SilentHill_SHC
The original Alan Wake opens with a Stephen King quote, which King licensed to the developers for one dollar. Like King, the titular character is a writer. I’ve always enjoyed King’s stories about writers. The Dark Half, The Shining, Misery, and many others feature authors. “Write what you know,” as they say!
The original Alan Wake, which takes inspiration from such works, was released in May 2010. In the game, novelist Alan Wake tries to solve the mysterious disappearance of his wife in the fictional town of Bright Falls, WA, whilst events from his latest novel keep happening in real life.
Alan Wake 2 has many things in common with the original. Familiar characters will return, as well as returning gameplay elements. However, Alan will team up with an FBI Agent named Saga Anderson investigating multiple murders and players will be able to take control of both characters during gameplay.
Remedy Entertainment and publisher Epic Games Publishing showed a demo during Summer Game Fest. Polygon wrote that the game “practically goes full-on Resident Evil 4 at points,” and that it leans heavily into the survival horror genre.
The game’s director, Kyle Rowley, said that the Resident Evil series influenced the new installment in the series in areas like the camera angles used. He wanted the visuals to make the player “feel more vulnerable,” to make the enemies feel more “physical and dangerous,” and locations to feel “more claustrophobic.”
You don’t have to play the first game to understand this one, but there is a remastered version that was released in 2021, if you want to try out the original first.
Alan Wake 2 launches on October 17, 2023 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
