Alan Wake has recovered from his 13-year-long author’s block.
The fictional horror creator, the protagonist of Treatment Leisure’s cult hit of the identical title from 2010, will reprise his function in a long-awaited sequel this October. His return isn’t simply notable as a result of he’s a beloved franchise character — the reveal of Alan Wake 2 marks an essential milestone for Treatment, which has endured a number of failed makes an attempt to create a brand new chapter for Alan Wake, and within the meantime launched the breakout hit Management.
Whereas Alan Wake 2 bears similarities to its predecessor, just like the inclusion of acquainted characters and gameplay, the sport takes appreciable freedom to alter issues up. This time round, Alan will probably be joined by FBI agent Saga Anderson, who investigates a string of grisly murders within the Pacific Northwest. As gamers advance the story, they’ll take management of each Alan and Saga as a supernatural horror unfolds.
As a part of Summer season Recreation Fest, Treatment Leisure and writer Epic Video games Publishing confirmed Polygon a hands-off demo, with round half-hour of gameplay that confirmed an early mission performed from Saga’s perspective. What we noticed was a slice of the sport that leans into the survival horror style and virtually goes full-on Resident Evil 4 at factors.
Picture: Treatment Leisure/Epic Video games Publishing
The sport kicks off with Saga strolling via dense, conifer-filled woods along with her colleague Alex Casey (voiced by inventive director and author Sam Lake). As they discuss, we study that they’re investigating an space by Cauldron Lake, which simply so occurs to be the positioning of Alan’s disappearance within the first sport, after a string of grisly murders.
To progress the story, gamers will stroll round as Saga and seek for clues in varied crime scenes. Within the demo, she jaunts round alongside a forest path and checks deserted shacks and cabins searching for websites of cult rituals, selecting up scraps of paper and different objects with notable data. After accumulating this stuff or scraps of paper with further data, gamers can then teleport to a cabin room inside Saga’s psyche referred to as the Thoughts Place, which is stuffed along with her collected proof. Utilizing these gathered supplies she will be able to use a “Profiling” energy to piece collectively data and advance the story.
As Saga items clues collectively, a wall referred to as the Case Board, with clues organized just like the string principle trope, will replenish with data and permit gamers to piece collectively the crime.
Picture: Treatment Leisure/Epic Video games Publishing
The sport swings between uneasy quiet whereas accumulating proof, and tense fight the place an deserted room may all of the sudden be damaged into by a cultist carrying a deer’s head. This, like the unique Alan Wake, is a third-person shooter and it returns to that sport’s key mechanics. Gamers consumer their flashlight to weaken enemies, then shoot them to take them down. Just like the unique Alan Wake, Saga will duck to dodge assaults.
Due to how comparable the motion appeared when in comparison with the primary sport, Polygon requested if dodging within the new sport will work the identical as within the authentic. “Hopefully it’ll really feel loads higher, however yeah, it does work the identical means,” Thomas Puha, communications and press relations director at Treatment Leisure, stated. “Although the nice factor is that Alan isn’t out of breath consistently, so he’s in a bit higher form.”
We additionally requested if gamers may anticipate to make use of further powers when enjoying as Alan Wake. Puha stated, “On the Alan aspect, I can say that gentle does matter quite a bit. Mild is one other mechanic that it’s important to use with Wake within the Darkish Place, however we’ll present that gameplay later.”
Picture: Treatment Leisure/Epic Video games Publishing
This slice of the sport proven seems to take heavy affect from different survival horror video games, notably Resident Evil 4. The picture of Saga bursting via possessed cult members with a shotgun and donning her massive jacket with “FBI” emblazoned on the again recalled pictures of Leon Kennedy preventing his means via the backwater woods in Resident Evil 4. Moreover, techniques just like the weapon group system from Resident Evil 4 had been additionally proven throughout gameplay.
We requested the workforce about Resident Evil 4’s affect, and Puha stated, “I’ll add that when you noticed half an hour of the sport, it’s actually essential to know that we’re not one word in any respect. Once you get to go to Vibrant Falls in the course of the day, yeah it’ll really feel barely odd, however the vibes are going to be means completely different. […] We undoubtedly made positive there’s lots of selection when it comes to the tone. Then we head to the Darkish Place, which is sort of a nightmarish model of New York, and that’s means, means completely different from what you’re seeing right here. So selection is de facto essential.”
Alan Wake 2 is coming to PlayStation 5, Home windows PC through the Epic Video games Retailer, and Xbox Sequence X on Oct. 17.