In a sea of exemplar video games released in 2023, Alan Wake 2 is the work most interested in pushing the boundaries of its franchise, its genre and even its medium.
Circling back to everything that made the original shine while adding not only new gameplay innovations, but captivating new characters marks a bold step forward for the series, for Remedy, and the industry at large. Alan Wake 2 is a towering accomplishment that will keep you hooked from start to finish and leave you with a little darkness you'll be thinking about for years to come.
It plays well, it’s got a lot to say and it’s toying with its own narrative in unique, fascinating ways. We’ll be talking about Alan Wake 2 for years to come.
There is nothing you’ll play this year like Alan Wake 2. The choice of two protagonists works wonderfully, with an interwoven plot that is Remedy at their best. I love the twists and turns it takes, with an incredible atmosphere set that boosts everything it touches, including the combat. Alan Wake 2 is breathtaking both visually and audibly, whether in Bright Falls or The Dark Place. Our departure thirteen years ago is long forgotten; Alan Wake's return is a triumph.
This is pure arthouse and postmodern - a title that proves that there is always room for something new in the gaming medium, even if it is based on well-known pop culture tropes.
I adored the first Alan Wake, and I’ve either loved or liked every Remedy game since then. This is the first time I’ve felt so displeased by the studio’s work I’ve actually been angry about it. The pompous writing, the shoehorned mechanics that push a tiresome narrative conceit over the quality of the narrative itself, the archaic combat, the amount of time it spends doing almost nothing, Alan Wake 2 is fucking insufferable most of the time...It’s impossible to tell where the stylistically bad writing of the title character ends and the inadvertently bad game of Alan Wake 2 begins. The difference, at this point, matters not.
The game overall is very creative and interesting, loved the cinematic creativity/symbolism, puzzles were fun and challenging.
Woke crap is lame, stop it: stereotypes of country white men, cops harassing black people, ??black vikings??... Wake is literally replaced by a black woman raising a fatherless child..... seriously..... BARF......
Mind case is strange, useless, annoying, really really really BAD, stop it.
Leveling was not good... words of power, gun upgrades, and discovery didn't seem to have any real value, I frankly don't know why it was even in there.
I think many things got shoved in the game that didn't need to be there. E.g. I think it brings in the same revenue and better reviews without woke, leveling, mind space, and discovery (or some sort of combo thereof).
Alan Wake 2 is a very slow game, right down to your character's movement speed as she jogs slowly through Small Town areas. It's also difficult to navigate the many outdoor areas, which gets very frustrating. The many cutscenes play out like really stilted HBO television shows. The game is obviously borrowing a lot (the plot, the setting) from Twin Peaks, and their central concept of writing reality into existence from outside and within works of fiction from Stephen King. I grew bored of this game after a few hours of playing, but Epic Games doesn't even allow most users to review their games, so of course Alan Wake has a high rating overall.
The game appeared dull to me. I expected something like the first Alan Wake when cool action started in the first minute, but I was greeted by a giant naked male ass right in my face instead. I don't consider throwing photos on a wall particularly fascinating. The main character was equally boring and flat, even more so than Jesse in Control.
SummaryShed some light on what has long been obscured by darkness. After 11 long years, the writer's return is a reality and the dangers lurking in the dark are even more sinister than the Taken roaming Bright Falls. Alan Wake 2 turns up the level of dread as our very first dive into the survival horror genre, so expect a chilling experience w...