Combat, though better than AW1's, is still not very good. Having more weapons to mess around with was nice, but once I found the crossbow, it seemed like a no-brainer since it lets you ignore the flashlight mechanic, and the game showers you with ammo. Unfortunately, there's even less to engage with here in terms of a narrative than AW1, and some of the voice acting is pretty damn bad, though at least, there's a nice moment you can hear over a radio of Barry still being troubled by Al's disappearance.

Good ideas, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. I can look past the cumbersome gameplay since the game showers you with enough flashbangs/flares that trivialize every encounter, but I really wish the writing was better. For the most part, I actually like the plot of AW1, but most of the cast (especially Alice) just doesn't get expanded upon, and while the manuscripts do a decent job of fleshing out a few characters and giving the player a better understanding of certain scenes, they're just not enough. The only standout for me was Barry and that's mostly due to an amazing outfit (though he does have a surprisingly caring dynamic with Al) Also for a game centered around nightmarish creations coming to life, the environments were pretty disappointing; the taken screaming about omega-3s can only alleviate the monotony of bland dark forests for so long.