After 13 years of waiting, Alan Wake will appear on gamers’ screens again, shifting the vector towards fear and horror. The upcoming game can already be called one of the biggest new releases in the horror genre. This time the plot will unfold around two main characters: the writer Alan Wake, already familiar to the players, and FBI agent Saga Anderson, who will help the man get out of the other world. The game is scheduled to be released on October 27. Read about what else the developers changed in the gameplay and how the sequel will affect the series in Izvestia’s material.
Through closed doors
Remedy Entertainment officially announced the development of the second part of Alan Wake at the large-scale award ceremony The Game Awards in December 2021. Even then, the creators of the game stated that plan to make the series more frightening. If the first game was an action game with horror elements, then in the sequel these elements will become the center of the narrative.
Many of the ideas that the developers wanted to implement in the sequel had previously appeared in American Nightmare, the sequel to the original Alan Wake. Remedy then offered the game project to publisher Microsoft Studios, which was more interested in creating a new product than developing another chapter in the financially unsuccessful Warrior of Light story. For several years, the developers returned to ideas and work on Alan Wake, but were constantly faced with a lack of time, money and other resources. Control’s second story expansion even added Alan Wake as a key DLC figure. This allowed for the creation of a connected universe that included Control, Alan Wake, and the studio’s next title.
Significant progress began in July 2019, when Remedy completely purchased the rights to Alan Wake from Microsoft. — up to this point, the company could not work on the second part without the approval of the publisher. A in 2021, the developers signed an agreement with Epic Games Publishing to release two gamesthe first of which is a remaster of the original. The second game will be a long-awaited sequel, which is directly related to the events of Alan Wake, but players unfamiliar with the previous part do not need to go through it to understand the lore. The sequel will explain to newcomers everything they need to understand what is happening, and will delight old fans with many references to the original thriller.
If the developers compare the 2010 game to the novels of Stephen King, then the sequel will in many ways resemble a detective thriller from HBO: FBI agents investigate brutal ritual murders in a quiet city. Initially, the horror film was going to be released on October 17, but in August the release was moved 10 days later so as not to compete with other releases of the month. Remedy has completely abandoned physical editions and Alan Wake 2 will be available digitally on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC. Remedy studio confirmed that no version for PS4, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch is in development, and that the new product will receive subtitles in Russian and Ukrainian.
1+1
The original Alan Wake was divided into six episodes. The main character Alan Wake, a once successful detective writer, goes on vacation to the small town of Bright Falls with his wife Alice. The man suffers from a creative crisis, but these experiences fade into the background when Alice suddenly disappears. The author goes in search of her and encounters a supernatural dark entity that takes possession of the city and its environs at night. During the investigation, Alan recognizes in the events taking place the plot of a novel he himself wrote. In the end, he saves his wife from the other world, the Dark Abode, but he himself remains locked in it for many years.
The investigation into Saga Anderson that players begin in the second part of the game is driven in part by Alan’s attempt to escape a supernatural trap. The hero writes a new dark story, changing the reality around him in such a way as to escape. The girl is also part of his narrative and must help the hero get out. The presence of two playable characters at once, between whom you can switch at almost any time, is the main innovation of Alan Wake 2. Each hero has his own set of tasks and further development will not be possible without completing the other’s branch, however, the player will be able to choose the shortest paths to already discovered places and even return to previously unpassed riddles.
The first part of the game takes place in the real world and focuses on the history of the Saga and the investigation of a chain of ritual murders in Bright Falls. In total, on behalf of the agent in the new product, you can explore three large locations: the city, the forest around Lake Cauldron and the dilapidated Wateri, founded by Finnish migrants as a center for fishing and timber harvesting.
In the second half of Alan Wake 2, players take control of a writer in a nightmare of his own creation. The dark abode in which Alan is trapped is similar to a dark and twisted New York. Wake’s line moves away from action and is full of psychological horrors; in attempts to separate truth from illusions, he will lose touch with reality. At the same time, Saga will be able to look at some phenomena with a sober look, and her behavior in difficult situations will be believable. It is the appearance of another protagonist that will make the game the darkest of all the versions that were previously invented.
By the way, the girl has access to a “mind place”, a sort of mental pocket dimension that users can go to with the press of a button. It features role-playing as you complete a mystery-solving task and place pieces of evidence on a large board, connecting them with string. In the Wake episodes there is a similar “writer’s board”, on which you can study Alan’s notes and use them to change reality. Saga also knows how to talk with the dead: dialogue scenes unfold in her mind, and she communicates with them through meditation.
Mr. Scratch, the writer’s evil double, who is trying to enslave his consciousness, will also play an important role. The character appeared in the original game, but became a full-fledged antagonist in the spin-off Alan Wake’s American Nightmare.
Let there be light
The gameplay of Alan Wake 2 is very different from the first game. The sequel moves away from the thriller and becomes a full-fledged “survival horror”, this also affects the emergence of new mechanics within the game. Most likely, fans of the series will remember the flashlight, which dissipated the Dark Presence around Alan’s enemies and made them vulnerable to fire. Something similar can be seen in the gameplay trailers for the sequel, but with some changes: now the light strips opponents of their “shadow armor” much faster. In addition, monsters will be able to hide behind floating black clouds, and it will not always be possible to understand exactly which cloud the enemy is behind the first time. But resources are limited.
There are fewer battles in Alan Wake 2, but they are more intense. The developers took into account the monotony of the original’s combat system and added different types of situations and enemies to the second part. Instead of clashes with opponents, the creators of the new product decided to focus on puzzles. For example, in one of the trailers, the hero, using a figurine with a light bulb, “collects” light and transmits it to other places. It changes reality or opens up new passages.
By the way, the third-person view has also undergone changes. In the continuation of the game, the camera is slightly pressed to the shoulder, and during the battle it is reminiscent of Resident Evil remakes. Considering that the genre has turned towards survival horror, it can be assumed that among the new mechanics there will be batteries that are unloved by gamers.
Remedy Entertainment developed Alan Wake 2 using its own game engine, Northlight. The technology is used in all of the company’s games, from Quantum Break to the latest releases in the Control franchise. The studio’s creative director Sam Lake assured that the upcoming horror game will be Remedy’s most beautiful game ever. In addition, he announced two free but significant additions – “Night Springs” and “Lake House”.
System requirements
Minimum:
Operating system: Windows 10 64 bit.
Processor: Intel Core i7-7700 HQ or AMD FX-9590.
Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX480.
RAM: 10 GB.
Disk space: 50 GB.
Recommended:
Operating system: Windows 10 64 bit.
Processor: Intel Core i5 11600K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X.
Video card: NVIDIA Geforce RTX 2070 or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT.
RAM: 16 GB.
Disk space: 50 GB.
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