- Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S & PC
- Release Year: 2023
- Developer: Remedy Entertainment
- Scare Factor: 6
- Genre: Adventure game, Survival horror
Thirteen years after his wife vanished in Bright Falls, author Alan Wake is trapped in a Dark Place he can’t escape. Writing this review of Alan Wake II, I can relate a bit to his predicament. This game is unlike anything I’ve played recently, making it difficult to find the right starting point. Alan Wake II is a single-player adventure that effortlessly transitions between slow-burn psychological terror and frantic survival-horror action. It features stunningly rendered game worlds, striking full-motion video sequences, morbid investigations, and unexpected musical surprises. It’s bloody, it’s bonkers, and it’s mostly brilliant. Even in a year brimming with gaming highlights, Alan Wake II shines brightly.
A Tale of Two Realities
Spanning two contrasting realities, Alan Wake II’s 17-hour story is far more coherent than the original, despite its increased complexity. The game begins in present-day Bright Falls, where FBI Agent Saga Anderson investigates a ritualistic murder near Cauldron Lake. Saga is a likable character who fits well into the supernatural world shared by Alan Wake and Remedy Entertainment’s other game, Control. She’s dedicated yet playful with her partner, Special Agent Alex Casey. The initial hours of procedural investigation ground the story before darkness descends, transforming the peaceful landscape into a terrifying hellscape.
A key feature aiding the narrative’s clarity is the caseboard in Saga’s metaphysical ‘mind place,’ accessible with a button press. Here, evidence, character profiles, and manuscript pages are manually arranged, keeping the investigation organized. It’s a helpful tool, akin to having a Reddit thread open while watching a season of True Detective.
As Saga’s investigation unfolds, more unsettling questions arise: Why do locals act like they’ve known Saga for years? Why is a character from Control performing karaoke in a town hall? And why did a corpse walk out of the morgue? Alan Wake II’s mood remains uneasy, even with adjustable difficulty settings.
The Darkness Beyond the Pines
The mystery deepens when Alan Wake emerges at Cauldron Lake, babbling about the Dark Place and unaware he’s been missing for 13 years. The game then shifts perspectives between Saga in Bright Falls and Alan in the Dark Place, with their stories increasingly intertwining in unpredictable ways. The result is a well-executed, gut-punch ending that resolves most story threads while leaving some tantalizingly open for future exploration.
The contrasting settings enhance the game’s allure. Bright Falls offers stunning sunset scenes and detailed forests, while Alan’s stages in a grimy, neon-soaked New York plaza showcase Remedy’s artistic skill. This nightmare world, reminiscent of a cheese-fueled Taxi Driver and Mean Streets marathon, is compelling to explore, from graffiti-covered construction areas to menacing subway tunnels.
Alan’s stages introduce enjoyable environmental puzzles involving a paranormal table lamp that manipulates light sources to create safe havens and open new paths. This recalls the Oceanview Hotel puzzles from Control, growing in complexity and challenge.
In Alan’s reality, plot elements are found as floating orbs that trigger scenes from his crime novels, which can be rewritten to alter his current scenario. These elements reveal parallels to the Bright Falls slayings Saga is investigating. Alan Wake II’s heavy meta-mystery is like a jigsaw puzzle within a Rubik’s Cube covered in sudokus, offering a strange and wonderful journey with unexpected detours.
The Fury of the Lamps
Alan Wake II features a high body count. Combat retains the flashlight-fueled mechanics of the original, enhanced by new elements like glowing weak points on enemies for extra damage. Saga and Alan have unlimited sprint ability, a significant improvement from the original’s limited stamina, and a snappier dodge button for evading attacks.
While the game’s protagonists are more nimble, ammunition and batteries remain scarce. The enemy variety isn’t as extensive as in Resident Evil 4, but there’s enough to keep encounters surprising and challenging. Boss fights are distinct and frantic, contributing to the game’s intense atmosphere.
The most unnerving enemy is often one that can’t hurt you: whispering apparitions that usually dissipate under flashlight beams. However, one in ten times, they reveal an actual threat, keeping players constantly on edge.
Correcting the Narrative
Despite their advantages, the protagonists’ skill trees feel uneven. Alan’s expansive ‘Words of Power’ tree contrasts with Saga’s limited firearm upgrades, which are costly and seemed unnecessary on normal difficulty. This might change with the planned Nightmare difficulty mode.
Saga’s stages sometimes rely on survival-horror clichés like fuse boxes and combination locks, though the latter can be mentally challenging. Despite the absence of new Night Springs episodes, the game features hilarious fictional commercials starring the Koskela brothers.
Any issues with Alan Wake II are overshadowed by its numerous strengths. It draws inspiration from various films and games, blending elements from Twin Peaks, The Twilight Zone, True Detective, Seven, Inception, and more. It also includes innovative moments reminiscent of Inscryption and Immortality.
One standout moment briefly turns the game into an interactive musical, evoking the ‘Jump Up, Super Star!’ level from Super Mario Odyssey. This unexpected, bombastic sequence exemplifies Remedy’s fearless approach to game design.
Conclusion
Alan Wake II offers one of the boldest and most brain-bending survival-horror storylines since Silent Hill 2. With immaculate art direction and audio design, and reinvigorated light-based combat, it surpasses its predecessor. Despite some skill-upgrade and narrative clichés, the game’s dual narratives are endlessly fascinating, frequently fear-inducing, and consistently surprising. Alan Wake II is a superb sequel that makes the original seem like a rough first draft in comparison.
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