Alan Wake 2 Review

Remedy's 2023 survival horror game waited thirteen years and came back as something considerably stranger. Two protagonists alternate: FBI agent Saga Anderson investigating ritual murders in the Pacific Northwest, and Alan Wake himself, still trapped in the Dark Place, rewriting reality to find an exit. Saga works from a Mind Place, a mental case board where you physically pin evidence to conclusions, while Alan rewrites scenes by swapping the lamp-lit environment around him - the same street becomes three different places depending on the story he has chosen. Combat is deliberately scarce and heavy, with the torch-and-shoot loop from the original tightened and ammunition kept low. It is also a musical, twice, and one chapter is a live-action segment that has no business working. Remedy's connected universe pays off here for anyone who played Control. It won the most awards of any game in 2023 and is the studio's best work.