Alan Wake 2 Looks Incredible: Impressions from Summer Game Fest

It’s not easy to feel immersed in the cold and rainy forests of the Pacific Northwest while in Los Angeles, one of the country’s driest cities. Add that you are surrounded by a dozen strangers in a small room all wearing headphones, and it seems near impossible. But Alan Wake 2 is not your average game.

Before continuing: there will be potential spoilers (from the beginning of the game) for Alan Wake 2 ahead. You have been warned!

Summer Game Fest gave the opportunity to watch a half hour demo of Alan Wake 2 gameplay, and while it was not nearly enough time, I’ll take what I can get. After waiting thirteen years since the original game, a few more months will feel like nothing. Hopefully.

Source: Alan Wake 2, Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games

The demo followed the new playable character Saga Anderson as she investigates the site where Robert Nightingale was murdered. As fans of the series might be able to guess, she is also hunting the same Robert Nightingale. Those ideas may seem counter to each other, but oh if only things were that simple in the world of Alan Wake.

Reawakened as a monster, Nightingale leads Saga on an investigation through the slowly darkening and constantly raining forest. This primordial forest was as much a character as anything else. The mood and energy was directly depicted by the amount of light, the wind, the rain or strange animal sounds.

The game will feature safe havens, which are locations that will give the player the chance to save the game or switch between Alan and Saga. There is no predetermined order in which players need to play as certain characters. Play three missions as Saga, then one as Alan, then another as Saga, and so forth. Duality will be an important part of this story.

Source: Alan Wake 2, Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games

As a skilled investigator for the FBI, Saga has a “mind place” that she can go to when she needs to think more clearly. From the player’s perspective this looks like a small cabin where a caseboard will show all discovered clues and their connections, complete with push pins and red yarn. This is also a place where Saga can use certain skills like “Profiling” that allows her to have realizations or breakthroughs in the investigation by focusing on a certain character’s profile. The finer details on how this works and what else can be done may have to wait until October to be fully understood.

Alan will also have a place he can go to, much like Saga’s “mind place” but it will serve different functions. There wasn’t much detail available about this, as the demo didn’t include any gameplay as Alan, but the phrase “rewrite reality” was used. Keep in mind that these “mind places” are not pause menus. The game will still continue, so it’s probably best to wait for a safe haven or at least when there are no monsters in the immediate vicinity.

Graphics look spectacular.Source: Alan Wake 2, Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games

It was only a moment in the latest trailer, but there was a shotgun on the wall of that cabin, and yes, it can be grabbed. This particular shotgun is protected by a combo lock which needs the right code. There will also be access to flash grenades, flares, and probably more. Weapons can also be upgraded.

Alan Wake 2 may be a sequel, but if you didn’t play the original thirteen years ago (or Alan Wake Remastered from 2021), don’t worry. Saga will be learning a lot during the investigation, meaning she will serve perfectly as a proxy for inexperienced players. Anyone who has played the original or even the Control: AWE expansion, which featured hints at a connection to Alan Wake, will have a lot more knowledge going in, and maybe will catch onto things more quickly, but none of it will be necessary to play the sequel.

Source: Alan Wake 2, Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games

The game seems to still follow an episodic structure, as this demo was prefaced with what seems like a chapter title. This chapter or mission centered around the tattooed heart that appears in the latest trailer. That heart belongs to Robert Nightingale, and Saga uses it in a ritual to venture to the Overlap, which is where a monstrous Nightingale is hiding. The climactic battle ends with a major cliffhanger as Saga discovers Alan Wake on the shores of Cauldron Lake, and explains to him that he has been missing for thirteen years.

Alan Wake 2 visually knocks it out of the park, sounds even better, and looks like it has an in-depth story that will be well-worth exploring. This sequel is perfectly posed to capture the attention of long-time fans and create some new ones along the way.

Thanks to Remedy Entertainment, Epic Games, and Summer Game Fest for the opportunity to get an early look at this game. Alan Wake 2 releases on October 17th, 2023 for PS5, Xbox Series S, and PC (via the Epic Games Store).