Alan Wake is Back from the Digital Graveyard

AlphaAtlas

AlphaAtlas

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Because of some expired music licenses, Alan Wake was pulled from the Steam storefont last year. The studio behind the Alan Wake games lost the license to their own series back in July, and up until recently, the future of the franchise didn't look too bright. But with a TV adaptation on the way, Microsoft decided to foot the bill the for the original game's music license. It's back on Steam for $3, and the developers say it'll return to the Xbox 360's store soon. And unlike GTA IV, Alan Wake is returning with the full original soundtrack.

Big thanks to our partner and Alan Wake's publishers Microsoft who were able to renegotiate the rights to the licensed music in Alan Wake, so that the game can be sold again.
 
I may disagree with many things Microsoft has done, but at the same time, I've enjoyed a healthy amount of games backed by Microsoft directly. Like age of empires and others. I think generally they actually care in that segment of their business, and often it shows.
 
I really enjoyed the first one. Haven't played American Nightmare, but it's a good deal for both at $5.
 
BloodyIron said:
I may disagree with many things Microsoft has done, but at the same time, I've enjoyed a healthy amount of games backed by Microsoft directly. Like age of empires and others. I think generally they actually care in that segment of their business, and often it shows.
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I think you'll find there's a correlation between when they started caring again and when the Xbox One was clearly shown to be losing marketshare to the PS4.
 
game is pretty old at this point, but not old enough for the graphics to charm anyone. series is ripe for a real sequel.
 
Rahh said:
Was the music good?
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Good enough. It fit well. I am guessing it wasn't too expensive to relicense, but it was good of them to do. Most companies just let things die.
 
Awesome! Alan Wake is a rare gaming masterpiece, despite the end part of the game dragging on too long.


Rahh said:
Was the music good?
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Yeah, though the music doesn't play nonstop and is more for certain moments, like a classic rock tune playing from a diner's jukebox. And also for the credits for each episode.


purple_monster said:
game is pretty old at this point, but not old enough for the graphics to charm anyone. series is ripe for a real sequel.
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They still impress me. Alan Wake still has some of the best wilderness environment design yet made in a game.

I have a bunch of Steam screenshots from when I completed the game recently. I'll upload them and post the link here. I took lots of shots of beautiful in-game scenery.
 
I absolutely loved the first one. The nightmare expansion was meh. Very excited to see this come back and I really hope to see an expansion on the series.
 
kdh said:
I absolutely loved the first one. The nightmare expansion was meh. Very excited to see this come back and I really hope to see an expansion on the series.
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Agree totally. The First one leaves you sad the game ended and wanting more. American Nightmare leaves you saying "WTH is this crap??"
 
I really don't understand how these licensing deals works.

Seems like there was a major lack of foresight in the first place.

So initially they got the rights for only a decade or so?

Why isn't the music licensed for over expressed use in perpetuity?

Make the rights non transferable to a sequel or to new countries and or territories, something.

If you are making a game or a film or a TV show you don't want something like this to interrupt the further sales of your work.

Yay for M$ ponying up the money to get the rights back but there gotta be better ways to do this stuff from the start.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I've never heard of this game before. Is it any good?

Worth the 3 bucks on Steam?
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It's good. Definitely worth $3.

mbelue said:
I really don't understand how these licensing deals works.

Seems like there was a major lack of foresight in the first place.

So initially they got the rights for only a decade or so?

Why isn't the music licensed for over expressed use in perpetuity?

Make the rights non transferable to a sequel or to new countries and or territories, something.

If you are making a game or a film or a TV show you don't want something like this to interrupt the further sales of your work.

Yay for M$ ponying up the money to get the rights back but there gotta be better ways to do this stuff from the start.
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The longer you want to have the right to use somebody else's work, the more money they want from you for you to be able to do so. Licensers also might not like open-ended deals because they don't know what implications that might mean for their works in the very long term.

The same thing happens with racing games that use real cars: They get removed from stores eventually because the right to distribute and use a licensed vehicle expires. It's really unfortunate that happens because Need for Speed 2 and 3, and Richard Burns Rally, and DiRT 1 are some of the best racing games made. Yet, they aren't available for sale because the vehicle licenses for them are expired.
 
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The first place I saw this was the Movie, Heavy Metal.

I saw it in the theater, and then later as a midnight movie.

There were scenes changed/added.

The song "working in a coal mine" was originally in a segment that involved digging up the Loc-Nar, while it played in the background.
In the new version, they're playing in the bar in the Tarna sequence.

In the later midnight movie release, and the VHS video I have, it's ALSO in the trailing credits, with a picture from the missing segment.

There were other changes, but that one was glaring.

The VHS release didn't happen until the rights got sorted out, and the wiki doesn't even mention the missing sequence.

As almost everyone that saw the original was wasted, only a few people I've ran into over the years remember the original sequence.
 
Worst example of this are the WKRP DVDs; they shot the series on VHS (as music rights were cheaper that way) so the visuals are ass and then they couldn't get the rights for the release so all the scenes with music gags either use thinly-veiled replacements or are cut outright. Bootlegs are the only definitive collection!
 
think I paid $10 or $15 for it and was not disappointed. Great game and hope to see a follow up
 
thenapalm said:
I really enjoyed the first one. Haven't played American Nightmare, but it's a good deal for both at $5.
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It wasn't as good as the original game but still lots of fun.much shorter and more surreal....I won't ruin anything ;)

I'm very happy to see this return. The TV show could actually bring us a long overdue sequal...at least I can always dream. It was the atmosphere that really made this game amazing. Still on my short list years later.

Who am I kidding, my short list of games is all old now.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I've never heard of this game before. Is it any good?

Worth the 3 bucks on Steam?
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I picked it up when it was on sale just before they pulled it off steam for around 15$ and i felt like it was a total steal at that time. 3$? Yea.. I mean, visually its not going to smash your reality, but the game play, the story, and sound track clicked with me. I can easily say it was in my top 5 games of 2017 when I got it. I finished it on easy, and then switched it to nightmare mode and ran through it a few times at that setting. I loved it because it wasnt a grind. Kept moving, and felt like it was evenly balanced.
 
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