Highlights

  • Alan Wake 2 embraces its influences from Twin Peaks, incorporating similar story premises, supernatural elements, and dark alternate dimensions.
  • The game's Dark Place is heavily inspired by Twin Peaks' Black Lodge, featuring an endless room with red curtains and evil spirits.
  • Both Alan Wake 2 and Twin Peaks involve the main heroes facing off against their evil doppelgangers, with numerous references and connections between the two.

In its final form, Alan Wake 2 is an incredibly unique video game, pushing the survival horror genre to some bold new territory by incorporating some complex Sci-Fi concepts and themes. But while there's nothing else really like the sum of Alan Wake 2's parts, each of its individual elements could trace their origins to a variety of different influences from across the video game landscape. And rather than shy away from those influences, Remedy Entertainment embraces and acknowledges them wholeheartedly.

When it comes to Alan Wake 2's biggest influences, the Resident Evil franchise is the obvious pick, at least in relation to the sequel's gameplay. Rather than be another action-thriller, Alan Wake 2 leans all the way into survival horror, and in doing so borrows a lot of the same framework present in Resident Evil's recent remakes. But when it comes to Alan Wake 2's story and overall tone and atmosphere, it's really David Lynch's Twin Peaks that should receive the most credit.

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How Alan Wake 2 Takes Inspiration from Twin Peaks

Alan Wake 2's General Premise Is Taken Almost Directly from Twin Peaks

Practically every element of Alan Wake 2's story, setting, and atmosphere can trace its roots back to Twin Peaks in some way. Originally aired in 1990, Twin Peaks is a mystery drama directed by David Lynch, a filmmaker known mostly for his work on surreal dramas like Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive. Much like the rest of Lynch's work, while Twin Peaks starts as a grounded drama, it quickly introduces some supernatural elements, and isn't afraid to get pretty weird with it.

Alan Wake 2's initial story premise is almost ripped directly from Twin Peaks. The opening of Twin Peaks sees FBI Agent Dale Cooper venture to the sleepy mountainside town of Twin Peaks, Washington, where he's tasked with solving the murder of the young Laura Palmer. Alan Wake 2 opens in almost the exact same way, with the FBI venturing out to Bright Falls, another sleepy mountainside town in Washington, where they're attempting to solve a string of recent ritualistic murders. But in both, things aren't immediately what they seem, and these sleepy towns are hiding some deep and dark secrets, and some supernatural stuff is almost definitely afoot.

Alan Wake 2's Dark Place Is Heavily Inspired By Twin Peaks' Black Lodge

Another huge point of inspiration for Alan Wake 2 is Twin Peaks' Black Lodge. During Twin Peaks, FBI Agent Dale Cooper finds himself entering a mysterious alternate dimension known as the Black Lodge. This alternate dimension takes the form of an endless room filled with dangling red curtains, and it's believed that evil spirits like the one responsible for killing Laura Palmer originally came from this dimension.

Alan Wake 2's Dark Place is clearly heavily inspired by Twin Peaks' Black Lodge, and Remedy has all but confirmed that during recent interviews. On top of this, the Dark Place's role in Alan Wake 2's story is also very similar to the Black Lodge's in Twin Peaks. In Twin Peaks, Dale Cooper is trapped inside the Black Lodge during the second season's finale. He remains trapped there until Twin Peaks: The Return, the show's third season that aired 25 years later.

Even Twin Peaks: The Return 's title is referenced in Alan Wake 2 , with his book encompassing his reappearance in the real world being named "Return."

By the time Alan Wake 2 begins, Alan has been trapped in the Dark Place for 13 years, awaiting an eventual sequel just like Twin Peaks was. Both Alan Wake 2 and Twin Peaks also see their main heroes facing off against evil doppelgangers. In Twin Peaks, Dale Cooper has been replaced in the real world by an evil doppelganger that contains the evil spirit that escaped the Black Lodge, and in Alan Wake 2, Alan is hunted by Scratch, a Dark Presence version of himself. There are a ton of other references to Twin Peaks in Alan Wake 2, from specific camera angles and general vibes to even the series' creators having cameos as FBI agents.