Wccftech was recently invited to spend time with a pair of early chapters of Alan Wake 2 on the most recent PC build. In our gameplay session, we were given the opportunity to play as both Saga Anderson and the titular Alan Wake, seeing firsthand how the two campaigns are separated from one another yet intrinsically linked. We also interviewed Game Director Sam Lake; you can find that conversation here.
For the demo, we played on a custom Xidax PC with the following components.
- Case: Leviathan Infinity Black
- Motherboard: MSI PRO Z790-P WIFI
- Processor: Intel Core i9 13900K 24C 5.4Ghz
- Memory: Xidax Performance DDR5 5600 Mhz 32GB
- SSD (M.2 NVMe): Xidax Performance NVMe M.2 SSD 2TB
- CPU Cooling: Xidax Ultra RGB 360mm AIO
- Power Supply: Xidax-approved 90Plus Gold PCIE 5.0 Power Supply 1000W
- Case Fans: 9x Xidax-approved RGB Fans
- GPU: PNY GeForce RTX 4090 24GB Verto
As the Alan Wake 2 demo was running on an Nvidia GPU, FSR 2 was not an available option to test out in the preview; FSR 3 was not available in the current build. Performance was very consistently a solid 60 FPS throughout, thanks to the power of the RTX 4090 and enhancements to Remedy’s own Northlight engine. Some graphical glitches cropped up during the tail end of Saga’s playable chapter and were alerted to Remedy staff and perhaps might even be one-off glitches that will be fixed in time for next month’s retail release. The most noticeable of which was a hard implementation of HDR when entering and exiting one particular building, resulting in blindingly bright environmental lighting followed by soul-crushing darkness before normalizing into proper. presentation This happened consistently enough with that one specific house that I couldn’t chalk it up to a one-off event (and the preview build could not be restarted to confirm if reloading the latest manual save would fix everything.
With the glitch out of the way, it’s important to talk about what Remedy has gotten right in this follow-up to the writer’s first namesake adventure back in 2010. Evolving survival horror experiences into a new action-focused engine is nothing new for the genre, but rather than jumping the shark with certain other horror franchises, Remedy has kept the core components of their supernatural spookiness intact. Both Saga and Alan offer playstyles that, while similar in many regards, each play off their own particular strengths. Alan Wake may be able to write his way into a particular scene and watch how it might or might not have played out, while Saga Anderson’s investigative intuition can place her inside the mind of the culprit.
This much is evident in their respective mind palaces, where players can enter inwards for a brief respite and collect their thoughts while musing over the clues recently possessed. Alan is very much as inspired as ever with his words flying off pages as he builds together an unlikely crime scene in the Hotel Barcelona his chapter focuses on exploring. The hotel’s innate shifting nature plays right into Alan Wake’s own skills as crime scenes are created from the aether as Mr Wake’s typewriter strikes paper and fleshes out one chapter after another. Full-motion video is interspliced through both characters' campaigns and investigative moments, but only Alan Wake had a five-minute cutscene involving him going on a drunken (and perhaps drug-fueled) bender along with a mysterious fellow who provided inspiration for Alan Wake's next manuscript.
Aligned with The Dark Place and the decade-plus of being trapped within, Alan Wake has evolved to use light in more creative ways. An angel lamp that remains part of Alan’s toolset can capture sources of light and bring them to another location. While these only crop up in particular areas, they’re essential to make progress. Light can illuminate and shift the environment to provide new pathways through the mess of graffiti and handbills plastered all throughout the otherwise desolate city streets. One optional puzzle putting that manipulation of light to good use can lead to a conspicuously placed shotgun; whether it’s a one-time opportunity or if another shotgun will appear later in Alan’s adventure is yet to be determined.
Saga Anderson, on the other hand, deals more with reality than that of the supernatural, something that she isn’t quite yet familiar with. An early encounter with an FBC agent provides the first in-game link between Alan Wake and Control, a concept that will be explored in greater details as the second narrative title goes on. Even the Taken are more of a first-time experience for Saga that she quickly learns to fend off by way of flashlight and pages of a manuscript left behind by Alan Wake.
For both, combat remains a core tenet of their survival, although it won’t be the focus for either character in Alan Wake 2. True to survival horror roots, limited ammo and resources will force players to either keep a steady hand or avoid combat altogether. Through a sidequest off the beaten trail, I was able to locate a crossbow for Saga with more than enough bolts to carry me through the rest of the chapter. Shots on target could always be recovered and used again, perhaps trivializing ammo conservation through the rest of my playthrough, although I didn’t have enough flashlight batteries to match.
The minute details of the sleepy Washington towns that Saga investigates throughout Alan Wake 2 are a slice right out of cultural American with some unique Finnish culture throughout. As Saga first starts her exploration, she passes by a community center with retirees and an old gentleman singing his heart out which, through the magic of subtitles, spills the beans on what might be important story details if players stick around long enough to listen.
Seeing Alan Wake 2 firsthand has been nothing short of positive in the two times I’ve seen Sam Lake and his team at work. However, actually getting hands on the controller is an experience all its own. Remedy has become masters of their craft with the Northlight engine and the Remedy Connected Universe that brings together years of their more recent titles (except Quantum Break, which isn’t brought into the fold, although Shawn Ashmore does have his own role to play in Alan Wake 2).
Alan Wake 2 is only a month away, with the upcoming narrative survival horror experience launching on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC (only on the Epic Games Store) on October 27th after a short delay announced earlier this year.
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