Posted on Oct 31, 2023
'Alan Wake 2' and the year's best horror games, reviewed
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Cook something for thirteen years, and the stew's bound to come out funky.
In the case of Alan Wake 2, the weirdness is part of the charm. The sequel to a 2010 cult classic, the game follows not only the titular character, an author of schlocky crime novels, but also Saga Anderson, an FBI agent investigating ritualistic killings in a patch of Washington State that may as well border Twin Peaks for all its unsettling goofiness.
The opening narration tells you exactly what you're in for. "In a horror story," intones Wake, "there are only victims and monsters, and the trick is not to end up as either." You'll spend much of the game's runtime evading shadowy "Taken," possessed by a "Dark Presence" and vulnerable only to your trusty flashlight (and guns — so many guns). As Anderson you'll use your near-psychic investigatory prowess to unravel a conspiracy, and as Wake, you'll literally rewrite scenes in the "Dark Place" he's trapped in, slowly revising your way out of a hell far worse than the crippling writer's block that kicked off the original game's nightmare.
Cook something for thirteen years, and the stew's bound to come out funky.
In the case of Alan Wake 2, the weirdness is part of the charm. The sequel to a 2010 cult classic, the game follows not only the titular character, an author of schlocky crime novels, but also Saga Anderson, an FBI agent investigating ritualistic killings in a patch of Washington State that may as well border Twin Peaks for all its unsettling goofiness.
The opening narration tells you exactly what you're in for. "In a horror story," intones Wake, "there are only victims and monsters, and the trick is not to end up as either." You'll spend much of the game's runtime evading shadowy "Taken," possessed by a "Dark Presence" and vulnerable only to your trusty flashlight (and guns — so many guns). As Anderson you'll use your near-psychic investigatory prowess to unravel a conspiracy, and as Wake, you'll literally rewrite scenes in the "Dark Place" he's trapped in, slowly revising your way out of a hell far worse than the crippling writer's block that kicked off the original game's nightmare.
'Alan Wake 2' and the year's best horror games, reviewed
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."The opening narration tells you exactly what you're in for. "In a horror story," intones Wake, "there are only victims and monsters, and the trick is not to end up as either." You'll spend much of the game's runtime evading shadowy "Taken," possessed by a "Dark Presence" and vulnerable only to your trusty flashlight (and guns — so many guns). As Anderson you'll use your near-psychic investigatory prowess to unravel a conspiracy, and as Wake, you'll literally rewrite scenes in the "Dark Place" he's trapped in, slowly revising your way out of a hell far worse than the crippling writer's block that kicked off the original game's nightmare.
The story is the monster
Sam Lake, Remedy Entertainment's creative director, has called the game his studio's first survival horror title. The description fits. While the predecessor had plenty of monsters to fight and resources to scavenge, its linear levels kept it from feeling like a Resident Evil puzzle-box adventure. Alan Wake 2's recursive woods and streets, by contrast, invite you to scour them for every last Lunch Box, stash, page, or scrap of ammo or medicine."...
..."The opening narration tells you exactly what you're in for. "In a horror story," intones Wake, "there are only victims and monsters, and the trick is not to end up as either." You'll spend much of the game's runtime evading shadowy "Taken," possessed by a "Dark Presence" and vulnerable only to your trusty flashlight (and guns — so many guns). As Anderson you'll use your near-psychic investigatory prowess to unravel a conspiracy, and as Wake, you'll literally rewrite scenes in the "Dark Place" he's trapped in, slowly revising your way out of a hell far worse than the crippling writer's block that kicked off the original game's nightmare.
The story is the monster
Sam Lake, Remedy Entertainment's creative director, has called the game his studio's first survival horror title. The description fits. While the predecessor had plenty of monsters to fight and resources to scavenge, its linear levels kept it from feeling like a Resident Evil puzzle-box adventure. Alan Wake 2's recursive woods and streets, by contrast, invite you to scour them for every last Lunch Box, stash, page, or scrap of ammo or medicine."...
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