impressive technology, Remedy's follow-up to Max Payne was downscaled from a sprawling open world horror game to what we got with Alan Wake. We lost the original story, open world, survival horror aspects, and the ability to explore Bright Falls during the day. Ultimately, these compromises saved the game from cancellation, but evolved this "interactive Twin Peaks" into a less ambitious, linear 3rd-person shooter. I'll be sharing my own thoughts on how the game wasted its massive potential. Included are references to other works for some perspective, like Silent Hill 2, In the Mouth of Madness, Deadly Premonition, and even Midnight Mass. I hope you find my break-up letter to a series and developer I've known and loved for years, enjoyable, or at least compelling. — MUSIC CREDITS THE EVIL WITHIN 2 Soundtrack by Masatoshi Yanagi SILENT HILL 2 Soundtrack by Akira Yamaoka DEADLY PREMONITION Soundtrack by Riyou Kinugasa & Hiromi Mizutani ALAN WAKE’S AMERICAN NIGHTMARE Soundtrack by Petri Alanko Music licensed through EPIDEMIC SOUND: 'Dissolve Decay Love' by Ave Air 'Loss and Love' by Amaranth Cove 'To Dark' by Mochas 'Mysteries of the Forest' by Calm Shores 'Arriving in Rain' by Kikoru 'A New Light' by Ave Air — SOURCES “Alan Wake’s Narrative Deserves Better Than Its Gameplay” https://medium.com/@dyllongraham/alan-wakes-narrative-deserves-better-than-its-gameplay-mild-spoilers-365a339d1c20 War Stories: Alan Wake’s transformation emerged from a two-month “sauna” https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/05/war-stories-alan-wakes-transformation-emerged-from-a-two-month-sauna/ Sam Lake / Quantum Break https://www.vice.com/en/article/mvxdqa/quantum-break-looks-like-the-superhero-gaming-surprise-of-2016-449 Unseen64 beta version insight https://www.unseen64.net/2011/04/06/alan-wake-beta-analysis/ IGN’s account of X06 demo: https://www.ign.com/articles/2006/09/29/x06-alan-wake-eyes-on Insightful forum post about Alan Wake’s flaws https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16849705230A14963200&page=0#comment-18 Control Wiki https://control.fandom.com/wiki/Control_Wiki — FOOTAGE High resolution screenshots from early development: https://vandal.elespanol.com/loquepudoser/alan-wake-dejando-un-mundo-atras Alan Wake Remastered 100% Cinematic Walkthrough by patologTV https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL61FH1Fo4C7GsJrYqJ29Dmdndq3qi3zER How Alan Wake Was Rebuilt 3 Years Into Development | War Stories | Ars Technica https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoHkGDu0_Hw Remedy's Sam Lake addresses Alan Wake fans | Game Informer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5CRjoQKyY8 Alan Wake 2 footage by WoW Quests https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MviXzxlURs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DypxhNbSDOw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w9_nqdsdEg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rLcFFkVSZw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZH-_XXmh68 Max Payne gameplay by MK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqhwuGxCDPM The Evil Within 2 gameplay by Gaming Harry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYycGATQwo4 Silent Hill 2 gameplay by Loopy Longplays https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGvY6JO23r4 Alone in the Dark (2008) gameplay by ShadowRoger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orv-W-51dKs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YzHiNpCAII Control gameplay by patalogTV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_BjIruiX1w&list=PL61FH1Fo4C7FrCeKHLTrxH7chTF7ZbCu7&index=2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qlWsy3uYj0&list=PL61FH1Fo4C7FrCeKHLTrxH7chTF7ZbCu7&index=3 Gears of War gameplay by Robert Mannion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvMvrzVrH3w Quantum Break gameplay by LetUsC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X40fBkDLHU #AlanWake #TwinPeaks #RemedyEntertainment ---------------- PATREON ► https://www.patreon.com/IndigoGaming BECOME A YOUTUBE MEMBER ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTRohxutThBffdcP3H6O0Zg/join SUBSCRIBESTAR ► https://www.subscribestar.com/indigogaming KO-FI ► https://ko-fi.com/indigogaming TWITTER ► https://twitter.com/TheIndigoGaming LIVESTREAMS ► https://www.youtube.com/c/IndigoGamingArchive TWITCH ► http://www.twitch.tv/indigogamingchannel DISCORD ► https://discord.gg/j98gDah