LogFAQs > #977055407

I haven't played either, but I did read that Alan Wake does feel dated by today's standards (I don't know if that's true).

However, given that Alan Wake II has a sorta focus on the story rather than gameplay (I guess the same would be for the first one), I would say it's better to just watch/read a recap of the events of Alan Wake if you don't want to deal with the gameplay aspect of the first game, just to understand a bit better the plot in Alan Wake II.