Alan Wake 2 Preview – A Look At Remedy’s First Survival-Horror Game

In Summer Game Fest 2023 I got a sneak peek at Alan Wake. This highly-anticipated sequel has taken 13 years to make.

Alan Wake 2 has been a long road, full of bumps. Publishing rights were a major issue and it took 13 years for the team to find the best ideas. Sam Lake, co-director of the film says: “We have been working on it for a long time and finally things just fell into place.” We got back the rights to the original PlayStation game, which allowed us to make a remastered edition for a larger audience. We were working on Alan Wake 2 when we created Control. There was also a concept. This is not the concept, it’s something different. We felt it didn’t feel quite like Alan Wake but cool ideas about this type of superhero action, and it’s more of a linear game. We took those design ideas and we created Control.”

It is 13 years since the first game, which was released in 2010. Alan Wake 2 introduces Saga Anderson as a new protagonist. Since the events in the first game, Alan Wake is trapped in the Dark Place – a nightmare version of New York City. Alan attempts to change his reality in order to leave this alternate universe. The story revolves around Saga Anderson who is an FBI agent in charge of investigating murders that have occurred throughout the Pacific Northwest. 

In my demo, I follow Saga and her partner Casey as they track down a murderer. They walk through a forest that is beautiful, but the journey will not be pleasant for very long. Saga, who is researching the Cult Of The Tree, investigates an ancient tree in the forest. One name keeps coming up: Nightingale. The name Nightingale keeps coming up.

Then, after she has replaced the fuse and illuminated the home she discovers she will have to visit the convenience store in order to obtain a tattooed hearts. First, you’ll need to have a little coffee break. If you discover a thermos you can save or change characters in the later parts of the story.

“The idea that we would have two playable characters in this was around for a while and we were thinking about different aspects of it and it just feels really important to us that even if we have a connected universe and we can bring a ton of lore and things to be discovered – these threads that go into different games – it’s really, really crucial that it’s approachable for somebody who has never played around with the game before,” Lake says. It was difficult for us to create a character that would appeal to a novice, knowing the circumstances in which we had left Alan Wake and all of his experiences. “We wanted to include a character with no experience in all this weird supernatural stuff.”

Remedy, after saving the current game, also shows us the Mind Place. This is a representation of Saga’s mental processes. This construct within Saga’s head, which is essentially a 3D, interactive menu for options surrounding the investigation at hand, features a case board for Saga to organize clues to progress the investigation, profiling options to learn more about her suspects, and even ways to upgrade her weapons. Remedy teases Alan to have a similar area. 

We wanted to develop on [Remedy’s history with giving players power]Kyle Rowley, co-director of the film says: “We want to give players more words that relate to their power fantasies as an FBI profiler and tortured author.” The goal was to create mechanics to allow the game to be paced better, and to give the players more to do.

Saga is in the convenience shop when she finds a monster. She blasts the monster away using her flashlight, which she uses to reveal its weaknesses. This time the combat is a lot more tactical and calculated, but you can still use your flashlight to light up dark areas. Saga can be seen hiding under a flashlight in one of the sequences. The monster is blinded by her. Saga discovers the heart tattoo in the fridge after defeating her enemy. Also, she finds a shotgun. Alan Wake 2’s inventory management is heavily influenced by the Resident Evil franchise, which has many survival horror fans excited.

The words tattooed on the heart instruct her on how to reach The Overlap, a place where her reality seemingly shares space with the Dark Place. Saga goes back to the same tree she used before, and follows the instructions. She reaches The Overlap. It looks like the forest Saga was wandering around before, but something’s just a little off.

Images of a city superimpose over wooded landscapes, unsettling red lighting illuminates the trees, and the gruesome face of Nightingale keeps popping up in front of the screen, creating a massive jump-scare. Remedy is releasing its first survival-horror game. Expect jump scares and horrific situations set against an atmospheric background and the engaging storytelling that the studio has become known for.

Saga has finally reached the man that she pursued: Nightingale. Saga must be very strategic to have any chance of surviving the supernatural killer. Once she has fired her shotguns and pistols at him, Saga must run in the woods for time. It’s not my intention to give too much information about how the game ends or the battle, but I will say that the demo ends when Saga stumbles over to a shoreline of a lake and finds a mysterious figure washed on the shore. He tells her, “I’m Alan Wake.” I am a writer. 

Alan Wake 2 looks fantastic. The visual quality, the atmospheric tension and even the combat are all excellent. Remedy has learned a lot from the recent Control game, where combat was given more importance than in other Remedy releases. Fans of Control – which won our Game of the Year Award for 2019 – will be excited to see Alan Wake 2, as the two games take place within the same universe.

We wanted this to be accessible for anyone who does not have a lot of money. [knowledge of Control]Lake says that there are many connections. It’s not an Alan Wake, but Remedy Universe, and it has Control-related content. For sure. It’s a great game. I can’t wait for Control fans and Alan Wake fans to get their hands on it. “I’m expecting to see a lot of connections between the two games.”

Remedy, which has been waiting for 13 years for this game to be released, is eager to see it in the hands of fans. Lake says, “Creating this is so much hard work. I’m exhausted.” But it is also so thrilling! The dream has come true. It’s thrilling and exciting to see this fantasy come true. I feel proud and excited about the fact that I was able do it and all of our crazy ideas. “I am more excited about this game than on any project that I have worked on along the way.

Alan Wake 2 arrives on PS5, Xbox Series X/S,  and PC on October 17.