Alan Wake 2 is one of the big blockbusters of this end of the year. Adventure video game with a horrifying tendency, it wants to seduce with its detailed scenario and its unique universe. In this file, we compile the essentials to know about this title which is likely to mark the year 2023.
The end of the year 2023 promises to be great for gamers. Many big games are planned and we will have to make choices. Among these blockbusters, we find Alan Wake 2, the latest baby from Remedy studios. A long-awaited work by fans. You won’t have to miss it!
Alan Wake 2 is the game we were hoping for. It took more than a decade for the Remedy studio to release a sequel to its masterpiece. In this file, we will compile the essentials to know about this project. Release date, gameplay, story, we tell you everything. Ready to enter the dark lair?
Alan Wake, what is it?
Before getting to the heart of the matter, it is necessary to lay down some basics for neophytes. Alan Wake is a game developed by Remedy Entertainment released in 2010 on Xbox 360 (2012 on PC). This is a third person adventure/horror title. where we must progress through more or less open levels by eliminating the monsters who want to attack us.
A classic gameplay that serves an extremely worked scenario. Remedy is known for its narrative games (Max Payne, Control, Quantum Break) and Alan Wake is undoubtedly its masterpiece in this area. We follow the story of Alan Wake (yes!), popular novelist victim of the white page syndrome. In order to find inspiration, he left with his wife to isolate themselves in Bright Falls, a small town lost in the northwest of the United States. But strange events will disrupt his retirement: his horrific writings will interfere with reality and it will be up to him to fight them.
More than an adventure game, Alan Wake is a true writing gem. A gripping story that knows how to play the suspense and that does not let go until the last second. Everything is served by a suffocating universe that draws its inspiration from Stephen King’s novels or the Twin Peaks series. A real lesson given to the industry at the time. Its release was unfortunately somewhat overshadowed by that of another big game of the time, Red Dead Redemption, which arrived the same week.
Read also – Read Dead Redemption is coming to Switch, why it’s the perfect opportunity to (re)discover this classic
Alan Wake had the right two DLCs and a spin-off titled American Nightmare. In 2019, Remedy released Control, a totally different game but set in the same universe, but with which ties to AW remain tenuous. It is finally in 2023 that the sequel arrives on the market. Finally !
What is the release date of Alan Wake 2?
Alan Wake 2 will be available on October 27, 2023. A month full of releases, since we will also see the arrival of Assassin’s Creed Mirage (October 5), Super Mario Wonder (October 20), Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (October 20), Total War Pharaoh (during October) or Cities Skylines 2 ( October 24). Choices will have to be made!
What platforms is Alan Wake 2 released on?
Alan Wake 2 is out on PC (only on the Epic Games Store), but also on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It is an exclusively new gen game, therefore there will be no PS4 and Xbox One version. Also forget a release on Switch.
What is the price of Alan Wake 2?
Alan Wake 2 is entitled to a lower price than other AAAs. Indeed, Remedy chose to distribute his game only in dematerialized form in order to lower costs. Here are the prices:
- PC: 50 euros
- Consoles: 60 euros
A Deluxe Edition is also sold and brings various bonuses, such as future DLCs included, outfits or skins for your weapons.
- PC: 70 euros
- Consoles: 80 euros
The absence of a physical edition is a choice assumed by Remedy at the time of all dematerialized, but this disappoints collectors a little. No collector’s edition for them.
What is the gameplay of Alan Wake 2 like?
Alan Wake 2 resumes the gameplay of the first part. The main character is directed with a third person view. You have to progress through the levels and face monsters. To defeat them, you must weaken them with the flashlight before shooting them. The big difference with the first episode, according to the studio, is that the clashes will be significantly fewer, but more difficult and more impactful.
The novelty of this Alan Wake 2, is that the player will no longer control only Alan. In addition to the tortured writer, we are at the controls of Saga Anderson, an FBI profiler who is leading the investigation in Bright Falls. If the gameplay seems similar for the two characters, the atmosphere of the levels crossed seems totally different. It’s like having two games in one.
What is the story of Alan Wake 2?
Note that in this paragraph we are going to spoiler the end of Alan Wake first of the name. If you haven’t, you can skip ahead to the next chapter.
Alan Wake 2 takes place thirteen years after the first part. Our writer is still trapped in the dark lair after sacrificing himself to save his wife. He wanders within a nightmarish universe where his creations become reality, jumping from vision to vision in the hope of finding an exit. The icing on the cake, he is hunted down by a mysterious monster.
And meanwhile, in the real real world of real reality, the FBI profiler Saga Anderson travels to Bright Falls to investigate a bizarre ritual murder. Gradually, the stories of the two heroes will become intertwined. What are the links between these assassinations and Alan Wake? Will the novelist manage to get out of his hell? Questions that will find their answers during the adventure.
Do you have to have done the first episode before embarking on this new part?
Remedy assures that it is not necessary to have done the first episode to understand this second. It tells a completely different story that starts on new bases. However, it is still better to know the previous adventures of Alan to capture all the intricacies of the plot. That’s good, since the 2010 game was released in a remastered version in 2021. The latter is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X / S and Switch. We strongly advise you to dive into it to revise.
Note that the Alan Wake’s DLCs aren’t really necessary, since they tell a story a little apart (we follow our hero evolving in the dark cave). Same thing for the spin-off American Nightmare, which is not included in the continuity.
Finally, we were talking about Control a little higher. If the two games share the same universe, their links are limited to a few references. On the other hand, one of its DLCs evokes the writer at length, but it is not necessary to have done it either to understand Alan Wake 2.
Is a sequel already planned?
A third component is not yet relevant. However, Remedy has already announced that Alan’s story will continue in the future. This will be done through two paid extensions. No info on the subject, but we already know their name: Zone X and La Maison du Lac.
Who are the creators of Alan Wake 2?
Alan Wake is a Remedy Entertainment game. Finnish studio based in Espoo (in the suburbs of Helsinki), it started in the 1990s by developing benchmarks (via Futuremark) and the game Death Rally. But it was in 2001 that he made himself known to the general public with Max Payne.
Max Payne is the title that changed everything. While at the time the video game was still seeking its legitimacy, Remedy offers a strong, well-written adventure with a sticky atmosphere worthy of a film noir. A critical and commercial success which was followed by a second part in 2003, just as qualitative. Note that the third episode, released in 2012, was developed by Rockstar, not by Remedy. We will discreetly pass over the 2008 film…
In 2010, Remedy released its fourth game after a long five-year development: Alan Wake. Once again, the studio shines with its writing talent: it is now its trademark. All of its games will follow the same formula: classic and effective gameplay centered on action and accompanied by an in-depth narrative.
Despite a somewhat disappointing Quantum Break in 2016, Remedy confirms its place as a studio that counts with Control in 2019. A game that marked thanks to its nervous fights, its convoluted history but also and above all by its artistic direction inspired by brutalism.
In 2020, Remedy is partnering with Epic Games for the distribution of its upcoming games. Currently, we know that Control 2 is in development as well as a multiplayer spin-off named Condor. A remake of Max Payne 1 and 2 is also in the cards. Alan Wake 2, meanwhile, should once again show the qualities of the studio in the eyes of the general public.