It’s still hard for me to believe that Alan Wake 2 even exists. I’m one of the fans of the original game that played it all the way back in 2010 and have since been waiting patiently for developer Remedy Entertainment to make a sequel. Since that time, I’ve enjoyed Remedy’s other outings with Quantum Break and Control, but I always believed that Alan Wake 2 had the potential to be something special if it was ever created. Luckily, after seeing the game in action for about 30 minutes, Remedy seems to have proven my previous assumption.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Given that Alan Wake 2 is said to be about 20 hours long in total, my own viewing of the title at Summer Game Fest was incredibly brief. Taking place in the early hours of the experience, the hands-off demo that I viewed simply gave me a better understanding of the story, characters, and mechanics that will be present in the sequel. Despite being such a quick glimpse, everything that I saw left me quite optimistic about the final product.
The best source of encouragement I found in this look at Alan Wake 2 involved the game’s new co-protagonist, Saga Anderson. While the titular Alan Wake is one of the main playable characters in Remedy’s latest, he shares the spotlight with Saga, who is an FBI agent looking to uncover a mystery in the areas near Cauldron Lake. Saga immediately proved to be a compelling and charismatic character based on what I saw. Previously, I don’t think I would have liked the idea of Alan not being the only playable character in a potential sequel, but it’s already apparent to me that Saga’s involvement in this story is going to be engrossing in its own way.
Saga is a detective through and through and rather than simply having this come across in the story, Remedy has implemented a number of new features in Alan Wake 2 that allow her to slowly uncover the mystery she’s pursuing. The most notable of these features is known as the “Mind Place,” which is a physical room that Saga can visit with the press of a button. The Mind Place is essentially a physical manifestation of Saga’s mind and allows her to link together clues and study the case that she’s been putting together. It’s perhaps the most unique element of AW2 that I’ve seen so far and is unlike anything else found in the original game.
The approach to horror in Alan Wake 2 is something that I immediately found myself loving within the first 10 minutes of the demo that I watched. Rather than trying to instill fear in the player in cumbersome ways, Remedy has tried to create a tense atmosphere over everything else in Alan Wake 2. Even though the preview I saw still had a few attempted jumpscares, it’s clear that this is a game more focused on psychological horror elements rather than sending larger monsters stomping after the player.
One component of Alan Wake 2 that does remain somewhat similar is its combat. Once again, players will be tasked with using light to lower the defenses of the “Taken” before then dealing out real damage with the weapons that Alan and Saga wield. The difference with combat, though, is that AW2 seems to be far more focused on survival rather than taking on dozens of enemies at a single time. 2010’s Alan Wake definitely became very action-heavy, particularly in its later stages. By contrast, that’s not something that I expect to see much of in Alan Wake 2, at least based on how it was approached in the preview I watched.
If it hasn’t already come across well in the trailers, Alan Wake 2 also seems to be a visual spectacle. The lighting in the footage that I saw was off the charts and is some of the most impressive graphical work that I have seen since we’ve entered the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S era. Normally, stellar graphics might just be a nice bonus on top of an already great game, but considering how important light is in Alan Wake as a whole, it seems like the visuals of AW2 could really take this experience to a whole new level.
Alan Wake 2 is hands-down one of my most anticipated games for the remainder of the year. While I was already greatly looking forward to this sequel as a fan, after seeing AW2 in action, my excitement has ratcheted up tenfold. This looks like it has the chance to be Remedy’s best and most inventive game ever. And considering how many fantastic titles the studio has released over the span of nearly three decades, that’s really saying something.
Alan Wake 2 is set to release later this year on October 17, 2023, and will be coming to Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
