a more Resident Evil approach to avoid another flop?

Because yes, the question deserves to be asked. For what ? Quite simply because Alan Wake has never been a bankable license, despite all the qualities it encompasses. 4.5 million games sold in total in the space of 13 years is obviously a disappointment, especially since the remaster released in 2021 was a commercial success. So, we have to be careful between what hardcore gamers want on social networks and the reality of the market. And for the moment, Alan Wake is not a game that generates hype for the general public, to the point where Remedy Entertainment postponed its game for several weeks to avoid being head-on with the big AAAs from earlier this month of October. Will it pay off? Well see you in a few weeks. In the meantime, we’re going to dissect some new gameplay, revealed during a new game session and as I told you above, we’re in for a change of atmosphere. Light in reality, because the first Alan Wake already had the air of a horrific game on certain points. But in this sequel, the developers have accentuated certain aspects, starting with a shoulder-mounted camera, which offers greater immersion for the player. A bit like Resident Evil, whose sales of each remake galvanize all the studios and publishers.

These new game sequences allow us to discover the gameplay of the two playable characters who are Alan Wake of course, but especially Saga Anderson, an FBI agent who has been responsible for leading an investigation into the ritual murders in the town of Bright Fall. But for this sequel, the events will take us to other places, such as the neighboring town of Watery. Sam Lake, the game’s creative director, said he was very attached to the setting that the Remedy studio created in the first episode, namely the idyllic setting of this small town in the Pacific Northwest. Immediately, as you can see in these images, Alan Wake 2 gives off a marked atmosphere, a bit like Twin Peaks which it is inspired by, with these cities of very deep America, where it is not good to be stroll alone in the evening or in these somewhat macabre forests. The city seems to have stopped in the 80s, the golden age during which this eccentric place welcomed many tourists. Alas, Saga Anderson is not there to enjoy the place, but to investigate homicides and with his blue FBI raincoat, you will have to explore, find enigmas and defend yourself when necessary. Exploring the town of Watery is a bit reminiscent of Silent Hill in its atmosphere, with a slower pace of course, but better controlled, just to fully immerse the player with this feeling of strangeness.

Alan Wake 2 has a different construction from its predecessor, and rather than gunfights which punctuated the very marked path of the first Alan Wake, here, we evolve in open areas, which has a direct impact on the narration, since You can visit the places in the order you want. The abundance of puzzles in Alan Wake 2 also proves that Remedy was quite inspired by Resident Evil remakes. Puzzle with a level of difficulty that evolves in relation to the rewards it contains, we also find a much more different number of weapons than in the first episode. The Resident Evil touch is also felt in the fights, not only through the viewing angle, but also for their lively and stressful approach, with much more flexibility than in Capcom’s games, thanks in particular to this system of dodge inherited from the first episode. And then there is the core of Alan Wake’s DNA that has been preserved, namely the use of the flashlight, which allows you to slow down shadow enemies by burning them with the beam of your lamp. This brings dynamism to the clashes, but additional stress.

Another novelty of this Alan Wake 2, the developers have revised the formula, abandoning this system of waves of enemies which appear by the dozen. This time around, the fights are much more spaced out and only involve one or two enemies at a time, rarely more. Each enemy is a challenge on its own, since it will take time to overcome them. The gameplay with Alan Wake is quite identical to that of Saga Anderson, but we can see that our writer evolves in more closed places, which makes things even more oppressive when he has to face enemies who are able to move extremely fast, even teleport. We will therefore have to manage the stress, the ammunition and the always tortured side of the character. Here too, the investigation and exploration game has been expanded in order to give more depth to the game and the overall atmosphere.

The release of Alan Wake 2 is expected on October 27 and we can’t wait to play the final version, planned for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series.

To say that this sequel has been long fantasized by a category of players is an understatement. Thirteen years after the first episode which was released exclusively on Xbox 360, Alan Wake is back, but this time, he will not be alone. Accompanied by Saga Anderson, an FBI agent who must investigate a series of ritual murders, our tortured writer now seems stuck between two worlds. He will indeed have to navigate between the real world and the Dark Place, a gloomy place where his mind will once again be eaten away by regrets and remorse. With its more Resident Evil approach, both in its structure and in its gameplay, Alan Wake 2 therefore wishes to appeal to another audience, namely the millions of people who have subscribed to the various remakes of the Capcom saga. While changing certain elements of its franchise, the developers of Remedy nevertheless kept the DNA of the first episode. A mix that works with controller in hand, let’s hope that the public is now receptive…