Two games were guaranteed to show gameplay during Summer Game Fest earlier this month: Mortal Kombat 1 and Alan Wake 2. This was the official reveal of any gameplay at all for NetherRealm’s newest fighting game, while Remedy’s upcoming survival-horror sequel had technically shown gameplay in brief glimpses of third-person over-the-shoulder perspectives. Mortal Kombat 1 unveiled a ton of microscopic information that fans can dissect from frame data to how its Kameo system works, but Alan Wake 2’s gameplay was mildly underwhelming considering it was a fairly basic slice shown.
It may not strictly be an action-adventure franchise anymore, but what Remedy chose to show for its new Alan Wake entry didn’t give fans a look into anything that makes the game authentic from its predecessor, let alone from other survival-horror games. Now, as far as fans can publicly tell, Alan Wake 2 is a simple third-person game with enemies they’re supposed to shoot squarely in front of them. More is surely involved in gameplay than the straightforward combat of the original game, but that's what needed to be shown at Summer Game Fest in particular
Alan Wake 2 Arguably Didn’t Show Enough at Summer Game Fest
Remedy might be withholding gameplay in order to dodge potential spoiler territory, but it needed to show more than what it offered. Pre-release gameplay may change in the time between when it’s shown publicly and when the game actually launches, and how much a game shows of its gameplay is often a sign of how confident the developer is in the product, or how far along in development it is.
Mortal Kombat 1 is a rarer instance of where NetherRealm could afford to show more due to its bread-and-butter gameplay not necessarily needing to be involved in the game’s narrative. But Star Wars Outlaws recently revealed its own gameplay in a decently lengthy developer walkthrough that shared a ton of details about it, and Alan Wake 2 desperately needed the same, if for no other reason than it launching in four months.
Alan Wake 2’s Summer Game Fest preview thankfully did have more to share, but that footage has not been made public yet. Either way, Summer Game Fest’s live kick-off was an opportunity to give a more in-depth look at mechanics fans can be excited for, rather than a short, slow sequence.
It would have been great to see Saga Anderson explore Cauldron Lake’s Bright Falls and see what the town looks like through a survival-horror lens that even Alan Wake Remastered didn’t feature. It is great to see that the flashlight mechanic is back with its battery depleting when focused on enemy targets, but that is also nothing fans of the original haven’t already seen and been familiar with from the action-adventure predecessor.
Indeed, the most profound addition to gameplay shown was a detective element for Saga as an FBI agent, though it is unclear how in-depth or engaging this mechanic will be. Profiling case files in the Mind Place may be a way to unlock clues and help to discern larger mysteries, but how that could affect gameplay is unknown.
This might suggest that the only way Remedy leans into survival horror throughout Alan Wake 2’s ~20-hour runtime is in the atmosphere alone, though it is impossible to tell from how small of a gameplay segment was showcased and how much was shown to those who attended the preview. It’s possible that Remedy has actually added a lot of comprehensive features that fully support its transition to survival horror, but only time will tell if that is true or not, and the gameplay of these moments should be shown sooner than later.
Alan Wake 2 releases October 17, 2023, for PC, PS5, and Xbox X/S.
