‘Alan Wake’, which was first introduced on Xbox 360 in 2010, was a case that gained a lot of recognition for its unique concept among the linear action adventures that were somewhat popular at the time. In a trend at the time where main characters from science and engineering fields were saving the world with tools, ‘Alan Wake’, in which a novelist deals with a mysterious incident that turns his work into reality, was quite a refreshing shock. And it was from then on that I got the nickname “action hero with a liberal arts background.”
In the meantime, Remedy has been expanding the worldview of ‘Alan Wake’ through various DLCs and other new IPs, but the story of not only the whereabouts of the main character after the ending of the previous work, but also several characters who disappeared, leaving behind ‘a piece of cake’, continues. It was no news. And now it seems to be gradually being forgotten in the memories of many gamers. That’s because time has passed and even rivers and mountains change.
Still, there seems to be no need to worry. The new work ‘Alan Wake 2’, which I checked through the review, seemed to be breathing warm air into the franchise once again through a quite fresh approach in many ways. It also captures the charm of the unique worldview that has been expanded so far. In particular, the narrative, which is Remedy’s strongest feature, felt like it was developed to another level.
Game Name: Alan Wake 2
Genre Name: Action Adventure
Release date: 2023. 10. 27.
Review version: Review Build Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Service: Epic Games
Platform: PC (Epic), XBOX, PS
Play: PS5
◆ This review was written using code provided by Epic Games and Remedy Entertainment.
◆ For webp images, the PC version was used as video recording in the PS5 version was not possible.
◆ Contains some spoilers for the ending of the previous work, ‘Alan Wake.’
13 years after the previous work, the incident takes place again in ‘Bright Falls’.
▲ Now, 13 years later, something else is about to happen in this dreary forest.
Now, 13 years later, I don’t know how many gamers still remember ‘Bright Falls’, the main setting of the previous game, but this quiet yet bizarre American rural town is at the center of all events in ‘Alan Wake 2’. What’s interesting is that, like the previous work, it is set in the same realistic time period.
Just as in ‘Alan Wake’, which was released in 2010, the events in the game took place in 2010, ‘Alan Wake 2’ depicts events that occur in Bright Falls in 2023, 13 years after the events of the previous work. At least in reality. The newly introduced main character, FBI agent Saga Anderson, arrives in Bright Falls to investigate a serial murder case, and as he goes through a series of events, he becomes increasingly closer to the unknown being.
▲ Agent ‘Saga Anderson’, the new protagonist who continues the story with Alan Wake.
Usually, when there is a significant difference between the release date of the previous work and the sequel, today’s trend is to make it possible for those who have not played the previous work to play the sequel even if they do not know the contents of the previous work. And the same goes for ‘Alan Wake 2’. As the main character is an FBI agent who has newly arrived in Bright Falls, it is designed so that the protagonist can investigate the case at hand without any background.
However, for a more immersive experience, it would be better to be somewhat familiar with the content and characters of the previous work ‘Alan Wake’. In the ending of the previous work, characters who were seen as ‘pieces of cake’ appear, and since Bright Falls is a very remote town, characters with the same last name as characters from the previous work also appear. In order to see this series of elements and experience something, it can be said that quite a bit of background knowledge about the previous work is required.
Bright Falls appears to have made a lot of effort to overcome the pain that occurred in the town over the past 13 years since the events that occurred in the previous work. ‘Alan Wake’, the title of the game and the true protagonist, has been missing since the ending of the previous game. But anyone who played the first game also knows where he’s trapped.
▲ Graphics that seem to disappear into the background provide a high sense of immersion.
In this way, the game tells the story of agent ‘Saga Anderson’, set in Bright Falls, 13 years after the previous work, where something terrible seems to be about to happen again, and the story of ‘Alan Wake’, the main character who has fallen into a dark space and wants nothing more than to escape. Let’s shed light on the story together. Two main characters with different abilities go on a journey to achieve their desired results in different worlds.
Two main characters, different worlds
▲ ‘Alan Wake 2’ begins like any other investigative story.
First of all, as soon as you start the game, the story of Agent Saga Anderson, who has just arrived in Bright Falls. We arrive at Cauldron Lake to examine a body suspected to be the victim of a serial murder case, and as the FBI, we begin an investigation to catch the criminal.
Players take on the role of Saga agents, thoroughly investigating the field and securing clues that lead to the case. The main character has a special ability, the ability to focus on his mind and reach a place called ‘heart space’. In the space of the mind, you can organize files by pasting the clues you have obtained on the wall, and it is also possible to ‘profile’ the thoughts of the people you have interrogated and get a glimpse of the information they are hiding.
▲ ‘Space of the mind’ where you can piece together clues yourself
▲ Surprisingly, it is very helpful in intuitively understanding the story.
This ‘space of the mind’ is not only very important functionally while playing as Saga Anderson, but is also used as a device to convey the narrative in a very subtle way. The process of sorting clues scattered all over the map in front of the wall conveys the feeling of actually investigating a case, while also being a great help in organizing more intuitively the jumbled stories that may not make sense at first.
The use of mental space is not limited to inquiry and investigation. As you progress through the game with Saga Anderson, you will collect the goods needed to upgrade your weapons, and everything you do, including using them, will be done through this space. Moreover, in addition to the setting that real time passes while in the space of the mind, there are also limitations such as difficulty using it in dangerous situations, which makes it functional and appealing.
▲ Unlike the new protagonist, ‘Alan Wake’ is trapped in a world of darkness.
On the other hand, ‘Alan Wake’, who can be said to be the true protagonist, is trapped in a world of darkness following the ending of the previous work. In the real world, he has been missing for 13 years. It can be said that the main part of the story is to check what Alan Wake has been through to escape from the darkness.
Because it is not the real world, literally anything can happen. The part of ‘Alan Wake’ is set in New York, where the main character lived with his ex-wife Alice. Of course, it is even more dangerous because it is a virtual space. Allen, caught in a kind of ‘loop’ state due to the interference of a dark entity, struggles for the one chance to escape, despite repeating the same events and outcomes over and over again.
▲ Our protagonist wanders around New York, not Bright Falls.
As the name suggests, the world of darkness is expressed as a place where elements are more bizarre and terrifying than reality. Shadow monsters are lurking everywhere, and the visuals of the city you see with your eyes and the sounds you hear with your ears also create quite a creepy presentation.
Alan Wake may use a similar ‘writer’s room’ inner world as Agent Anderson’s saga, but its characteristics are quite different. While Agent Saga’s inner world plays a strong role in piecing together clues and understanding people’s thoughts, Alan Wake’s inner world has the power to change the face of the world of darkness by mobilizing his imagination as a writer. This operates as a system called ‘plot transition’ within the gameplay.
▲ Alan’s part focuses more on fear elements.
‘Plot change’ is literally a system in which the atmosphere of the place or the arrangement of furniture changes completely depending on the plot desired by the writer. For example, assuming a room is a location, if the plot of ‘party’ is added, it becomes a place where balloons and refreshments are placed, and if the plot of ‘massacre’ is added, a room filled with corpses and blood is realized, and so on. The main character, Alan, uses his power to freely use this ‘plot’ to find a way to escape from the world of darkness that repeats like a chat wheel.
Of course, the stories of the two main characters, who seem to be taking place in completely different worlds, have one point of contact. This is the ‘black entity’ that caused a huge incident in Bright Falls 13 years ago. The stories of ‘Alan’, who tried to escape from the darkness for 13 years in real time, and ‘Saga’, who arrived in Bright Falls where darkness began to fall again, come together towards the end, culminating in the finale.
▲ ‘Plot transition’ system that appropriately utilizes the characteristics of the main character, a novelist
Survival horror is added to Remedy’s strengths.
▲ Shotgun is a really delicious game
In fact, delivering such an exciting yet detailed narrative is one of developer Remedy’s strengths. Attempts to increase immersion in the story, as always, with video cutscenes of live-action actors are still alive and well this time. Sam Lake, Remedy’s creative director, even played the role of FBI agent Alex Casey.
However, what stands out about this work is that the play style is significantly different from previous works. As it was said to be ‘Remedy’s first survival horror’ when the game was first announced in 2021, Alan Wake 2 was quite orthodox as a survival horror genre.
Of course, the rules for dealing with unique enemies in the world have not changed much. It uses light to reveal the dark energy surrounding enemies, and uses firearms to subdue them. However, the viewpoint of controlling the main character, the overall UI, and the inventory system that requires managing limited resources combine to deliver the joy and tension of survival horror.
▲ However, the enemy composition of only dogs and people is a bit disappointing.
In particular, the fun of this action is combined with another feature of the game, which is looking around the map to find various clues, providing a unique experience. In particular, in the part where Alan Wake is played, a function called ‘plot’ transition is used together, which feels really refreshing. Even in the same location, the atmosphere is completely different depending on the plot, so it wasn’t boring at all even though it adopted a loop-type level design.
I was also satisfied with the improved graphics and sound, as well as the feeling of hitting. Even in the previous game released in 2010, you could feel the satisfying feeling of hitting when using light to remove an enemy’s shadow or when using a gun to kill an enemy, but with the addition of survival horror elements, the excitement feels even more powerful.
As of PS5, the sensation through Dual Sense was good. Since adaptive triggers and responsive haptics are properly supported, you can expect a richer hitting feeling. Especially when three or more enemies are gathered together, the feeling of removing all the shadows with flares and killing them with a shotgun brings a refreshing feeling that does not feel like it is a horror game.
Of course, one thing that is disappointing is that the enemy types are too uniform. It can be said that they are mostly just people caught in the shadows, quick people, strange people, big people, and dogs. Even in boss battles, most of them are just stubborn shadow people, which may feel even more disappointing to gamers who hope to battle a variety of enemies.
Additionally, some players may be disappointed that the multiplayer play element, which is one of the important elements in the survival horror genre, is not supported immediately after launch. However, after the game is released, when the New Game+ mode called ‘Final Draft’ is released, you can enjoy the game anew while maintaining the weapons, amulets, and power upgrades acquired in the first play, and the more difficult ‘Nightmare’ difficulty is also available. We plan to support it.
A whopping 13 years of insight into the expanded world view.
▲ No, please come sooner.
Meanwhile, Alan Wake has been expanding his world view in various ways since 13 years ago when his previous work was released. Other IPs developed by Remedy, such as Quantum Break and Control, are not only an extension of the same worldview in which the Alan Wake incident occurred, but also tell various stories through spin-offs such as small dramas and DLC.
In ‘Alan Wake 2’, I would also like to place significance in the fact that we were able to see a side of the ‘Alan Wake’ worldview that has been gradually expanded over the years. In particular, I think this is something gamers who like cult elements like SCP can take very positively.
‘Control’, released by Remedy in 2019, tells the story of the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC), which operates in the same universe as Alan Wake. It can be said to be a secret U.S. government department that identifies abnormal phenomena that occur around the world, studies them, and ultimately puts them under control. This FBC also appears in ‘Alan Wake 2’, and the part that defines the events taking place in Bright Falls as a ‘paranormal phenomenon’ seems to be a real treat for players who have enjoyed Remedy’s games.
▲ Remedy game fans will find recognizable elements everywhere.
Not only that. If you are a gamer who has played ‘Control’, you will remember ‘Artie’, the janitor at Oldest House, the headquarters of FBC. He, who gave off a somewhat mysterious feeling, appears in ‘Alan Wake 2’ and helps the player’s experience in a more important role than expected, so if you haven’t played ‘Control’ yet, I recommend watching at least a story summary video.
The representative metal band of the Alan Wake series, ‘The Old Gods of Asgard’, cannot be left out. As with Remedy’s works, which provide great background music at the end of each chapter, it is also worth noting that you can hear some of the metal band’s new songs this time too.
The fact that subtitles cause bugs in story games is a bit…
▲ This is a novel or a game
‘Alan Wake 2’ maintained overall satisfactory story immersion and action fun until the latter part of the game, but it was not perfect. In particular, the subtitle issue that caused problems from the game’s opening cutscene was a significant inconvenience.
In particular, it is no exaggeration to say that subtitles play a very important role in games like the Alan Wake series, which combine novel-like writing style and dialogue. However, some lines and subtitles are out of sync during cutscenes, or subtitles use formal and informal language alternately, which can greatly raise doubts about the overall completeness of the game.
In addition, although not to a large extent, bugs occurred here and there, and some of the bugs were at a level that caused very serious problems in the game. Personally, I think this is the first time I’ve asked the developer about an anomaly while conducting a review. Fortunately, I received confirmation that the developer is aware of the problem and that it will definitely be fixed in the build at the time of release, so I can rest assured about that. It’s the same.
Excluding these aspects, it showed a fairly good performance in terms of optimization. While it provided such a high sense of immersion that I stayed up all night playing for the first time in a long time, other than bugs, it was difficult to find any issues such as the game crashing or memory leaks resulting in frame drops due to long play. Is it because we’ve seen too many cases of games being modified with patches after release these days? It was a humorous experience that made me think, ‘If this is enough, the level of completion is quite satisfactory.’
‘Alan Wake 2’ is definitely a fun game for both those who haven’t played the previous game and those who were very impressed by the previous game. The gameplay, which has been transformed into an authentic survival horror, enhances the weight and excitement of the action, and the method of conveying the narrative through the inner world feels more delicate than any production Remedy has shown so far.
This year has been a year in which many games have been released that left a deeper impression than expected. If you are a gamer who prefers mystery thrillers and survival horror action, I think you can consider ‘Alan Wake 2’ as one of those games.
