I first laid hands on the original Alan Wake on my fourteenth birthday. After watching a few trailers that piqued my interest, I requested it on a whim. I didn’t like horror at the time, but something about the game spoke to me. I reckoned I could handle it. Apart from a few Barbara Jagger-related nightmares, I think I did okay. From then on, Alan Wake was always on my mind, whether it be a rumour about a sequel popping up, a YouTube theory video, or the urge to revisit it.
A replay of the game during the Coronavirus Pandemic led me to Control. I’d just finished saving Alice from The Dark Place when I decided to try Remedy’s newest game. I was quickly intrigued by The Oldest House’s mind-bending wonder. I also relished in the dark humour of playing a game set in a building in a state of lockdown, given the position myself and millions of others were in at the time. You don’t need me to tell you that period was a struggle for many people, but playing games like Control kept me going.
I lost my mind when I encountered a very familiar thermos in the Panopticon. I’d had no idea about the direct connections to Alan Wake in the game. From there, I searched every nook and cranny to find other references to Bright Falls and Alan Wake, including a vision of the writer himself. Discovering something in a video game is one of the best feelings around, and unexpectedly, being able to trigger Alan Wake appearing on my screen was something I’ll never forget. The formal announcement of the Remedy Connected Universe, alongside the AWE DLC for Control was music to my ears.
The games I resonate with the most always come at the times in my life when part of the experience mimics reality or has a character I find myself relating to easily. One of the most frequent names on my list of these games is (unexpectedly) Remedy. The Finnish studio has a reputation for pushing the boundaries of cross-media representation and storytelling, and Alan Wake II – the sequel thirteen years in the making – is no exception.
Am I saying I’m the real-life Alan Wake? That somehow Video Games control my destiny and the buttons I press impact my day-to-day life? Not in the slightest. I’m just another believer that video games are not only fun time killers or enjoyable social experiences – they are art. Art that resonates with its players in different ways, has different interpretations and splits opinions, and can evoke both positive and negative emotions. Art that makes you feel human.
Like Garlic Against Vampires
I’m going into Alan Wake II without any set expectations. After its announcement, I’d hoped we’d get to explore Bright Falls again, and with confirmation that newcomer Saga Anderson gets to experience the Pacific Northwestern town in all its weirdness for the first time in her side of the story, I’m happy! I would love to see Barry again, too, mind you. I hope he’s doing okay. Remedy has my complete trust in wherever they take this game, so I’m ready to sit back and enjoy the ride.
From my intentionally limited look at footage and previews, I’m already really excited by Saga. Creative Director Sam Lake said that the studio set out to create another hero to join the likes of Alan Wake and Jesse Faden, and I’m confident they’ve succeeded based on the small portion I’ve seen of her so far. She has a great line in the hot-off-the-press launch trailer – “I brought you the heart, witch. Show me the terror.”
Survival Horror feels like the genre that fits Alan Wake the best. By dialling back on some of the combat sequences from the original and focussing more on inventory management and problem-solving, the game will likely feel more in tune with the story this time.
Environmental storytelling and collectable documents/files are essential for fleshing out Survival Horror games, and these are things Remedy has been doing for years. The studio was born to make a game in this genre.
It’s also coming at the perfect time. Survival Horror is once again the horror genre following Resident Evil’s return to dominance. Resident Evil 7 and the various ports and remakes from throughout the Resident Evil series gave horror video games a shot in the arm following the oversaturation of “hide and seek horror” like Five Nights at Freddys’ and Outlast. I enjoy those two series, but Survival Horror is a more versatile genre to play around in when it comes to new game mechanics and storytelling. Saga’s “Evidence Board” and Wake’s “Writers Room” are two elements of a new mechanic that promises to put a Remedy spin on problem-solving in the Survival Horror genre.
Saga Anderson > The Infinity Saga
The excitement goes beyond Alan Wake II. The Remedy Connected Universe means that future games will have ties to Alan Wake and the other IPs Remedy can link without legal ramifications. When people hear of a “universe”, they roll their eyes and think of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which often relies on previous knowledge of other movies and has movies or TV shows released purely to build up to a future story beat or character introduction. The MCU is also overly reliant on cameos, many of which are ham-fisted, though occasionally there is a diamond in the rough,
Following Marvel’s lead isn’t what Remedy is going for with the RCU. Rather than hinder creativity by having a rigid structure of what a game should include, it allows for additional innovation while rewarding long-term fans. Players who love Control but didn’t enjoy Alan Wake can still be excited for Alan Wake II. A future game may be a completely different genre than Control or Alan Wake and include a new setting and characters — but being in the RCU means there’ll be some familiarity alongside the new. It’s the perfect move for a studio with a faithful crowd of fans who show up for every Remedy release.
Despite the shot at the MCU and its reliance on having an unexpected hero pop up on the screen, I would love to see Jesse Faden appear in the game. Whatever’s going on at Cauldron Lake may need some input from the Director of the FBC. If it doesn’t happen, we’ll see Jesse sooner rather than later, with Control 2 looking to be Remedy’s next big project!
To Its Ports I’ve Been
I mentioned playing Control during lockdown and how it helped me cope, and I think that’s ultimately what this is all about. Either through pure entertainment or digging deeper for something more, getting lost in a video game does wonders for the human psyche. Every beating heart at Remedy has worked the past few years tirelessly to create something special for us to enjoy, no matter how we decide to engage with it: be it an escape, a challenge, a thrilling story, an obscure narrative, a thrill ride for Halloween, a new game to use as a benchmark for hardware, a search for long-awaited answers. Alan Wake II is just a video game, yet it is also much more than a video game. It’s a beautiful paradox. What was once a fantasy for fans and Remedy alike is now arriving imminently. Alan Wake warned us, and now it’s here.
Some days, it can feel like “The Dark Place” is just here on Planet Earth, and we’re all doom-scrolling ourselves into oblivion. It can be hard to always stay positive and keep your head above water level. In the thirteen years that Alan Wake has been battling the darkness, he’s been clinging to the light as best he can. Of course he has — it’s what artists do. It’s what Remedy does. And when Alan Wake II unleashes itself upon the world, we’ll all take hold of that light and illuminate every corner of darkness we see fit: from page to page, ocean to ocean.