REIMAGINING ALAN WAKE

An analysis of what could’ve been done to offer a better experience for the player, developing ideas regarding the use of manuscript pages, the gameplay itself and the enemies.

This article should interest both people who loved and those who disliked it. It does not have the intention to convey hate for Alan Wake, but to imagine how to offer a better experience for the player.

I loved the concept of the game, but not the execution. Its problem can be summed up to being REPETITIVE, compromising the story with a gameplay that, although challenging, don’t offer much diversity.

Before we begin, keep in mind that reimagining a game is always easier than imagining one. I have great respect for the creators of such a magnificent universe. These are just ways to improve it.

Content of the Pages
Distribution of the Pages
New Pages
Sprint
Combat
Better Use of the Shotgun
The Lantern
Mandatory Walking Segments
Poltergeist Objects
Tele-Flanker
Final Boss
Extras

MANUSCRIPT PAGES 

The pages could create a bigger suspense on the player, since he doesn’t know how and when what’s written will happen. However, the game uses its potential just a few times: when the player takes the first two pages, when Nightingale is “killed” by the dark presence and when Zane writes about the clicker. For the rest of the time, unfortunately, I found it being treated just like another collectible, rarely being opened. Here’s how to fix it:

CONTENT OF THE PAGES

Among all one hundred eleven manuscript pages, twenty eight talk about Wake, describing direct events of his journey, nine about Thomas Zane, fifth five about the backstory of the game, for example, “The Anderson Brothers in the 70s”, where it’s revealed their secret ingredient is unfiltered Caldron Lake water, and the rest of them have, in my opinion, the same purpose of “filler” in Anime, adding content that don’t further the story, reinforcing already established ideas, like “Wake fights a Taken with light”, where Alan is terrified after defeating the first Taken encountered.

There’s no motive for the last fourteen pages. When the player reads it, he doesn’t feel tense or learned interesting information about the characters. It’s boring. He’s already aware of what’s in the page, so why does he have to read it? This way, he doesn’t have interest in opening other pages, losing the possibility of finding one that is really interesting.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE PAGES

A lot of times, even if the player finds one of the interesting pages, it’s found far away from the moment it actually happen, like “Wake and Barry in the cell”, found in the third episode, talking about the beginning of the fifth one. This way, the player neither understand the context enough to be tense the moment he reads it, nor remember when it’s really happening.

They could be disposed in a way that its content is tangible to the player, referring to events that occur, most of the time, at the same episode it’s collected. In addition to this, they could be in chronological order, so that the player can wait for THAT exact moment to happen.

NEW PAGES

Still, putting pages in order could reduce its suspense, because, after some time, the player could get sick of reading what will happen all the time, not fulfilling the purpose of the pages, which is, increase the expectation for future actions. How can it be solved?

Since Thomas Zane passed through situations very similar to Alan’s, Tom’s manuscript pages could be expanded to explore his journey back in the 70s. To reach the player’s attention, the texts could be written in first person, just like Alan’s, and wouldn’t use proper names for the characters, so it’s not clear whether it happened to Zane or will happen to Alan. This way, the player wouldn’t rely one hundred percent in the pages, being surprised if it really happens.

Besides that, the backstory pages could only be unlocked in Nightmare mode (Since the player is probably more interested in the universe of the game and its curiosities), ensuring that, in a first playthrough, all the manuscript pages draw the attention of the player due to its possibility of happening. 

CLICK HERE FOR REORGANIZED MANUSCRIPT PAGES

CLICK HERE FOR THOMAS ZANE'S BEAT SHEET

GAMEPLAY

Defeating enemies with light is a very pleasant way of dealing with them, but, extending for approximately eleven hours, it can become a little revolting. Even though it has parts where the player drives or uses searchlights, the majority of the time is spend in the forest, where the player is forced to face the enemies, without being able to escape, because Alan can’t stand running for more than a few seconds. Here’s how to fix it:

SPRINT

Max Payne

Games like Max Payne, that doesn’t have the option of running, or The Last Of Us, that does have it but is not used all the time, have their gameplay taking place, in the majority of the time, in closed areas, which have a lot of corridors and bifurcations, forcing the player to calmly analyze each corner to assure he’s safe.

In Alan Wake, it’s different. The combat takes place in open fields, with the camera covering a big area around the player, which feels frustrated for not being able to run as far as his eyes can see. Besides that, enemies only appear when Alan is close to the “spawn point”, so there’s no reason for being careful around the forest.

The solution is to create two different velocities. The sprint velocity could be reduced, excluding the possibility of getting tired. However, if Alan goes into combat, it’s increased and he shows a more desperate stance. In this case, Alan could get tired, returning to his normal sprint after a few seconds.

Some people may wonder how a writer could run like that, but, just like his ability of shooting enemies, is acceptable since he wrote the story himself.

COMBAT

When the player confronts Takens in the game, the only choice he has to make is which gun should he use to inflict damage, considering there’s no difference as to which part of the body is shot. This way, the combat, which can even be difficult, becomes repetitive, not showing ways for the player to have FUN with the enemies, like Metal Gear Solid 3, where you can shoot enemies’ radio so they can’t contact his partners, or Resident Evil 4, where there is nothing more pleasant than performing a Suplex at a Ganado. How can it be solved?

Instead of taking the darkness completely before being able to shoot the enemy, it could be expelled by parts. Decreasing it from the lighted place, offering, from the beginning, an area where the player can inflict damage.

Resident Evil 4

By shooting one of the legs, the enemy starts limping. By shooting both of them, he decreases his velocity, changing his aggressive behavior to a more terrifying one. Lightning one of the arms makes him drop his weapon, being forced to take it from the ground, which gives time for the player to breath or escape. For headshots, there’s a brief opportunity, after lighting the head, where the player could cause damage, if he didn’t get the kill, the enemy covers his face with one arm, protecting it from a clean shot.

BETTER USE OF THE SHOTGUN

Theoretically, the shotgun has the ability of shooting more than one target with a single bullet, but practically, it’s not that easy, there is even a trophy for that. This way, the difference between the three major weapons of the game can be summed up to its damage and fire rate, with the revolver beings the weakest and fastest, followed by the shotgun, and then the hunting rifle, having similar firing rates. Knowing this, there’s no reason for the player to choose the shotgun instead of the rifle as the secondary weapon, since they appear at nearly the same amount.

Resident Evil 3

To attract the player, the shotgun could, besides its damage, knock enemies down, even if they’re protected by the darkness, providing the opportunity to eliminate them more easily or just to escape, similar to the Resident Evil franchise. This way, it could offer a more violent type of combat, differentiating from the precision of the rifle.

THE LANTERN

In this interview, Sam Lake is asked how someone can replace the batteries in a flashlight without turning it off. Even though it had an edge of humor, the idea is promising. With the flashlight failing, the player could get more cautions when replacing it, since it’s a moment of vulnerability throughout the combat.

In addition to that, in Nightmare difficulty, instead of only making enemies stronger, the lantern could stop recharging by itself, forcing the player to utilize batteries, which will change its function from being helpful to being essential.

MANDATORY WALKING SEGMENTS

These sections can be interesting due to its capability of showing the contrast between the calm nature of the day and the terrifying forest at night. However, when it’s shown in abundance, the game’s pace and replay value can be sacrificed. The following will cover how each episode could be modified.

FIRST EPISODE: When arriving at Caldron Lake, instead of entering side by side with Alice, the section already begins with her at the door of the cabin, showing she’s excited for the vacation, so the player don’t need to wait for her.

SECOND EPISODE: All the presentation of the lobby could be a Cutscene, since nothing really happens besides taking the keys and arguing with Barry.

THIRD EPISODE: Randolph doesn’t need to escort the player to Rose’s house. He could wait at the gate and only give the directions, mentioning about the stranded boat. This way, the player finds it by himself.

FORTH EPISODE: All the section between meeting Dr. Hartman and meeting the Anderson brothers could be a Cutscene, showing Hartman’s trophies, the solar clock and the game developer patient. The flashback at the end of the episode could be in first person, only being able to control Alan’s view, having sort of a horror vibe, like the demo from Resident Evil VII.

FIFTH EPISODE: When arriving at the power plant, there’s no need to enter the first time. When Cynthia opens the doors, she directly says that the power to the yard needs to be cut, thus, after fixing the problem, the player doesn’t wait for that much for Cynthia to get to the tunnels because, while she’s walking, he’s picking the items that originally were caught the first time.

SIXTH EPISODE: In the “hangover” flashback, instead of walking slowly from the bed to the TV, Alan could already start at the couch. This way, the player takes the sunglasses and painkillers from the coffee table and turns the TV on, while lying down. When Alice shows up, she’s introduced similar to the Takens, distancing the camera from Alan. The discussion just begins if the player turns the camera towards her or the talk show ends.

Not mentioned sections, like the other flashbacks, could be easily fixed by giving the player full movement of the character.

ENEMIES

Some enemies, even having a cool design, can’t convey a sense of fear to the gameplay. Sure they are a challenge, but sometimes, not for the player’s abilities, but for his patience, because they don’t seem like a real threat, but demand a lot of time.

POLTERGEIST OBJECTS

Inside

The first time they are encountered, it’s scary due to the noises and for appearing too many at the same time. However, after learning their attack patterns, what once was frightening becomes boring, since they take too long to attack the player and it’s considerably easy to dodge.
Instead of having two phases (one charging the attack and the other attacking), the objects could chase the player crawling on the floor ceaselessly. This way, the player needs to be in constant movement, or has to defeat it before touching him, like the “final boss” boat at “The Writer” DLC.

TELE-FLANKER

Technically, this type of enemy would be the creepiest one, moving in velocities the player’s flashlight can’t keep up with. But, practically, they are tedious, running through the map randomly, looking like they aren’t even aware of the player. Besides that, when they stop to attack, it is done far away from the player, giving plenty of time to light them up.
To fix it, they could be limited to move just between the player’s blind spots, being able to teleport between them as well. It would be impossible for the player to track them down. In addition to that, his attacks could be more constant and they stop much closer to the player.

FINAL BOSS

Final boss concept art

The sixth episode is well structured, presenting increasingly difficult enemies until Alan reaches Caldron Lake, passing through roads, a junkyard, and the forest. However, at the lake, when the player thinks his skills will be put to test on a final boss fight, he comes across a tornado. Dark presence’s last chance of stopping Alan from saving Alice, and they do nothing. Having infinite flare gun ammo and being easy to dodge its objects, the only real enemies the player encounter is a group of ravens. By finishing the game, the expected feeling is one of completion, being proud of facing the dark presence, but that is not what happens. The following will cover how to fulfill this emptiness.

When entering Caldron Lake, the boss hasn’t shown up yet, and it seems peaceful and dark at the same time, while Alan refills the flare gun. After climbing down a ledge, the player can’t go back and the final boss is revealed. Inspired by “The Huddle”, from Playdead’s Inside, the tornado could have a human shield, composed by all kinds of Takens. Instead of random screams, his sound would be an overlap of various enemies’ lines, contributing for the idea of the dark presence not being a “thing”, but something more abstract.

To defeat it, the player needs to open a hole in the shield, making the Takens fall on the platform where Alan is. With its heart being revealed, he needs to light it up, while fighting with the Takens nearby. Opening a bigger hole makes it easier to inflict damage, but there will be more enemies on the ground. After defeating it, all the weapons are disabled, and then the player holds the “clicker”. Now, he must jump in the lake by himself, while dodging the remaining Takens. Only when he reaches the water that the Cutscene starts.

The Writer DLC

Another resource that could be used here are ravens made out of manuscript pages (very similar to the ones made out of book covers from the “Signal” DLC) that would come out of the holes. After lighting them up, they are transformed in wrinkled pages that the player can pick up. Each one of them describes a different way Alan died throughout the campaign, therefore the number of ravens coincide with the number of times he died, not showing a single one in case the player survived up to now.

EXTRAS

The Shining

HUD

Due to its linearity, there’s no need for a GPS. The forest would be much more challenging, with the player getting lost into the darkness and being forced to explore different paths, finding, occasionally, more manuscript pages and enemies.
Besides that, there’s no need for a HP bar. Since the game doesn’t have healing items and Alan restores it automatically, the black and white filter is enough.

VISIONS OF ALICE

The moment when Danny sees the Grady Twins down the hall in “The Shining” is terrifying, mainly, because it takes the audience by surprise. In the game, the moments when there are glimpses of Alice drowning don’t provoke the same emotion in the player, due to its irritating sound and rapid overlap of images. Her appearances could be IN GAME, giving the impression that it’s just some illusion, similar to G-Man in Half-Life 1.

CONCLUSION

Alan Wake is not a bad game, but it could have been better. These are just my thoughts, thank you for reading it.