Highlights

  • Alan Wake 2 introduces new genre-defining mechanics and systems, expanding on the features of the original game and its remastered follow-up.
  • The game shares similarities with Lords of the Fallen in how it switches up the formula of its genre, with different settings and ways for players to move between locations.
  • The game utilizes unique lighting mechanics and allows players to switch between characters, offering dual worlds and viewpoints for a visually impressive and immersive experience.

Alan Wake 2 gives players a host of new genre-defining mechanics and systems, expanding upon several of the features found in the original Alan Wake game and its remastered follow-up. One of the multi-faceted components in Alan Wake 2 is akin to a recent Soulslike title that expanded upon the genre in exciting new ways through the flicker of an Umbral Lamp—Hexworks' recently released Lords of the Fallen.

While Alan Wake 2 is a survival horror game experience and Lords of the Fallen an action RPG with Soulslike elements, Alan Wake 2 shares some significant features with the title when considering how both games switch up the usual formula of their respective genres. Lords of the Fallen's dual worlds put a unique spin on the Soulslike formula, with players moving between the world of Umbral and Axiom with their Umbral Lamp, revealing new pathways and secrets. In many ways, a similar shake-up formula rings true for Alan Wake 2 when considering its settings and the ways players can move between locations.

RELATED: How Alan Wake 2 Can Take A Cue From Classic Resident Evil Tradition

Investigating Bright Falls And Surviving The Dark Place In Alan Wake 2's Settings

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Alan Wake 2 pushes the boundaries of survival horror in unusual and various ways, including balancing its dual protagonists with dual-world locational settings that represent the protagonist's two different realities. Players explore the towns of Watery and Bright Falls as newcomer FBI Agent Saga Anderson, even returning to the eerie Cauldron Lake, the focal point of much of the Dark Presence activity in the original game. The different world settings also impact the gameplay experience for players.

While Saga still encounters Taken enemies through slow-building and tense gameplay build-ups, the horror factor gets ramped up with creepy cultists. Defeating enemies in Saga's reality has more graphic visual and somewhat grounded-in-reality effects, with flesh peppered away through gunfire.

In contrast, players must try to escape the Dark Place setting when playing as Alan. The Dark Place is a strange version of New York City, where players encounter a more paranoid atmosphere, questioning every shadow-like enemy around every corner. Here, Remedy plays with what's real and what's not as players frantically try to escape, with players tricked by shadows until they suddenly come alive. In this way, the setting and enemies of the Dark Place play more into the psychological state of Alan's mind, who has been trapped there presumably by Alan Wake's Dark Presence for the last 13 years.

Switching Worlds And Realities In Alan Wake 2

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Alan Wake has always stood out as something uniquely different in the gaming space with its lighting mechanics, plus unusual storytelling and enemies. Equally, Alan Wake 2 is a horror game that utilizes unique lighting mechanics, with spectacular new lighting systems that expand upon what was possible in the original.

The new mechanics can also influence how players move between locations when playing as Alan. While players alternated between torches and flares in the first game, Remedy adds more lighting equipment variety in Alan Wake 2 with additional light tools like the Angel lamp, which players can use to change their immediate environment entirely and open up new pathways in The Dark Place.

Furthermore, Alan Wake 2 also lets players switch up characters at critical points in the story, so players experience its dual worlds and viewpoints at their leisure. Perhaps above all, the dual-worlds showcase the incredible abilities of Alan Wake 2's Northlight Engine as an impressive addition to the genre from a visual standpoint and beyond.