Alan Wake 2 Review: Remedy's Best Game Yet

Remedy has gone above and beyond everything I've been expecting from Alan Wake 2 in my 13 years of dreaming about it. As someone who played the original the week that it launched back in 2010, Alan Wake 2 is something that I have been pining for Remedy to make for nearly half of my life. Oftentimes, when I look forward to a piece of media for this long, my lofty expectations fail to be met for one reason or another. With Alan Wake 2, though, this couldn't be further from the truth, as Remedy has instead crafted a video game experience that is one of my favorites of all time and stands as one of the most impressive AAA games I've played in years. 

After being trapped in the "Dark Place" for 13 long years, Alan Wake 2 sees its titular protagonist finally looking to escape from his haunting, supernatural prison. In this pursuit, a new protagonist named Saga Anderson, an FBI agent, comes to investigate Alan's previous disappearance in Bright Falls which coincides with other matters taking place in the town. Eventually, Alan and Saga's stories end up intersecting and players are given the ability to bounce back and forth between the two over the course of the game's 20-to-25-hour run time. 

Without spoiling anything, the story of Alan Wake 2 was supremely satisfying and kept me engaged from start to finish. Not only did Remedy answer many of the lingering questions that I had about the original Alan Wake, but it deepened its world and characters, which led me to become even more engrossed in its narrative. There are also some twists and turns throughout AW2 that I absolutely did not expect. Days after completing AW2, there are still a handful of moments that I'm reflecting back on in awe. Remedy's writing team, led by director Sam Lake, did a phenomenal job not only with crafting this story, but with the game's character-work. New faces like Saga Anderson, who I feared I wouldn't find engaging initially, only grew on me over time, to the point where they felt like perfect fits in this universe. 

The most impressive part of Alan Wake 2's story is how much depth it boasts without ever feeling overwhelming. Not only is Remedy trying to tell its own story here, but it's also working on folding Alan Wake 2 into its larger "Remedy Connected Universe" that began to take shape with Control. Outside of this balancing act, there are an unreal number of self-referential and meta moments scattered throughout Alan Wake 2 that call back to other Remedy games (including those that the studio doesn't even own IP right to).

In short, Alan Wake 2 has the potential to be complicated, especially for those who haven't played previous Remedy titles. In fact, if I tried to explain everything that AW2 is doing with its writing and underhanded references, I would surely sound like a madman. Despite all of this, though, I never struggled to understand the broad beats of Alan Wake 2's story, which says a lot given how out-there some of its concepts are. The deeper callbacks in Alan Wake 2 were still there for longtime fans like myself, but these instances never overshadowed the core narrative to the point of coming across as a jumbled mess. 

One of the biggest changes for Remedy with Alan Wake 2 is that the game is now a survival-horror title. As Remedy's first experience with the genre, I worried that there might be some growing pains with how the studio would handle horror, especially while trying to still include its typical penchant for wackiness. Once again, though, the studio found a great balance between the two throughout all of Alan Wake 2. 

Much of AW2's bonafides as a horror title are thanks to the fantastic visuals that it boasts. With no hyperbole whatsoever, I believe that Alan Wake 2 is the most gorgeous, photo-realistic video game that I have ever seen. The game's lighting, in particular, is absolutely stunning and is showcased particularly well during Alan's missions. Outside of simply being pretty to look at, Remedy's art direction in Alan Wake 2 is also downright excellent. While it's one thing to have a game that properly takes advantage of modern hardware to achieve high fidelity, it's another to combine that with a cohesive and unique design. Between its dense forests and dimly lit cityscapes, Alan Wake 2 is a constant pleasure to look at, no matter where you might be in its world. 

The visual components of Alan Wake 2 really help set the tone when it comes to how it is as a horror game. AW2 isn't necessarily about jump-scares or being chased by monsters, but instead is much more psychological in its approach to horror. That's not to say that there aren't any moments throughout the game that are explicitly meant to frighten the player, because there absolutely are. Still, it's the grim atmosphere and look of Alan Wake 2 that helps make for a tense gameplay experience. 

I've had so much positive to say about Alan Wake 2 and haven't even touched on how it is to play. Generally speaking, most of the baseline mechanics here are what you would expect from a survival-horror title. Resources are scarce, your inventory has to constantly be micromanaged, and enemies can prove to be foreboding if you're not adequately prepared. Many of the gameplay stylings from the original Alan Wake also return in the sequel, as foes can only be taken down after first exposing them to light, which predominantly emanates from a flashlight. Sadly, there aren't many new weapons or other items to use in Alan Wake 2 that are wholly new to the series. Flashbangs, flares, and flareguns are all back and are really the only unique tools that can be used outside of a general array of guns to defeat foes in combat.

What sets Alan Wake 2 apart from other games in the genre are some unique abilities that both Alan and Saga have at their disposal. As a detective, Saga has the ability to enter what is called her "Mind Place," which is a physical manifestation of her thoughts. It's here that she's able to assemble the clues on her Case Board that she's uncovered over the course of her detective work to tie them all together. Doing so can result in new leads that can advance ongoing missions and the larger mystery at hand. 

The Mind Place was an element of Alan Wake 2 that I really loved in my previews of the game, and for the most part, my feelings have continued to hold true with the final product. What I have come to realize, though, is that there's not a ton of depth to the Mind Place. This part of AW2 is fairly linear in its execution and doesn't necessarily leave much room for the player to figure out things on their own. Much of my use of the Case Board in the game was done via trial and error, which made me feel less like a detective and more like I was jumping through hoops that were laid out before me. If nothing else, though, the Mind Place proved to be a fantastic resource to keep all of the story elements of Alan Wake 2 in a very neat order. Whenever I found myself forgetting certain names, characters, or places that were integral to the story, I could just consult the Case Board to give myself a quick refresh before continuing to play. 

When it comes to Alan, he has his own array of reality-distorting abilities. Similar to Saga, Alan can enter the "Writer's Room" to rewrite reality around him. This is an idea that has been at the core of the Alan Wake series from the beginning and for Remedy to find a way to gamify it was something that I loved in AW2. Still, there isn't a whole lot of variation or experimentation to be had when it comes to changing Alan's own surroundings by proxy of the Writer's Room. Some puzzles do use the feature in an interesting manner, though, especially when combined with Alan's lamp tool, which can further alter the environment and open new pathways. 

Across the entirety of Alan Wake 2, the thing I remained most consistently roused by was the game's performances. From returning Remedy veterans such as Ikka Villi, Matthew Porretta, and James McCaffrey, to new faces like Melanie Liburd, everyone that is part of Alan Wake 2 gives it their all and enhances the story and writing that much more. These performances get even more time to shine in AW2, thanks to the inclusion of a lot of different live-action cutscenes. 

Live-action implementation is something that Remedy has been toying around with since Quantum Break, but it reaches a new high point here with Alan Wake 2. Similar to Control, AW2 features frequent moments that mesh both gameplay and live-action to great effect. For the most part, this is done to set a certain tone or advance the story in specific ways, but other instances go beyond anything that I ever thought I'd see in a video game. One sequence during Alan's portion of the game makes for one of the most enjoyable and awe-inducing stretches I have ever seen in a video game. The way that Remedy bounces between these live-action and standard gameplay moments is masterfully done and has started to make all of its titles feel that much more cohesive with one another. 

If there is one predominant issue that I have had with Alan Wake 2, it would be tied to its performance. Given how stunning this game was to look at, I tried my best to play on Fidelity mode, which targeted 30fps. Unfortunately, the frame rate varied quite often for me, especially during areas that were dense with foliage or other objects in the environment. Still, as I played Alan Wake 2, I noticed that many of the newer updates for the game started to improve my experience on this front. As it is now, the performance in AW2 is a bit unstable, but I imagine it will only continue to get much better in the weeks and months to come. 

By all accounts, Alan Wake 2 is simply a masterpiece. This is far and away the best game that Remedy has made so far and only continues to assert that the studio is one of the top AAA developers in the world. On all fronts, Alan Wake 2 is rife with inventiveness and wit that was only matched by its ability to scare me and make me laugh in the same short span of time. Not only does this serve as a new benchmark for what Remedy is capable of in the future, but it should be a shining example to other studios around the world of what story-driven third-person games can achieve. Whether you're new to the series or have been waiting 13 years like I have, Alan Wake 2 should absolutely not be missed. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Alan Wake 2 is available now across Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC platforms. A review copy was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review and the game was experienced on a PlayStation 5.