Alan Wake 2 - Hands-on Preview
2023 has been FULL of amazing games. Games, that almost any other year would almost certainly be the “Game of the Year,” and yet here comes another contender! If Alan Wake 2 pulls off what it’s going for, there’s a very good possibility it will be my favorite game this year… no small feat. But first, let’s back up.
Alan Wake 2 is an upcoming survival horror game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Epic Games Publishing. It is a sequel to 2010’s Alan Wake, but is also pitched as welcoming to players new to the franchise and character. I was invited to play about 3-4 hours of the game at an event in Los Angeles. I’ll have more to say on the week of October 1st episode of DLC, so be sure to look out for that.
My hands-on time with the game dropped me into the world(s) several hours after the game’s opening. And while that approach can work well for many games (see my Spider-Man 2 hands-on impressions, for example), I felt like I could have used the intro/tutorial sections for Alan Wake 2 to help me better understand the worlds and mechanics the game is working with. Don’t get me wrong, I was able to figure everything out and there was staff on hand to help with questions, but Alan Wake 2’s plot plays with your head and mind, and sometimes I wasn’t exactly sure what was expected confusion or what was me not totally getting what the game was putting down.
I got to play as both Saga and Alan. And both worlds felt incredible. I’m not sure many studios can match the level of world building and environmental “feel” the way Remedy can when firing on all cylinders. Alan Wake 2 felt daring and brave. Using a combination of live action, in-game graphics, sound effects, and music to create an atmosphere that sets the tone for the game and the experience as the player.
There are connections to Remedy’s other game, Control, and nods to Max Payne (I’m sure there are references to other Remedy games as well). There’s a sense of wonder, a dark-filled wonder but wonder all the same, and respect for the player to “figure things out” that many games don’t bother with. For example, while solving a few puzzles during my time with the game, the answer was never just on a random piece of paper somewhere in the room. Yes, there were puzzles where that “piece of paper” was in the room with information on it, but the information on that piece of paper only implied the answer. There’s additional thought required by the player before the puzzle can be solved.
And what I saw of the investigations as Saga and writing as Alan implied the same level of trust. From what I played, I cannot be certain that these elements will 100% come together, but if they do, I think they will be incredible gaming moments.
During my time with the game, there were many moments where I didn’t know exactly what I was supposed to be doing, but I was always able to figure it out, and I think that is a big theme of the game. The game seems to be intentionally keeping the player unsteady and slightly disoriented, just like Saga and Alan in their respective worlds.
Alan Wake 2 feels like an very ambitious swing and I really hope the full game pulls it all off… I think the game will be a cult hit regardless, but there’s a chance it ends up being something even more special.
Some technical stuff: I played the game on PC with a PS5 controller. DLSS 3.5 and path tracing was not in the build I was playing, but I was told it would be in the game at launch.