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I'm a huge Alan Wake fan, and in anticipation of Alan Wake 2 coming out in 2023, I decided to play through the first game and this one. From the look of the reviews, it is clearly very divisive among players and one would expect that the game itself would reflect that. However, after playing the game myself I believe that this is a bit of an unappreciated gem in the Alan Wake franchise. After all, this game was originally released as an Xbox Live Arcade game.
I'll admit that I may have a biased view on this game since I played the first game and know a lot about the games lore which may impact how I view the game. Regardless, it does interesting things with the main Alan Wake formula and expands a bit on it.
Firstly, the story would have to be its weakest element. The most basic premise is that you are trapped in a time loop and are trying to break free from it. While that may turn off some players, the game does explain why it is in that case. If you were to collect the manuscript pages scattered throughout each level, it mentions that the entire setting and story is adapted from an episode of the in universe show Night Springs that Alan worked on. The pages also help flesh out how The Dark Place works exactly as Alan tries to use his story to escape from it. It might get a bit tedious having to do the same things over and over again but the game does its best to cut down on it (and whether it succeeds is entirely up to you. I think it does).
Secondly, the game play. As I mentioned, the game takes an interesting spin on the Alan Wake formula and I think it's highlighted the most here. To start, instead of straightforward, linear levels, each area acts as a mini sandbox with different points of interests to explore. Everything is close together and, while there might not be much to do apart from fight enemies, look for manuscript pages, listen to radio and tv broadcasts, and do the quest items, they serve their purpose well enough.
And speaking of enemies, the enemy roster brings its own spin. In the first game, you primarily deal with enemies that strut straight towards you with the occasional flock of birds in between encounters. While the Taken in the first game are a fine enough enemy on their own, the types of Taken there are range from the standard 3; Regular, heavy brute, and weak flanker (and there's also the possessed objects, the speedy phantoms and the afformentioned birds). While they were fine enemies, it was a real small roster that only differed from one another in small ways. In this game, however, enemies are more varied.
While you still have the standard three, you also have four more enemies that specialize greatly; Splitters can divide into two weaker enemies if you were to shine bright lights on them and are able to split up to 8 enemies in total, grenadiers can toss bombs at you and force you to not stay in one spot, Birds make a comeback but can form into a single enemy that can transform back into a flock if you shine a light at them, and giants are by far the most tanky and damaging. There's also spiders, but they aren't worth mentioning. Enemies like this give the game a better feeling of tension between encounters as you have to juggle between different strategies between the standard enemies and the specialized ones.
To help with that, the weapon roster also has been expanded upon. Instead of 1 pistol, 2 kinds of shotguns, and a hunting rifle, you're given a much more varied arsenal. My personal favorites would have to be the SMG which can spray down enemies quickly as long as you have the ammo, the automatic and sawn off shotgun (the first being a quick firing powerhouse and the second being.... well, DOOM), and the crossbow which is able to piece through enemy shields and even instakill some of the heavier enemies at the cost of ammo capacity and fire rate. Each weapon is fun to use in its own way, especially the more niche weapons such as the crossbow or the classic Flare gun. combined with the more varied enemy roster, and you end up with encounters that are much more memorable and engaging.
And finally, this game also has a sort of horde mode where you're tasked to survive for 10 minutes, or until daybreak according to the game. You're faced with an increasingly difficult amount of waves and have to put your skills to the test if you want to survive while trying to receive the best score. While the 10 minute time limit might be a bit too short for a horde mode, its a nice addition to the game.
Which brings me to the point I want to make; It's a nice addition to the Alan Wake franchise. It may not be perfect but that's because it's not trying to be Alan Wake 2 (or at least way back in 2011). The game clocks at around 5 or so hours total and again that might be a turn off for some, but if you like Alan Wake as much as I do, i'm sure you'll find some kind of enjoyment from it. I know I did.