Alan Wake 2 impressively concluded this year’s gamescom Opening Night Live. It is undoubtedly one of the biggest titles present in Cologne 2023. Our author Mark Sellner has seen a complete mission of Alan Wake 2 and for the first time also as Alan Wake. So, how is the horror hit?
What did I see? The first gameplay of Alan Wake. So, don’t get me wrong. There has indeed already been gameplay of Alan Wake 2, but the focus was always on the new second main character, Saga. At gamescom, I was able to see a complete mission as Alan Wake, and his gameplay differs drastically from what Saga experiences.
In the ONL trailer, you see the scene where Alan Wake is sitting in a talk show. This also marks the beginning of the presentation that I was able to watch. It is the start of the very first mission as Alan in Alan Wake 2. However, since it is relatively linear, as the developers say, we skip ahead a chapter.
So, I saw a complete playthrough of the second mission as Alan, which takes place in New York, or at least in the New York that Alan has written in his horror world.
Because actually, Alan is sitting in his room and writing. What he writes becomes reality – and thus he tries to escape from the “darkness”.
What is really real now, what is only playing out in Alan’s imagination, and whether he is actually all alone is never quite clear. Just this alone conveys a touch of unease and paranoia, which runs throughout the entire mission.
Rewriting reality until it fits
How does the gameplay work? During the mission, which we don’t want to spoil too much, Alan repeatedly encounters obstacles that initially seem insurmountable. He can usually overcome these with two different tools. One of them is the so-called “Angel Lamp”.
With this lamp, you can capture light in various places and release it elsewhere. Since the entire game world is in the “darkness”, the light usually also changes the entire environment of the current scene. Where just shadows in the air create a ghostly phantom, soon a subway entrance emerges with light.
Conversely, one must also be prepared for the situation to become critical when we remove light because we need it elsewhere. Because then the dark shadows come and want to get to you.
Rewriting reality: The other way to move forward is to completely rewrite reality. To do this, you gather various “echoes” in the world that serve as inspiration for Alan.
With one click, you then return to the room where you can rewrite the plot of the current scene based on the found inspiration. This changes the mood and surroundings and opens blocked paths.
The developers tell us that this incorporates a puzzle element, but no new solution paths. Because a story is always the “right” one to move forward; the others are not. However, there you can discover secrets, new echoes, and inspirations.
Less fighting, more thriller
What stands out in the gameplay? Aside from the new core features, it is noticeable that Alan has to fight significantly less and less frequently than his fellow protagonist, Saga. Also, compared to its predecessor, it is noticeable that fights are rather secondary. And that’s really good because the outstanding game world can shine so much better.
Because the second major highlight of the mission is the environmental storytelling, which Remedy places great importance on. You find clues throughout your journey through the dark New York about what is real and what is not. However, you can never be really sure of that.
This way, the subway numbers on the display suddenly turn into a “Dont sleep again” and graffiti at the entrance hides the phrase “find Alice”. You also repeatedly find the words “dont write again!” while we need to write to progress.
After the entire mission, my highlight is certainly the atmosphere and the game world of Alan Wake 2, at least on Alan’s side. Never knowing what is real and also as a player not having a clear overview contributes a lot of tension to the overall dark atmosphere.
Thus, it remains constantly creepy and frightening, without having to fight frequently. The sporadically interspersed skirmishes also come into their own because, if they were more frequent, they would ruin the mood of “being alone” again.
After this hour, I certainly have even more desire for the game than I already had before. How is it for you? Did you like the trailer at the ONL? Do you like what you read here? Feel free to write it in the comments here on MeinMMO.
