There is something ironic about how hard it is for me to find the words for a game that is basically about the power of words, and how they can change the way you look at things.
Alan Wake 2 is a unique experience, unlike anything I’ve played before. In the cross-genre sequel to the cult horror from 2010, developers Remedy have created a game that manages to be innovative while still feeling familiar.
It’s a surreal story which on the surface seems simple: an FBI agent, ritual murder and a missing author. But quite quickly the game sucks you into the depths where several realities exist at the same time and move in and out of each other.
You can freely switch between the main characters; FBI agent Saga Anderson whose red threads move the investigation forward and Alan Wake, the author who desperately tries to rewrite the story so he can find his way out of the darkness. Different chapters bring you closer to some kind of truth, while the game sows doubt in the player about what happened.
Alan Wake 2 is not running out of a vacuum – everywhere there are little declarations of love to horror masters. The almost Stephen King-esque atmosphere of Bright Water – where a large part of the story takes place – is almost palpable. It marries incredibly with Twin Peaks, which is probably the pop culture reference that gets the most love.
The characters are told with warmth, they are allowed to grow in unexpected directions and in all the terrifying darkness they are funny. The game succeeds with the greatness of making one jump out of fear one second only to marvel at how genuinely fun it is the next.
There is nothing left to chancedespite the fact that meta is constantly piled on meta – and I get giddy just thinking about how Remedy manages to write this fragmented story together, where I sit in Alan’s shoes myself and try to rewrite the story.
It should be impossible to make a playable story out of this. But instead it is one of the most intense and different experiences I have had in a very long time. Often I have had to put the controller down to take a moment to collect myself. And it is nothing short of incredibly impressive!