Alan Wake 2 is a definitive and all encompassing narrative driven action horror masterpiece. Standout developer Remedy has delivered again. The setting, performances, dual narratives, and action harmoniously come together to scare and intrigue from start to finish.
Alan Wake 2 is the follow up to 2010s 'Alan Wake', a good game in its own right, and the 13 year wait was well worth it. The game follows 2 split narratives, each with their own respective protagonists, Saga Anderson and the titular Alan Wake, that can be done in any order after the first few hours.
Saga is an FBI agent that has been dispatched to Bright Falls, the same pacific northwest location the original game was set in, to investigate the reappearance and ritual murder of FBI agent Robert Nightingale after being missing for 13 years. Upon arriving, Saga is sucked into a nightmare of cults, monsters, and alternate realities, all seemingly manifested by manuscript pages scattered across the area. These manuscript pages detail past and future sequences in the area and are seemingly penned by Wake himself. Saga is working to solve the crime, find Wake, and save her family from this new cursed book.
The only problem is that Wake himself is trapped in 'The Dark Place', a metaphysical recreation of a section of downtown New York, and is fighting his own inner horrors and demons to escape. Wake has to build his own new horror manuscript to build the world out and find the answers he needs to escape.
The story setup and premise are all very standard and well presented horror genre fare, a spooky isolated town, creepy locals and customs, seers, demons, etc. are all given their fair share of the narrative spotlight. It does feel like the story and action kind of crescendo several hours before the actual end. The final stretch of the game is very action light compared to earlier stretches.
The mechanics of the gameplay are a traditional and finely tuned 3rd person horror action adventure, very similar to Resident Evil and the Evil Within. The gunplay is frenetic and carries great weight, bullets stagger and blow enemies back. Conflicts are more dense and focused in the side areas to explore, the main story areas are more focused on narrative and discovery. I do wish there had been a little more variety in the enemy types, over 20 hours of play I think you fight the same 5 or so enemy types.
Alan Wake 2 is the follow up to 2010s 'Alan Wake', a good game in its own right, and the 13 year wait was well worth it. The game follows 2 split narratives, each with their own respective protagonists, Saga Anderson and the titular Alan Wake, that can be done in any order after the first few hours.
Saga is an FBI agent that has been dispatched to Bright Falls, the same pacific northwest location the original game was set in, to investigate the reappearance and ritual murder of FBI agent Robert Nightingale after being missing for 13 years. Upon arriving, Saga is sucked into a nightmare of cults, monsters, and alternate realities, all seemingly manifested by manuscript pages scattered across the area. These manuscript pages detail past and future sequences in the area and are seemingly penned by Wake himself. Saga is working to solve the crime, find Wake, and save her family from this new cursed book.
The only problem is that Wake himself is trapped in 'The Dark Place', a metaphysical recreation of a section of downtown New York, and is fighting his own inner horrors and demons to escape. Wake has to build his own new horror manuscript to build the world out and find the answers he needs to escape.
The story setup and premise are all very standard and well presented horror genre fare, a spooky isolated town, creepy locals and customs, seers, demons, etc. are all given their fair share of the narrative spotlight. It does feel like the story and action kind of crescendo several hours before the actual end. The final stretch of the game is very action light compared to earlier stretches.
The mechanics of the gameplay are a traditional and finely tuned 3rd person horror action adventure, very similar to Resident Evil and the Evil Within. The gunplay is frenetic and carries great weight, bullets stagger and blow enemies back. Conflicts are more dense and focused in the side areas to explore, the main story areas are more focused on narrative and discovery. I do wish there had been a little more variety in the enemy types, over 20 hours of play I think you fight the same 5 or so enemy types.