Remedy has always been like that little cousin that's done weird artsy shit for years and you just know at some point it's gonna pay off. It's Christmas and you're sat at the kid's table, and they're like: So basically, I'm making this meta-ass Twin Peaks-inspired story about a writer whose book comes to life and there's shadow demons and a magical light switch that dispels evil, and you're like, okay buddy. A few years later, you're a Grandpa's Summer BBQ and they're like: man, I'm thinking, what if we got that dude that played Ice Man and we like, made a TV show that was also a video game, you know? And you're like, to be honest, no, but whatever floats your boat.
Alan Wake 2 is that game where all the years of toying with weird ideas, inventing a compelling and unique sense of personality and focusing on saucy-ass presentation came together to make something undeniable. This is Remedy's magnum opus; a realisation of everything they've been working towards and a culmination of their best ideas. For so long, Remedy has been on the verge of making something phenomenal, and this weaves its live-action obsession, its knack for obtuse but gripping mysteries and its ability to mess with your perception of what a game should be into one of the coolest and most inventive experiences I've played this generation.
I absolutely love this game. I can't stop thinking about it. And I think what baffles me most, is that the moment-to-moment gameplay actually did very little for me. The shooting is clunky and unsatisfying, the boss fights are annoying and barely ever work as intended, and enemies move at super speed so frequently that fighting them becomes a chore. Oh, and don't even get me started on the annoying-ass jumpscares. You walk into like any room in the second half of the game and a distorted face will appear on screen followed by screeching blaring through your headphones; at least Freddy Fazbear has the fucking decency to turn the lights off and set the scene a little bit first.
But here's the thing, this shit could have no combat. Hell, it could play like that new King Kong game. I'd wanna push through it for what Remedy was cooking here. Shifting to horror was such a perfect playground for Remedy, from the darker, True Detective meets Twin Peaks meets Resident Evil premise to the nightmarish set dressing of Alan's campaign. But the best thing about horror is that gives the team so much more leeway to do their favourite thing: mess with the pre-established rules of video games and tell a story that couldn't be told anywhere else. Light switches can change the physical space in a blink of an eye, the game will often just cut to live-action set-pieces that interweave with gameplay and writing something as Alan can upend an entire section of a level. Whenever you think Remedy's topped themselves with how creative they can be with this idea, they dig deep and find something even wilder.
And that extends from big choices to small ones. So many parts of Alan Wake 2 just floored me with the sheer imagination on show. Alan's campaign focusing its combat on shadows whispering in the dark, forcing you to discern what's real and what's fake. Saga's mind palace being a physical space that you traverse in real time. The way you traverse between live-action and gameplay so seamlessly, and how it finally doesn't feel like a gimmick.
So much of that stuff I actively don't want to spoil, especially the Initiation 4 mission, which is godlike. But what I'll say is that this is arguably the best horror game I've played this year, which says a lot when we're experiencing maybe the best year for horror... well, ever. Remedy are some of the best storytellers in the industry right now, and that's because you can tell they're passionate about video games as a medium. As much as these dudes love a lil live-action sauce sprinkled over their gaming, it's all in service of creating something that couldn't exist in any other creative space. Giving them a horror premise is the equivalent of giving Matt Reeves the keys to Batman; you know from the offset that you're about to experience something special, and by god, Sam Lake, you beautiful bastard, you didn't disappoint.
Alan Wake 2 is that game where all the years of toying with weird ideas, inventing a compelling and unique sense of personality and focusing on saucy-ass presentation came together to make something undeniable. This is Remedy's magnum opus; a realisation of everything they've been working towards and a culmination of their best ideas. For so long, Remedy has been on the verge of making something phenomenal, and this weaves its live-action obsession, its knack for obtuse but gripping mysteries and its ability to mess with your perception of what a game should be into one of the coolest and most inventive experiences I've played this generation.
I absolutely love this game. I can't stop thinking about it. And I think what baffles me most, is that the moment-to-moment gameplay actually did very little for me. The shooting is clunky and unsatisfying, the boss fights are annoying and barely ever work as intended, and enemies move at super speed so frequently that fighting them becomes a chore. Oh, and don't even get me started on the annoying-ass jumpscares. You walk into like any room in the second half of the game and a distorted face will appear on screen followed by screeching blaring through your headphones; at least Freddy Fazbear has the fucking decency to turn the lights off and set the scene a little bit first.
But here's the thing, this shit could have no combat. Hell, it could play like that new King Kong game. I'd wanna push through it for what Remedy was cooking here. Shifting to horror was such a perfect playground for Remedy, from the darker, True Detective meets Twin Peaks meets Resident Evil premise to the nightmarish set dressing of Alan's campaign. But the best thing about horror is that gives the team so much more leeway to do their favourite thing: mess with the pre-established rules of video games and tell a story that couldn't be told anywhere else. Light switches can change the physical space in a blink of an eye, the game will often just cut to live-action set-pieces that interweave with gameplay and writing something as Alan can upend an entire section of a level. Whenever you think Remedy's topped themselves with how creative they can be with this idea, they dig deep and find something even wilder.
And that extends from big choices to small ones. So many parts of Alan Wake 2 just floored me with the sheer imagination on show. Alan's campaign focusing its combat on shadows whispering in the dark, forcing you to discern what's real and what's fake. Saga's mind palace being a physical space that you traverse in real time. The way you traverse between live-action and gameplay so seamlessly, and how it finally doesn't feel like a gimmick.
So much of that stuff I actively don't want to spoil, especially the Initiation 4 mission, which is godlike. But what I'll say is that this is arguably the best horror game I've played this year, which says a lot when we're experiencing maybe the best year for horror... well, ever. Remedy are some of the best storytellers in the industry right now, and that's because you can tell they're passionate about video games as a medium. As much as these dudes love a lil live-action sauce sprinkled over their gaming, it's all in service of creating something that couldn't exist in any other creative space. Giving them a horror premise is the equivalent of giving Matt Reeves the keys to Batman; you know from the offset that you're about to experience something special, and by god, Sam Lake, you beautiful bastard, you didn't disappoint.