Alan Wake Remastered review – an enjoyably hokey paperback-horror homage

Xbox One/Series X/S, PC, PlayStation 4/5; Remedy Entertainment
Writer Alan Wake searches for his missing wife while tackling a malevolent force disguised as darkness in this clunky but atmospheric reboot

A flashlight often spells vulnerability in horror games; it's something to grasp desperately when the bullets run dry. In Alan Wake - Remedy's 2010 very Stephen-King-inspired, Twilight Zone-meets-Resident-Evil-4 adventure - your torch is your trustiest weapon. Just don't let its glow linger on this remaster's freshly renovated scenery for too long, or you'll risk getting spooked at just how sparse the improvements really are.

Suffering creative burnout following the publication of his most recent book, two years ago, writer Alan Wake and his wife Alice rent a lakeside holiday cabin somewhere in the American Pacific Northwest. Alice goes missing after an argument, and Alan is forced to unravel the mystery lurking beneath the town of Bright Springs, while grappling with a malevolent entity that manifests as darkness itself.