➤ Alan Wake 2, the review of the horror-tinged sequel that expresses all the best of Remedy 🕹

It is not easy to create a sequel 13 years after the original title. Have the Remedy guys succeeded with Alan Wake 2?

It's been 13 years since the first Alan Wake: a period that can seem like an eternity in a market, that of video games, which tends to change forms, ideas, habits in very short periods of time.

In these 13 years, practically everything has happened: 3 generations of consoles have passed, the PC has had a crazy acceleration in the technological field, many software houses have closed and several others have launched mergers and acquisitions, mobile games have It has gone through dizzying ups and downs and the most traditional audience has aged inexorably. And we could easily open a separate chapter on reviews and influencers.

But the most interesting thing at this moment is how Remedy has changed in all these years. Because between the first Alan Wake and this sequel, the Finnish team worked and then published Quantum Break, Control and the CrossfireX single-player campaign (actually there would also be a title for iOS, but it doesn't matter), substantially modifying its modus operandi and trying, sometimes clumsily, to adapt to this changing market.

Why Alan Wake 2 arrives today is a topic that the same team has found itself arguing about in recent months, but it is clear that in 13 years what and how this sequel should be has changed in the minds of its creators and, as I had already said in a previous encounter with the game, it only takes a few hours to realize how much this work represents the sum of the developer's peculiar characteristics; a kind of ideal conjunction of everything that Remedy has been able to bring to the screens to date.

Alan Wake 2 is an experience that will surely cause discussion, which will probably cause divisions in the trial and will leave an indelible mark on those who play it and, perhaps, on this very varied market. To understand why we reached this conclusion, it is necessary to read the rest of our review of Alan Wake 2, but before leaving you with the text, we remind you that Remedy's work will be available from October 27, 2023 on PC (exclusively on Epic Games Store), on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series We tested it mainly on computers, also spending a few hours on the PS5 version to offer you some additional considerations about the console versions.

The story: when everything is perfect

Alan Wake 2, the review of the horror-tinged sequel that expresses all the best of Remedy — In Alan Wake 2 there are numerous live action sequences

Talking about the story of Alan Wake 2 while carefully avoiding spoilers basically means forcing yourself not to write about the story of Alan Wake 2. Therefore, we will try to tell you what surrounds the narrative of this game and, above all, what you can do. expect from the element that, without a doubt, represents the highest point of all production.

First of all, it is essential to highlight how this sequel veers drastically and predominantly towards the horror thriller: Alan Wake 2 is a harrowing, disturbing game, full of noises and suggestions that inspire terror.; a title that tries by all means to awaken a feeling of oppression in those who face it and, for a good part of the time, observe it. We do not use the term casual observation since a substantial part of the sequel is made up of narrative and reflective sequences where the player will have nothing left to do but look and interact with the elements on the screen, listening to the mental musings. of its protagonists.

It is undoubtedly a game not for the faint of heart, a terror that scares and does so in cryptic ways, sometimes making us feel like its two protagonists who masterfully share the stage, and sometimes like its most fanatical spectators. The Anderson saga in particular, the FBI agent, does not make you regret the hours of play that were taken away from Alan Wake, the other secondary character, but it will not take you more than a few moments to be kidnapped by the sea of other characters to around you in which the stories of Bright Falls and the fictitious and dark New York in which the protagonist who gives the game its name is locked up are built. We're sorry we can't tell you more, but we'd be crazy to reveal what it definitely is. the best element of Alan Wake 2: its story.

Between films and superimpositions

As we said at the beginning of the article, Alan Wake 2 is in some way the ideal meeting point of the Finnish team's previous productions and, as far as narrative is concerned, it is located exactly halfway between Quantum Break and Control: The entire game makes excessive, often almost overwhelming, use of sequences filmed and performed with real actors. that interrupt the action and force us to watch classic footage. Of course, it's all more organic and above all better integrated (as well as shorter) than what happened in Quantum Break, but that's the essential thing.

Where the title really shines and surprises is in the overlapping mechanics between game scenes, live scenes and other game sequences that Remedy had experimented with Control and that in Alan Wake 2 become the founding aesthetic and artistic note of the entire game. construction site. There are very small sequences that appear suddenly causing quite a few scares, exploratory phases where multiple scenarios are superimposed to exquisitely recreate the idea of the points of contact between the different mixed realities, and there is that constant transition between the live ones. Action and gameplay phases that can be considered the next evolution of the narrative style introduced by Naughty Dog with Uncharted.

Ma Alan Wake 2 is also the apotheosis of the metanarrative, the new benchmark for breaking the fourth wall, a game with a complex, layered, almost tangled plot that will keep you suspended in search of meaning, to understand its subtext, until the last lines.

Although it is not necessary that you have played the original chapter., Alan Wake 2 is able to simultaneously resolve and not resolve what happened in the prequel, teasing players who know the team's work very well (there are many references to Control, but delving deeper it will not be impossible to observe gigantic links with Max and Payne and even Quantum Break) and greatly stimulating even those who will approach Remedy with this title.

The narrative competence achieved by Sam Lake and his associates is now at the limit of the avant-garde and it will probably be possible to discuss for a long time to what extent all this is suitable for a video game and not for a series or a film. , as well as the debate could be ruthless over how much of this story is actually tied to and supported by video game language, but we'll tell you right away. It will be impossible to remain indifferent to what Alan Wake 2 tells on the screen, often in truly surprising ways.

What is Alan Wake 2 specifically?

If we could have written countless more paragraphs of praise for the story, it is when we address the gameplay of Alan Wake 2 that the issues become much more problematic and debatable. Already in unsuspecting times we had raised some doubts about the action component and, unfortunately, we must admit that we were not so wrong.

However, let's start by defining the genre of Remedy's new work. Alan Wake 2 is, like its prequel, an action adventure with a third-person view and, clearly, a big focus on narrative. But at the same time it is also a survival horror in the purest style, with very little ammunition, very intense combat where it is fairly easy to die on the highest difficulty level (and you will curse a lot for the checkpoints and very rare saves). ) and there is a lot of terror around every corner. This time, however, the two protagonists bring with them two different and completely separate scenarios, as well as a handful of peculiar mechanics for each of the secondary characters. Basically It's not an open world at all, but rather an open map of sorts.: The sequences starring Alan Wake are largely set in a dark-toned New York environment that we can explore quite freely and then enter a handful of interior environments, some of which require charging.

The sections dedicated to Saga Anderson, on the other hand, are developed through three different scenarios that can be reached, also in this case with moderate freedom, traveling in the car that allows the cargo to be hidden.

Switching between characters is possible and is entirely at the player's discretion., but only after having faced the first chapters respecting the order established by Remedy and only accessing special shelters that are usually located outside the areas related to the missions. To be clear, in the freer and more open phases we can go to these environments to go from Saga to Alan, but once a narrative act has started we will have to complete it before we can make a change.

The most interesting element is undoubtedly Remedy's ability to create a narrative that is only sometimes linear capable of justifying this freedom of approach without sacrificing in any way the understanding of the text. And obviously the entire very long epilogue will force us to follow the order imposed by the developer given that the transition between the two secondary characters, in practice, is only possible in the central phase of the plot.

The gameplay: when not everything convinces

Having eliminated this essential notion of what to expect from Alan Wake 2 It is essential to highlight the limitations of its gameplay. which, in our opinion, is the victim of two important deficiencies. First of all, and here the discussion is linked to a more general debate about the dichotomy between story and gameplay in most modern video games, in many situations it seems that the interactions of the title, its mechanics, are not really of service. of the narrative, but they are there more than anything to fill the space between two moments of the narrative. And this filling, unfortunately, lacks variety from many points of view.

attention, We don't want to say that Alan Wake 2 is a boring game. or not very varied in its imagery, but the problems lie precisely in the structures underlying its interactivity. Something not very different from what happened with the first Alan Wake.

The enemies are not very varied. and even the encounters with the bosses, which often define the end of a narrative act, draw more attention due to the path we are forced to follow to reach them, so incredible in terms of staging and narration, that by the battle itself. Strongly anchored in the general dynamic of not letting the opponent reach us so as not to suffer their shot at close range, at the same time dodging the very few bullets that they are capable of shooting from afar.

The same could be said of the weapons that, although partly different between the two protagonists, are few and truly basic in terms of shooting options, but in general It is precisely the variety of confrontations that is negatively surprising., especially in the Saga-related sections that often also share the same forest setting.

Flashlight dualism to weaken opponents' dark "armor" and gunfire becomes a repetitive action in no time as there is a lack of substantial progression. But be careful because not everything is negative: for example all those mechanical Metroidvania that Remedy knew how to master so skillfully with Control, are present here although in an extremely more limited version, helping to enhance an exploration that for a good percentage of the game is completely optional, but also very satisfying. It will often happen that you retrace your steps to open initially closed gates and doors and thus work on the numerous collectibles that represent the secondary objectives of Alan Wake 2 and that will allow you to significantly extend the hours necessary to complete it 100%.

And we guarantee that it won't take long: in fact, it took us 22 hours to get to the end credits., leaving behind several unexplored areas and even a couple of uncollected weapons.

Between mental places and typewriters

Both Saga Anderson and Alan Wake, in their distant and dark worlds, have mechanics that characterize their sections and allow the correct progression of the narrative and therefore the missions. The FBI agent has the mental place., a kind of personal study where we can organize clues and intuitions and outline the key characters with whom we can interact. Each element is "collected" in the field through observation and analysis of the environment and, conceptually, the sections with Saga could become almost investigative phases if it were not for the fact that, in concrete terms, there is nothing that really requires its use. of brain matter. In the end it is about taking photographs and notes and placing them on a large wall, without any type of puzzle or deductive element: the only thing you have to take into account is the coherence of the position. The effect that occurs after several hours of play is that in reality all this is just a ploy to "force" the player to listen minute after minute to the Saga talk between them, before having the new objective to achieve in the course of The mission. .

With Alan Wake, however, we will have access to the writer's study. which, in very few words, allows some specific scenarios to be altered according to narrative ideas: it is as if the protagonist could rewrite the events that occurred in that space according to some echoes of history collected when exploring the environment. The dynamic is really very interesting, first because it has more direct consequences on the game than what happens with Saga, and second because it is created in an extraordinary way from a technical point of view. However, beyond a truly sparkling beginning, this "rewriting" quickly loses depth and variety and in the more advanced sections it seems, also in this case, a simple expedient to carry the narrative forward, an end in itself and that no Doesn't require real brainstorming.

Without a doubt more interesting is theuse of mechanics to capture and deposit light which is always part of the sections of Alan Wake, and which in some contexts translates into authentic environmental puzzles that must be overcome to access the most advanced sequences of the missions or areas full of collectibles.

The technique: when excellence is at home

We will come out with a truly powerful proclamation: Alan Wake 2 is the best you can see on PC today. And we challenge you to disprove what we just said as soon as you pick up the title.
It's true: the system requirements are terribly unbalanced upwards, especially when you want to take full advantage of Ray Tracing which, in this new Remedy title, is taken to its most extreme limits between Path Tracing and Ray Reconstruction. With truly extraordinary results in everything related to the credibility of both exterior and interior settings. There will be countless times when You will be surprised by the light effects, the colors, the reflections., with a result that borders on photorealism for some environmental views. It is absolutely incredible to think that all of this was achieved with a proprietary engine, the Northlight, used exclusively by Remedy.

However, there is a drawback that is probably the result of having shot too high with equipment that, in the end, is still very small: the massive presence of bugs and dirt of various types. Graphical artifacts and a host of lighting effects stability and consistency issues start to emerge as soon as we operate at the most advanced levels of DLSS and FSR, at least in our test configuration (AMD Ryzen 7700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ) and many times we encountered errors that blocked and prevented the correct continuation of the missions. Fortunately, everything has always been resolved by reloading the last save or restarting the game, but it is important to note at this time that Alan Wake 2 will probably reach its perfect optimization and stability only 2-3 weeks after launch, when Remedy will. They have released the first corrective patches.

However, we didn't experience any optimization or frame rate issues - it's clear that our test setup takes its toll as it's very high-end, but it's still nice to see a title of this size running at 1440p without compromising quality. Graphic front well above 60 FPS with DLSS 3 and Frame Generation.

A note of merit also in the sound field: among the sound effects, the splendid English dubbing, a massive use of sung music - some of which are integrated into plot sequences that will become a point of reference for the future of the medium-, are true, and terrifying underlying themes, Alan Wake 2 is truly a pleasure to listen to..

Too bad just for the Spanish subtitles. which, despite presenting a perfect localization from the orthographic and syntactic point of view, suffer at the time of writing this review from very serious timing and appearance problems on the screen that, on more than one occasion, have made us lean towards the use of texts in English. since it was really difficult to follow the dialogues. Remedy has assured us that this issue will be resolved in the future, but we feel obligated to warn those who purchase the game at launch.

Technical impressions of the PS5 version

Even if only for a few hours, We also had the opportunity to try Alan Wake 2 on PS5.. In recent days Remedy Entertainment has spoken on several occasions about how the console versions of the game have been well optimized, and we basically want to confirm their words, given that both available graphical modes seem stable and consistent.

Unlike other titles, Alan Wake 2 allows you to switch from quality mode to performance mode at any time, without having to restart the application or return to the main menu, and this allows you to get a pretty good idea of how these two work. The options work, which probably use a native resolution of 1440p and 1080p, respectively.

Reconstruction artifacts are noticeable in both cases, although motion blur tends to blur edges during moving sequences. Likewise, certain effects show the possibility of errors, for example the reflection of screen space that is "reabsorbed" with the movement of the view, or specific light sources that generate unexpected halos, or even shadows that are not cast correctly on surfaces.

The numerous aesthetic imperfections and flaws that can be seen in the graphics of Alan Wake 2 bring back the idea of a production that perhaps would have needed a little more time for final touches. However, these are not dramatic issues and we imagine they will already be resolved with the first updates from Remedy Entertainment, while on the frame rate front there is very little to complain about.

In fact, the two aforementioned graphics modes are capable of reaching and maintaining their respective frames per second targets, while still giving the idea of a dynamic approach to resolution that in the most exciting moments takes a bit of control, becoming quite aggressive. , as particles, for example, seem to suggest by projecting an enhanced beam of light on enemies to make them vulnerable to our projectiles.

The frame rate is neither perfect nor unstable, let's be clear: since in Alan Wake 60 it is also confirmed that 2 FPS is certainly more pleasant than 30, we almost always play in performance mode, but there are times when significant drops also occur . As luck would have it, these blunders end up being relegated to the background of what happens on the screen, making the most of the fluidity of the experience, which therefore never feels stunted.
Below you'll find a gallery with a handful of images taken with the PlayStation 5 version of the game.

Conclusions

Tested version PC Windows, PlayStation 5 digital delivery epic games store, playstation store, Xbox Store Holygamerz.com 8.5 Readers (86) 7.7 your vote

We are sure of this: depending on the approach and point of view of those who play, Alan Wake 2 can be a timeless masterpiece or a meatloaf with exhausting gameplay. We have tried to fit exactly in the middle: while we fully appreciate the incredible work done by Remedy on the narrative front and the genius poured into some sequences that will be forever etched in our memories, we cannot overlook a number of shortcomings in the gameplay that undermines the depth of the survival horror component and the variety of this action adventure. At the same time, however, there is one thing that everyone will agree on: artistically, aesthetically and technically there is nothing for anyone and Alan Wake 2 deserves to be watched, at least once, even if it is from afar.