Alan Wake 2 Review

Remedy is known for being experimental. It mixes live-action footage into its video games, plays with player expectations, rewards those devoted to the developer’s history and gameography, and in the case of Alan Wake 2, eagerly performs big-budget lunacy for our entertainment and sometimes confusion. The highs of Alan Wake’s follow-up adventure are tall, but there are frequent lows that drag the whole experience into The Dark Place. I also encountered a number of bugs that forced frequent restarts and one full reinstallation. But even in the moments I was most frustrated, I still admire Remedy’s commitment to creating a unique experience and embracing its weirdness.

Alan Wake 2 takes place in the real amount of time since we played the original game. Alan has been stuck in limbo for 13 years, trying his hardest to write himself back to reality. From a zoomed-out perspective, both Alan Wake games are about a man trying to escape an evil entity. On closer inspection, however, the story is about the nature of art, what it means to create, the reliability of memory and reality, parenting, friendship, and of course, murder. Alan Wake 2’s story, sometimes clumsily, navigates all these topics with morose voiceover, beautiful visuals, impressive performances, and bizarre set pieces that will undoubtedly become the game’s primary talking point for the rest of its legacy. This is where Alan Wake 2 shines. The way it presents its story is different than just about everything out there, and even though I would have liked more interactivity during conversations and internal monologues, I remained consistently engaged.

The exception to this is new playable protagonist Saga’s investigative techniques. While I overall preferred playing