Alan Wake's 4K remaster is out now

It's been 11 years since Alan Wake last took a trip to Bright Falls. But today the tortured writer makes his return with the release of Alan Wake Remastered, shining a new light on Remedy Entertainment's torch-slinging thriller all over again: there's a new trailer above.

Debuting in 2010, Alan Wake follows the titular pulp author on holiday in a mysterious town where his schlocky stories begin coming true—creating a tense thriller that sees you fending off shadowy monsters with a humble flashlight. This remaster doesn't dramatically overhaul that original drama, but does spruce it up a bit with increased resolutions, denser environments and sharper characters. Alan Wake's two DLC stories, The Signal and The Writer, are also included for free and given the same makeover.

If you've never opened the book on Alan Wake, the Remastered edition might be a good spot to jump in on, especially for folks who were introduced to Remedy via the fantastic Control. But in his Alan Wake Remastered impressions, Robin felt the game's "basic graphical upgrade" struggled to justify spending twice the price of the existing game on PC.

"I’m not disappointed, exactly—they’ve never claimed Alan Wake Remastered was any more than the basic graphical update that it is," Robin wrote. "It delivers on what it set out to do. But for a PC player—especially one who may well already own Alan Wake thanks to a Steam sale or an Epic giveaway—I don’t think there’s enough here to make it worth more than twice the price of the original. It’s a release aimed much more at console owners, with PC seemingly a bit incidental."

A day one patch does set out to improve a few of the graphical issues present in pre-release builds. Cinematics have been bumped up from work-in-progress 1080p to 4K, and several sequences where Alan used his old character model have been remedied (hah). 

Alan Wake Remastered is out now on the Epic Games Store for $30 / €30 / £25.

Natalie Clayton
Features Producer

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.

Read more
An image of Alan Wake from Alan Wake 2's rock opera-style song, Herald of Darkness, lifting a hand to the sky while the other bundles on his chest.
After more than a year and 2 million sales, Alan Wake 2 is finally turning a profit for Remedy
More than 5 years after launch, Control gets a surprise patch that lets everyone play the Hideo Kojima mission
A cold-looking gameplay shot of Fate: Reawakened
Fate: Reawakened gives the nostalgic 20-year-old action RPG series a new lease on life
Screenshots from Half-Life 2 RTX, showing the various new effects delivered by full ray tracing and enhanced assets.
I just played Half-Life 2 RTX, a fully ray-traced overhaul of the original, and its meaty headcrabs have me hankering for more
Lara stands in the cut training area from the Paris level of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
The worst Tomb Raider game is getting cut weapons, areas and voice lines restored as part of its upcoming remaster
Myst puzzle game
'You’ve been asking, and we’ve been listening': Myst remake adds a whole new world to the classic adventure, one originally introduced in another overhaul from 25 years ago
Latest in Adventure
Image of illuminated manuscript-style drawings from the game Pentiment.
Random characters kept swearing in Obsidian's font-obsessed murder-mystery when its procedural error system ran amok: 'Naughtiness abounded'
An image of a corpse with the text "You've been re-educated."
I played the lost videogame sequel to 1984, and came away more nostalgic than ever for gaming's awkward adolescence in 1999
Rosella encounters a satyr in a forest in King's Quest 4
Eagle-eyed streamer spots that Roberta Williams' portrait in King's Quest 4 is based on her author photo on the back of the game box: 'I never noticed it before.'
Myst puzzle game
'You’ve been asking, and we’ve been listening': Myst remake adds a whole new world to the classic adventure, one originally introduced in another overhaul from 25 years ago
The character takes a test in a school room.
Expelled! review
Max, protagonist of Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Double Exposure, stares with trepidation at something off-screen with her friend.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure reportedly a 'large loss' for Square Enix, says analyst, who adds: 'The company's IP fundamentally varies too much between good and bad'
Latest in News
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Otter AI Meeting Agent
As if your work meetings weren't already fun enough, now Otter has a new all-hearing AI agent that remembers everything anyone has said and can join in the discussion
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
As layoffs and studio closures continue to deathroll the western AAA industry, analyst points out 5 of 8 major Japanese companies hit all-time share prices this year