The player buys 4,000 copies of Alan Wake, and none of them work

XCOM. Civilization. half life. There are some games that we love here at PCGamesN, and they are certified PC classics that we consider part of our personal canon. Sure, when it comes to collector's editions, re-releases, or the occasional overhaul of a game, we'll be tempted to buy a second copy of some of these beloved ones. And maybe, just maybe, we'll go a little further – if it's a game we really like, we might buy it twice, just in case one copy breaks, or so we can play it on PC and also on another, second platform. But even with Baldur's Gate 3, Doom, and Command and Conquer, it's hard to think of a game we love so much that we'll buy it 4,000 times. Alan Wake 2 it was amazing. Control, Max Payne, and even the overlooked Quantum Break all prove that Remedy is one of the best mainstream game makers today. But is that enough to justify owning 4,000 copies of the studio's original 2010 horror game? For an Alan Wake fan, the answer is a resounding “yes.”

Creepy, clever, and with a sharp sense of humour, Alan Wake remains one of the must-play horror games of the past 15 years. Alan Wake 2 improves on the original in every way, raising our hopes for a Max Payne and Max Payne 2 remake to the highest levels. But the troubled horror writer's debut outing remains to this day one of Remedy's strongest works, which one fan loved so much that she bought 4,000 downloadable copies.

Speaking exclusively to PCGamesN, Alisa is an AV technician and a huge fan of Alan Wake. “What I love most about the Alan Wake and Remedy games in general is their way of telling stories and their ridiculous attention to detail,” she explains. The world of Alan Wake 2 feels particularly lively, with plenty of hidden lore that many players will miss. A lot of the traditions are also really weird and charming. Sam Lake is a genius. After spotting an unusual listing on eBay — two boxes of Alan Wake download codes for $240 — Alyssa decided to give it a try. It now has 4,000 promotional cards printed each containing a separate download of the original Alan Wake.

“I imagine these download cards came from a game store that closed down at some point, and for one reason or another there were too many Alan Wake download cards left on the shelves,” Alyssa explains. “The cards came in two rectangular cardboard boxes that had taken some damage in the month it took for them to arrive from the US to Finland. Both boxes weigh around 25kg each, providing a total of 50kg of psychological thrills and thrills.

After trying about 20 cards herself, Alyssa (who refers to the bulging boxes of Alan Wake download cards as “a bit of power”) said in Love, chirp Tribute to Control) says she's contacted Microsoft customer support to see if it's possible to get any of them working. However, it appears that the cards were never activated by the store that bought them and are likely more than ten years old. You might be thinking “why?” Why buy 4000 Alan Wake download cards? Alyssa has the answer.

“The short answer is: 'It's funny,'” she explains. “The long answer is that I'm currently working on creating an Alan Wake 2 fan video inspired by the live-action Alan Wake 2 cinematics, and once I saw an eBay listing for 4,000 Alan Wake download cards I had a vision in my mind of a scene that used a ridiculous amount of that stuff. After I'm done with this, I'll probably cover the wall of my room with cards, because that looks funny. I also really like Alan Wake.

We previously reported on a player determined to buy copies of Bethesda and previous Splash Damage FPS game Brink until someone somewhere gave the green light for a sequel. It may never happen, but Treat, if you're reading this, I think Alyssa deserves some credit. This is fandom at its extreme.

Check out some of the other best story games, if you're a big Alan Wake fan, or perhaps the best survival games if you want an extra dimension to your horror.

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