Alan Wake Remastered Review: Horrible Horror On-The-Go

Before Remedy Entertainment came out with the award-winning Control, they developed a horror game with the name Alan Wake all the way back in 2010 exclusively for the Xbox 360. Fast forward to 2021: the team at d3t remastered this classic title on modern-day consoles to generally favorable reviews. Well, it’s 2022 now, Halloween is right around the corner, and Alan Wake Remastered has suddenly shadow-dropped its way onto the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, even though it’s a native port, it looks incredibly rough and performs significantly worse than its other console counterparts.

The Complete Package

For those who don’t know what Alan Wake is, it’s a narrative-driven horror shooter where you play as the titular Alan Wake. Wake is a thriller novelist suffering from writer’s block, going on vacation with his wife to the fictional town of Bright Falls, Washington. His wife soon disappears, and he is set on a journey to uncover the mystery behind her disappearance while unraveling the truths of the town. It is set in the same universe as Control, and playing through it will provide more insight into the overall lore as a whole.

What’s nice about the Remastered version is that it also includes the two story expansions: The Signal and The Writer. You are seeing 10-12 hours for just the base game with an additional 3 hours for the DLCs. That’s a lot of content bundled up into a cohesive package. Another nice bonus is the added commentary track by Sam Lake, the creative director. It’s not much, but hearing his thought process on the overall development is interesting.

A Narrative Driven Horror Delight

Alan Wake plays in the third person and is divided into multiple chapters, much like that of an actual book. You carry around a flashlight that you use to weaken creatures that lurk among the shadows, that you can then use your firearms to finish them once and for all. While not in combat with ghoulish entities, you are free to go off the beaten path to explore and find hidden collectibles, tools, and weapons. You’re going to wish you found the shotgun and rifle when you are cornered by horrors equipped with only a lowly pistol. Unfortunately, there is no gyro aiming on the Switch version. Sprinkle in some chase sequences and puzzles, and that encompasses what you can expect gameplay-wise.

There are three difficulty options offered, so those who want a challenge or relaxing experience can choose to do so. What made the original title so great was the chilling narrative it was attempting to deliver. Remedy cleverly tells the story of this famous author through environmental objects and atmosphere building. The buildup to the ultimate climax with various twists and turns will have you invested until the end.

Horrible Performance and Visuals

I get that the Nintendo Switch hardware has limitations, especially compared to next-gen consoles such as the Xbox Series or PlayStation 5. However, it’s quite evident that this port of the remastered version of Alan Wake, not even the original, is a lazy one compared to excellent ports such as Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom or the recent NieR: Automata. Textures don’t load correctly, with environments missing panels or colors, on top of the overall image quality, looking flat and one-dimensional. There’s also occasional flickering in the lighting which sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s definitely a stretch to even call this game a remaster at this point, considering the 360 version probably looks and runs better. Hopefully, d3t can patch these up with updates to make the overall experience a bit less sluggish and drabby.

Not only do the visuals take a significant hit, but so do the frame rates. Alan Wake Remastered renders at 1440p with 60 frames per second on the PlayStation 5. You can get that game easily for $19.99 USD at retail stores, which is already cheaper than the introductory sale price of $23.99 USD on the Switch. This Switch port renders at 720p and runs at an unsteady 30 frames per second, going as low as the single digits during action sequences, with frequent stutters and freezes. Load times also take upwards of 30 seconds, depending on which scene. The only saving grace in the performance department are the pre-rendered cutscenes. The updated character models in the cinematics hold up quite well, supported by an excellent voice cast and eerie soundtrack. In summary, this is a poorly optimized port of an otherwise great game.

Conclusion

It’s hard to recommend this de-mastered port of Alan Wake on the Nintendo Switch due to how inconsistent the frame rates are and how downgraded and blurry the graphics are. Considering this title is readily available and cheaper on so many different platforms, you are far better off enjoying this classic third-person horror shooter on a PC, PlayStation, or Xbox. If the Switch is your only option or you value portability, then I guess this version is somewhat viable, but just keep your expectations in line. At least it’s not a Cloud port, right?

Final Verdict: 2.5/5

Available on: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, Switch (Reviewed); Publisher: Epic Games; Developer: Remedy Entertainment; Players: 1; Released: Oct 20, 2022; ESRB: N/A; MSRP: $29.99 USD

Full disclosure: This review is based on a copy of Alan Wake Remastered provided by the publisher.