“It feels amazing.” Those were the words that Remedy Entertainment Creative Director Sam Lake used to describe his emotions now that Alan Wake 2 is a little over a month away from release. It has been a 13-year journey for Lake and Remedy Entertainment, and in that time there have been plenty of false starts, dashed hopes, and crossovers to keep the spirit of Alan Wake alive but only a few years ago did a proper sequel become a reality. Now that sequel is (almost) here and we have played it.
As part of a hands-on preview for media, Game ZXC was able to play two sections from Alan Wake 2. With the sequel featuring dual protagonists Alan Wake and Saga Anderson, it only felt appropriate that players get the chance to control each and to see what their gameplay sections bring to the table. While there are some fundamental similarities between the way that Alan and Saga’s sections play, as well as some narrative connections, each character has a pretty distinct setup.
The Saga Anderson portion of the demo featured the FBI agent arriving in the town of Watery, which is stylistically similar to nearby Bright Falls. Saga is on the trail of the Cult of the Tree and looking for clues that might unravel the mystery in front of her. However, as Saga digs deeper into the case, she finds that her connections to Bright Falls, Watery, and the Cult are more than she initially realizes. Without giving anything away, the demo set up the right amount of intrigue to ensure that Saga’s portions of the game aren’t playing second fiddle to Alan’s.
Although Alan Wake 2 is a third-person shooter like its predecessors, Remedy has opted for a survival horror approach this time around. Enemies are less prevalent, as Saga explores Watery’s flooded forest area and nearby theme park, and anytime one or a few appear the tension cranks to 11. The light mechanic where the character must boost her flashlight at an enemy to make them vulnerable and then lay into them with bullets is still present, but the combat encounters are less about laying waste to a horde of foes and more about surviving one or two imposing threats. It’s not a one-to-one comparison, but there are definite similarities in the way Alan Wake 2 and Resident Evil approach its combat encounters.
Alan Wake 2’s third-person mechanics are as refined as ever and the game feels great to play. The exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat offered a nice variety in the preview, ensuring that there was time to take a breather before the unease started creeping back in. Remedy has done an incredible job of creating a sense of place with the town of Watery and the production design is top-notch. Facial animations are stunning, especially on Saga and Alan, and there are so many cool details in the world that make it feel lived-in. Similarly, sound design is sparse but that allows for any little noise to draw attention to itself and, by extension, building the ever-important tension of survival horror.
It may not be a puzzle game but Alan Wake 2 presents some obstacles that require more thinking than the average game might. The player will need to pay attention to their surroundings and any available clues to progress, but it never felt like the game was talking down to us. Saga is a detective, after all, so deduction is a key part of the experience.
Nowhere is that idea more apparent than in Saga’s Mind Place, which is where she can look at her case board to find new objectives, place clues and draw connections between them, and also profile subjects by asking them questions as a sort of paranormal interrogator. It’s a sophisticated way of showing how Saga is drawing conclusions and deducing where to go next, but most importantly it gives players agency in what’s going on. They are placing the clues on the board and finding connections, not just watching Saga figure it out.
Saga’s section feels more in line with what players would expect from an Alan Wake sequel both in its setting and its gameplay. The subtle hints of a larger mystery are present in every conversation, the gameplay is frenetic and visceral, and the world-building is first class. Even without seeing what the Alan Wake sections have to offer, this was all the tease we needed to be assured Remedy is on the right track.
But then the Alan Wake sections take everything fans think they know about this series and flip them on their head. These sections lean heavily into Alan Wake’s profession as a writer and allow him to “rewrite” the world around him to progress. This concept of rewriting the narrative manifests in two key ways: Alan’s Writers Room and the Light stealing mechanic.
Alan’s Writers Room is like Saga’s Mind Place in that it allows him to gather his thoughts about the story thus far and try to deduce the next steps. However, it has the added wrinkle of allowing Alan to take an environment and rewrite it to look completely different. As he learns more about the story he is seemingly trapped in, Alan can jump between different versions of the environment – in the preview's case, a hotel floor – to find pathways forward and clues to lead him to the next plot point. There are also echoes present in the world that Alan must align by finding the right perspective, and which will also change the environment around Alan.
In a similar fashion, Alan has access to an Angel Lamp that can pull light out of a source and transform certain parts of the environment. For example, a door might lead to one place with an active light source above it, but if Alan uses his Angel Lamp to absorb that light from an overhead lamp, the door will lead to somewhere completely different. Grabbing the light and putting it in different places is yet another way that Alan can write and then rewrite the world around him, and for the game, it presents a really cool puzzle-solving premise. It’s not so simple as taking the light and moving forward, though; the preview showed us that Remedy wants players to have their thinking caps on at all times.
Alan’s section was more psychological horror in its construction, and undeniably inspired by Kubrick, but it was not devoid of combat. Where Saga’s enemies are like possessed humans who lose chunks of flesh as she pelts them with gunfire, Alan’s foes are more like shadows. The light boosting mechanic is still key to weakening the enemies, but their movements were more erratic and their design more ethereal. Again, gunplay is deliberate and tense with that trademark dodge mechanic that is extremely satisfying to pull off.
While the Saga section felt more like signature Alan Wake, the Alan section is a lot harder to describe but equally compelling. With Remedy splitting the game 50/50 between the two characters, the developers knew they needed to give a nice balance to the gameplay where it becomes a hard choice to decide who to play as next. In that vein, the preview made it difficult to say which section was our favorite. Saga has that signature Alan Wake feel and the choice to lean towards survival horror works well for the setting and story. At the same time, Alan’s section is so bizarre that it’s impossible not to want to know more.
Luckily, Alan Wake 2 players can approach the game however they like and if the preview is any indication, they will be satisfied either way. Sam Lake might feel relief with the finish line in his sights, but he also acknowledges that the 13-year wait allowed Alan Wake 2 to evolve into what it is now. The technology and the creative experience gained working on games like Quantum Break and Control made Alan Wake 2 a better game. And if this preview is any indication, this could be Remedy Entertainment's best game yet.
Alan Wake 2
Alan Wake 2 debuted in October 2023, nearly fifteen years after its predecessor first hit stores. Remedy's survival-horror game tells a dual-protagonist story, with one part following the eponymous writer while the other revolving around an agent named Saga Anderson.
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS5 , Xbox Series S , Xbox Series X
- Released
- October 27, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Remedy Entertainment
