Alan Wake 2 Review — PlayStation 5
A masterfully crafted survival horror experience.
This game has been a pipe dream for Remedy Entertainment for many years now. They wanted to make Alan Wake 2 shortly after the first game but Microsoft, the publishers of Alan Wake (2010), had other ideas which is where Quantum Break came in. When Remedy finally acquired the Alan Wake rights from Microsoft in 2019, they worked with Epic Games to release a remaster on current generation hardware. In addition, they’re finally able to make Alan Wake 2.
Personally, I only got into the Alan Wake series about six months ago. I always heard amazing things about the original game and it’s a great action-adventure title. For Alan Wake 2, I was extremely eager to check it out. While everyone was praising Baldur’s Gate 3 during The Game Awards season, I knew Alan Wake 2 was a close second just by how the press talked about the game. It was raking in 9s and 10s from nearly every outlet.
And they’re right, Alan Wake 2 is a super polished survival horror game that will keep you playing for hours on end.
A brand new character featured in Alan Wake 2 is Saga Anderson. She’s an FBI agent investigating a new group called “The Cult of the Tree” in Bright Falls. As she digs for more information, she comes across murders, paranormal activity, and Alan Wake. After disappearing over 10 years ago, Saga has made it her mission to solve the new mystery at Bright Falls and save Mr. Wake.
Meanwhile, Alan is on his own adventure to find a way out of the Dark Place. In their joint effort, Saga Anderson and Alan Wake must bring their stories together to put an end to the Dark Place.
Without spoilers, the story of Alan Wake 2 kept me engaged the whole way through. It does start off slow to introduce Saga and such. But once you’re able to swap between Alan or Saga whenever you want, that’s when the story truly takes off. You can advance either character’s story at your own pace. Saga’s story is where the final chapters take place, so make sure you do all of Alan’s missions before you advance.
The twist and turns of Alan Wake 2’s story are expertly dropped. I was surprised by how the overall narrative was shaping itself. Some bits of Alan’s story connect to Saga’s and vice versa. Information is revealed to us slowly with a bigger picture coming together.
If you’re a fan of well crafted stories, Alan Wake 2 delivers. It’s dark and mysterious in its approach but all the more satisfying by the end. I haven’t played the New Game Plus mode yet but I’m eager to see what the new ending has to offer. Alan Wake 2 offers a captivating story that’ll keep you engaged the whole way through.
Taking on the survival horror genre, Alan Wake 2 gives the player an unsettling experience riddled with intense chase sequences, limited supplies, and frightening encounters. If you have never played a survival horror game before, Alan Wake 2 presents the genre nicely for new players.
It’s true if you’re reckless with your supplies, you will run out quickly. But if you’re careful in your approach and explore areas regularly, you’ll do just fine in Alan Wake 2.
While I was playing Alan Wake 2, I dove into Resident Evil 2 (2019). I didn’t plan on it but my girlfriend wanted to try the franchise out together. I was terrible at this game when I initially bought it at launch but we played through all of Leon’s campaign before I dove back into Alan Wake 2. Resident Evil 2 (2019) made me understand the survival horror genre more.
It all boils down to managing your resources, solving puzzles, finding key objects to advance, and fighting enemies in scary scenarios. Alan Wake 2 makes it more intense because you have to shine your light on enemies before you can deal damage to them. Your flashlight, bullets, and health are limited resources that you need to manage. Headshots deal more damage and can potentially stun enemies for a moment too. If an enemy gets too close, you can dodge out of their way to avoid damage.
If you happen to die, you’ll respawn at your last save. The save rooms are well lit areas that have a typewriter to save, a shoebox to store items, and a janitor bucket to switch between the characters. Save as much as possible because you don’t want to die and have to re-explore the area again. Trust me, it’s a pain in the ass.
There’s multiple different healing items like painkillers, trauma packs, and first-aid kits. They all heal to varying degrees and take time to apply. Painkillers are the quickest to apply but heal the least. First-aid kits heal the most but take the longest to apply. It’s important to use healing items whenever you can because light sources can’t heal you to full hp.
It’s similar gameplay to Alan Wake (2010) but with the survival horror twist.
Playing between Saga and Alan is similar. While Saga deals with the Taken in real life, Alan fights them in the Dark Place.
The gameplay difference between Alan and Saga is their alternative menus. Saga has her “Mind Place” where she’s able to put clues together, profile characters, and advance the overall narrative. Alan has the “Writer’s Room” where he’s able to manipulate the story and change the environment around him.
If you’re stuck on making progress, head into the alternative menus to see if there’s something you can change there. Saga’s Mind Place is great because it unravels the mystery at hand while Alan’s Writer’s Room opens new paths for the player to explore.
The Writer’s Room definitely changes the immediate gameplay more quickly but the Mind Place is dope too. It keeps track of your collectibles and how the mystery is progressing. Opening these menus do not pause the game, so be mindful of when you enter them.
Puzzles are a major part of the survival horror genre and they’re very much present in Alan Wake 2. Most of the puzzles are optional which unlock more supplies and weaponry. The mandatory puzzles can wrap your brain though. I’m terrible at puzzles in video games, so don’t take my word for it but the puzzles are challenging enough. None of them felt extremely hard with the answers usually being something in the surrounding area.
Manuscript pages make a return which flesh out the story and could give you a sneak peek of what’s to come in the narrative. There’s other little collectibles and easter eggs to find throughout your adventure, so be sure to explore everything.
Alan Wake 2 does everything right in the survival horror genre. Managing your supplies while battling scary enemies is the name of the game. I always felt the intensity when fighting enemies because I didn’t want to miss my shots and waste supplies. Taking damage is more risky where enemies can drain your health bar in an instant. Shooting is responsive with plenty of other tools to use against the Taken.
Switching between Saga and Alan is seamless and brought a unique perspective to this overarching narrative. The puzzles and collectibles are nice to look out for as they build upon the lore of Alan Wake. It’s a survival horror game in every aspect and it’s done masterfully in Alan Wake 2.
Holy smokes, Remedy truly outdid themselves in the presentation department. Graphically, Alan Wake 2 looks beautiful on the PlayStation 5. I played on Performance Mode and the visual fidelity was still impressive. The textures and lighting effects, especially during Alan’s story, are stellar. It kept a stable 60 frames per second and looked amazing the whole playthrough.
The sound direction is way too good. Whether it’s the music ramping up or the lack of sound, I was freaked out the entire time of Alan Wake 2. I could not anticipate the next encounter and it’s because of the sound design. The jump scares are frightening too but after seeing them a few times, I was more annoyed than scared.
The performances are great as well. The use of live-action video is a staple for Remedy’s games. In Alan Wake 2, they bring the overall narrative closer together. I can listen to Matthew Porretta talk in Alan’s voice all day. He’s just so good in that role. Ilkka Villi also does a phenomenal job portraying Alan during the live-action pieces. From Melanie Liburd as Saga Anderson to Sam Lake/James McCaffrey as Alex Casey, everyone stepped up to plate for this long awaited sequel.
Fans and critics were correct, Alan Wake 2 is a chilling experience that brings the survival horror genre to new heights. Having both Alan and Saga’s story happening simultaneously was beautifully executed. You’re free to go at your own pace learning about either character’s journey in the Dark Place or current reality. The gameplay is pretty much everything a survival horror fan could ask for.
Managing resources, scary/tense moments, and solving the occasional puzzle all make Alan Wake 2’s gameplay feel fleshed out and complete. The presentation is above and beyond anything I could’ve expected. Visually stunning and sound design that is frighteningly realistic.
I can see why Alan Wake 2 received so much praise last year and was among many people’s Game of the Year. This is one of the best games of 2023 and most certainly a game worth checking out at $60. Make sure you play at least Alan Wake (2010) before diving into this one. You can also play Control because it does tie into Alan Wake 2 but I wouldn’t say it’s a necessity (I didn’t do that).
Travis “tvsonic” Vuong
Business e-mail: travisvuong56@gmail.com
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