Alan Wake is a beloved horror game. Heavily inspired by Twin Peaks, fans loved exploring the strange, warped reality of Bright Falls as the struggling novelist Alan Wake.
The hype for a sequel has been building for some time, but it’s finally almost here: Alan Wake 2 is set to release very soon, and fans have a lot to be excited about.
Here’s everything we know about Alan Wake 2 so far:
Alan Wake – A Strange Horror Story
A quick catch-up on the story of Alan Wake – after all, it’s been a while.
In the first game (released back in 2010) follows the story of novelist Alan Wake. Struggling with writer’s block, Alan visits Bright Falls with his wife, Alice, to get some rest (and perhaps some inspiration). After Alice is dragged into Cauldron Lake, Alan blacks out and awakens to find a series of shadowy figures known as the ‘Taken.’
Alan can fight these figures using both light and weapons; the player uses what becomes their ultimate weapon, a flashlight, to temporarily weaken enemies before finishing them off using whatever weapon Alan can get his hands on.
The setting is memorably stunning: the small town is surrounded by majestic landscapes, and interacting with the small town community is eerie and fascinating.
The game had an excellent critical response and won a number of awards, including ‘Best Horror Game’ by IGN. Fans have been clamoring for a sequel for over a decade.
Alan Wake 2 – The Premise
The story of Alan Wake 2 is this: thirteen years after Alan Wake goes missing, Bright Falls is hit by a series of horrible ritualistic murders. Accomplished FBI agent Saga Anderson investigates, expecting a small town murder investigation. Unfortunately, she quickly finds herself in a dark place. Swallowed by Alan Wake’s horror story, Saga has to fight through Alan’s nightmare in order to free him and escape herself.
Interestingly, players can switch between Wake and Anderson’s respective stories, and they can be played in any order the player chooses. Players will have to wield their flashlights once again in order to take down the supernatural darkness and collect pages to unlock the story, but there are new gameplay elements to keep things interesting.
Mind Place
When players control Anderson, they can tap into her incredible mind using the Mind Place, which allows them to solve puzzles and make links between clues. As Saga is known among her FBI peers for solving seemingly impossible cases, this makes sense and adds an interesting new gameplay mechanic for returning players. As Anderson’s case spirals, this is an incredibly useful tool to keep on top of all the loose threads.
With limited resources to choose from, players must fight the darkness carefully in Saga and Alan’s separate realities. Hopefully, it will feel as tense and terrifying as the original game.
Development Journey
Ideas for Alan Wake 2 first started floating around back in 2010, leaving many players asking the question: what’s taken so long?
Initially, Remedy Entertainment started working on a sequel to Alan Wake, allowing players to explore stories involving other characters, like Sarah Breaker and Barry Wheeler. However, when Remedy pitched this idea to Microsoft Studios, they turned it down, asking Remedy to try something new instead. The work that went into the sequel ended up going into American Nightmare, an action-adventure spinoff of the original game.
The truth is that Remedy was busy: with Quantum Break, Control, and Crossfire X releasing in the years between Alan Wake 1 and 2, there’s a reason why the second game was put on the back burner. The intervening years, however, have allowed the team to develop new skills, and we can safely presume that the second game will feel more up-to-date than the original.
Release Date
Alan Wake 2 is set to release on the 27th of October 2023 on PS5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. Just in time for some creepy Halloween gaming. With this and the upcoming Silent Hill f, it’s a good time to be a horror fan!
Alan Wake 2 was developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Epic Games.
Megan is a freelance writer based in Somerset, England. She writes about videogames, books, and pop culture.
