Alan Wake 2

Alan Wake 2 is a narrative-driven survival horror from the Finnish studio Remedy Entertainment, which after thirteen years returned to the character of a writer trapped in a dark alternate reality called the Dark Place. The player alternates between two storylines — FBI detective Saga Anderson, investigating ritual murders in the town of Bright Falls, and Alan Wake himself, who in a horror-tinged version of New York tries to finish writing the story that would let him escape. Combat against the mysterious darkness combines light and gunplay, but the main emphasis lies on atmosphere, puzzles, and psychological tension, with the player gradually piecing together the so-called Mind Place, connecting clues from both storylines.

On Xbox Series X and S, where the game launched directly in 2023 with no version for the previous generation, Remedy makes full use of the new console's power — dense lighting, cinematic transitions between live-action sequences and gameplay, and elaborate sound design that turns a walk through a dark forest into an unpleasant experience in the best sense of the word. The music and live musical numbers that regularly interrupt the game are among the most striking moments of the entire generation of games and give the otherwise anxious game unexpectedly cathartic peaks. The chapters set in the New York district called the Dark Place also change the rules of reality according to what Alan is writing at that moment, setting the game apart from a classic survival horror.

Alan Wake 2 was showered with praise on release for the courage with which it combines survival horror with an almost television-like narrative structure and metafictional layers referencing Remedy's earlier games as well as Control. The game's influence on the psychological horror genre is noticeable in how it shows that even a story-heavy, slow-paced game can succeed commercially. On Xbox Series it remains to this day one of the technically most impressive showcases of what the new generation of consoles can do, and at the same time a reminder that narrative courage pays off in the horror genre.

Why play it: Fans of psychological horror and lovers of layered storytelling alike will be rewarded by Alan Wake 2, one of the technically most impressive and boldest games of the generation.