Guide Written by: Brandon "Hypercaffeinated" Cackowski-Schnell
Alan Wake is finally here, after five plus years of work, which, oddly enough, is roughly how long it will take you to find all of the game's 291 collectibles. Ha! Kidding! Well, I'm kidding about how long it will take. There really are 291 collectibles. Technically there are 298 but you only have to find 291 of them. Lucky you.
As achievement games go, Alan Wake isn't too bad. Sure there's a lot of stuff to find but finding that stuff gives you lots of opportunities to interact with the locals, many of who want to introduce you to their axe Mr. Slasherbocker. Plus, any game that has you searching in the woods for coffee is ok in my book. Mmmm, coffee.
To get a full thousand points in the game you'll need to play through the entire story at least twice. I say twice because Nightmare mode isn't unlocked until you complete the story on either Normal or Hard and there are two achievements for Nightmare mode: one for completing the game on Nightmare mode and one for finding all of the manuscript pages, fifteen of which are only found in Nightmare mode. I say "at least" because you may find that you have to load up a chapter or two to clean up chapter specific achievements or weapon based kill achievements. I strongly suggest that you do your first run through on Normal for a couple of reasons. First, completing the game on Nightmare will automatically give you the achievement for completing it on Hard, so why give yourself the grief of playing on Hard if you plan on playing on Nightmare at some point? Second is that often times finding collectibles will have you going off the beaten path and running into more enemies. Doing this on Hard may make your life harder than it has to be. Of course, if you have no desire to play the game twice, playing on Hard will net you an extra 40 points than playing it on Normal so it's your call.
To get the most out of this guide, read it in its entirety before getting started with the game so that you're prepared for various situations so that you can get as may achievements in your Normal run as possible. Doing so will spoil some sections of the game for you, but I'll try and keep spoilers to a minimum. If all you care about is collectibles, the collectible guide is at the end of the guide. With that out of the way, grab some Energizers, fire up that flashlight and lets go to Bright Falls.
Story Achievements
You will get all of the achievements in this section simply by playing the game from start to finish on any difficulty level.
Follow the Light - 10
You were enlightened by a dream.
Follow the light Carol Anne, er I mean Alan. You'll get this one in Episode 1.
Let There Be Light - 10
You have restored power.
Turn on a generator, fight back evil, get an achievement. You'll get this one in Episode 1.
Nordic Walking - 10
Unlike Stucky, you enjoy incontestable health benefits. Namely, you're not dead.
You'll get this one in Episode 1 upon dispatching Stucky.
Bright Falls' Finest - 20
You finally managed to make that phone call.
Ain't technology grand? You found a working phone and used it. You'll get this as Episode 1 ends and Episode 2 begins.
Under a Thin Layer of Skin - 10
Defy the park ranger.
See, he wanted to live, and you didn't let him, so you defied him. You'll get this one in Episode 2.
Park Ranger - 15
You survived Elderwood National Park.
Alan really should have packed some hiking boots. You'll get this one as Episode 2 ends and as Episode 3 begins.
Wheels Within Wheels 20
Meet the kidnapper.
I didn't want to tell you that there's a kidnapper, or that you meet them. Well, there is and you do. You'll get this one as Episode 3 ends and Episode 4 begins.
Perchance to Dream - 20
Take a moment to reflect on past events.
Hey remember that time the darkness tried to kill me for like nine hours? That was awesome. You'll get this as Episode 4 ends and Episode 5 begins.
Gatekeeper 10
Cut the power to the transformer yard.
Someone didn't pay their electric bill. Alan Wake: utility repo man. You'll get this one in Episode 5.
The Lady of the Light - 20
Discover the secret she guards.
It's a doozy! You'll get this one as Episode 5 ends and Episode 6 begins.
Tornado Wrangler - 20
Defeat the tornado.
If "Ride the Lightning" played while this battle went on, Alan Wake would officially be the greatest game of all time. You'll get this one in Episode 6.
Departure - 40
Complete the game on Normal difficulty.
Pretty self explanatory. Normal isn't too bad. Batteries and ammo abound and you'll find yourself dying very little. Perfect for a run that has you scampering about for collectibles.
Hardboiled Writer - 40
Complete the game on Hard difficulty.
Enemies take more hits to go down and there's fewer supplies than on Normal mode. If you're planning on getting a full thousand points in the game, don't even bother playing on Hard. Play your second run through on Nightmare and you'll get this one automatically.
Alan, Wake Up -50
Complete the game on Nightmare difficulty.
Finish the story on Normal or Hard and Nightmare will unlock. Enemies take twice as many shots to go down, so four revolver shots for normal Taken and seventy bajillion for bigger Taken, and things like batteries, flares and bullets are harder to come by. Expect to do a lot of running towards light sources and dodging various bladed weapons.
Combat Achievements
As with any action game nowadays, Alan Wake has a bunch of achievements that require you to kill a certain number of enemies with a particular weapons. Most of these you'll have no problem getting over the course of the game provided you don't hoard ammo. On Normal there's no need to hoard ammo as you'll find plenty and the enemies don't change enough to require a certain ammo type for a certain enemy. So, if you get a shotgun, go ahead and use it, same with the hunting rifle and everything else. You want to still be smart about things, like waiting to use the flare gun when you can dispatch three or more Taken at a time, but don't hold on to that hunting rifle ammo for some big boss battle that never comes. If you're the impatient sort you can abuse the checkpoint save system to rack up kills whenever your heart desires. If you get to a checkpoint and are then beset by enemies, simply kill them with the weapon of achievement choice and then reload the checkpoint repeating as necessary until the achievement unlocks. If after all of your story runs you still don't have some of these, load up whichever chapter has the weapon you need and grind out kills that way.
If It Flies, It Burns - 20
Burn 1,000 birds.
During the game you'll be attacked by swarms of malevolent crows. The best way to deal with them is with a flare gun however in a pinch, a boosted flashlight or regular flare will work. There are a couple of places in the game where you'll be attacked by nothing but birds so getting 1000 crispy crows in one playthrough shouldn't be a problem. If you're concerned you can do the checkpoint reloading trick either at the end of Episode 2 where you have to defend Barry and the visitor's center from flocks of birds (the first time you go up against them) or during episode 3 where you have to make your way along the mountain path to meet the kidnapper. In both cases you'll have a flare gun and will face birds immediately after a checkpoint.
They're Heeeeeere! - 20
Inanimate objects shouldn't move of their own accord. Put a stop to this affront, oh, say, 20 times.
You won't see poltergeist objects until Episode 3. At one point you'll see objects raise up off of the ground, shake and then hurl themselves at Alan in an attempt to kill him. Simply hold your flashlight on the object, boosting the light as needed until the objects explode and disappear. Note that poltergeists defeated using car headlights don't count for this achievement nor do the patches of oil you can burn away with the flashlight. You shouldn't have any problem getting this one on your own, however during Episode 3 you'll come to a large, open field in a train depot that you have to cross in order to shut off electricity so that you can proceed up some stairs. After shutting off the power and crossing back through the field you'll be attacked by four poltergeist objects as well as a boatload of Taken. Simply do the checkpoint reloading trick here and you'll get it in no time.
The Six-Gun Scribe - 20
Defeat 100 Taken with the revolver.
Unless you're running away from the Taken and not fighting them at all, you will get this one simply by playing the game from start to finish. Remember to burn the darkness off of the Taken before shooting them with your trusty sidearm.
