Alan Wake 2 Review

Here's the question Remedy is asking with Alan Wake 2: what if a horror game about a writer could only be understood by playing it like a piece of literature? What if the structure, the medium-crossing, the meta-narrative weren't gimmicks but the actual substance of the experience? They mostly pull it off. Alan Wake 2 is visually and technically unlike anything else, the photorealism of the RE Engine crowd is impressive, but Remedy's ability to seamlessly weave live-action footage into a 3D world is something different. Characters slip in and out of physical reality. Cutscenes become music videos. Alan, trapped in the Dark Place, literally edits his own storyline through a bulletin board. Saga's half of the game is the more conventional one, and it's excellent. She investigates ritual murders in Bright Falls using a Mind Place, an interior thought space where you physically pin clues to a case board and speak your deductions out loud. It sounds gimmicky. It's surprisingly immersive, making investigation feel tactile in a way no other game manages. Melanie Liburd plays her with grounded warmth that contrasts beautifully with the weirdness surrounding her. Alan's chapters are harder. The Dark Place, a nightmare New York built from his imagination, is where the game gets genuinely experimental. The "Herald of Darkness" musical number, which you just have to experience, is the highlight of the game. Maybe of the year. But the pacing in these sections can drag, and some of the meta-puzzles are obtuse enough that you'll be checking guides. A note on the technical: the 60fps Performance Mode on base PS5 runs at a notably soft internal resolution. It's playable, but if you have a PS5 Pro or a capable PC, you'll want to use it. Quality Mode is beautiful but 30fps in a game with this many moving parts can be uncomfortable. None of which should stop you from playing it. Alan Wake 2 has things to say about creativity and creative torment that almost no other game attempts, and it says them in a way only a game can.