Jump to content

Alan Wake 2

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Saga Anderson)

Alan Wake 2
Developer(s)Remedy Entertainment
Publisher(s)Epic Games Publishing
Director(s)
Programmer(s)Antti Kerminen
Artist(s)Janne Pulkkinen
Writer(s)
  • Sam Lake
  • Clay Murphy
  • Tyler Burton Smith
Composer(s)Petri Alanko
EngineNorthlight Engine
Platform(s)
Release27 October 2023
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Alan Wake 2[a] is a 2023 survival horror video game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Epic Games Publishing. The sequel to Alan Wake (2010), the story follows best-selling novelist Alan Wake, who has been trapped in an alternate dimension for 13 years, as he attempts to escape by writing a horror story involving an FBI Special Agent named Saga Anderson.

Alan Wake 2 was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 27 October 2023. The game's development and marketing budget reportedly was €70 million, making it one of the most expensive games to develop and one of the most expensive cultural products from Finland. Alan Wake 2 received generally positive reviews from critics, praising its story, graphics, and atmosphere. [not verified in body] The game was also nominated for multiple Game of the Year awards. It sold over 1.8 million units by November 2024, making it Remedy's fastest-selling game. A downloadable content (DLC) expansion titled Night Springs was released on 8 June 2024, while a second expansion titled The Lake House was released on 22 October 2024.

Gameplay

[edit]
A screenshot of Alan Wake 2, showing the player's character, Saga Anderson aiming her flashlight and handgun at an enemy, in an exterior environment
The player, as Saga, fights an enemy using a pistol and a flashlight. The ammo counter, health bar, and flashlight meter are visible at the bottom right.

Compared to the original Alan Wake, which is an action-adventure game with horror themes, Alan Wake 2 is a survival horror game, although it is still played from a third-person perspective. Players play as Alan Wake or Saga Anderson in two separate single-player stories, which can be played in any order the player chooses, although the opening and ending sequences of the game are linear.[1][2]

Wake and Anderson traverse environments and fight enemies using various firearms and a flashlight, the latter of which can be "focused" to render enemies vulnerable to firearm attacks. Focusing the flashlight drains its battery, and players need to strategically use a limited amount of batteries and ammunition in order to survive. When enemies are close, Alan or Saga can perform a dodge maneuver.[3]

Alan Wake 2 incorporates detective elements: when playing as Saga, players can access an enemy-free space dubbed the "Mind Place".[3] Described by Remedy as a "3D menu", the Mind Place is a visual representation of Saga's thoughts. In the Mind Place, players manage a pin board in which they can connect clues to piece together the main mystery, as well as profile characters to gather clues.[2] As Alan, players have access to the "Writer's Room", where they can see the outline of a novel he is writing. By adding and changing plot details on the outline, they are able to manipulate the space around Alan.[4] Both the Mind Place and the Writer's Room do not pause the outside world.

A returning element from Alan Wake is finding manuscript pages that foreshadow upcoming events in the story.

Plot

[edit]
"Saga Anderson" redirects here. Not to be confused with Saga Andersson.

The game starts with a monologue by Alan while showing him with a glowing hole in his forehead. A naked man emerges from the dark shores of Cauldron Lake before he is found and ritualistically murdered.

FBI Special Agent Saga Anderson and her partner Alex Casey are dispatched to the town of Bright Falls to investigate a series of ritualistic murders performed by a group calling themselves the Cult of the Tree. They investigate the latest victim, the naked man, who is revealed as former FBI agent Robert Nightingale. Saga also finds a mysterious manuscript page that seems to predict the future. They go to the Sheriff's station to perform an autopsy on Nightingale's corpse, but it reanimates, attacks them, and escapes the morgue. Saga chases Nightingale into an "Overlap", where reality and the Dark Place touch, and kills him. She then finds Alan Wake washed up on the shore of Cauldron Lake, warning of a man named Mr. Scratch who shares his face. Saga and Casey take Alan back to town, where he recounts how he escaped from the Dark Place.

After appearing in a mysterious talk show called "In Between with Mr. Door," Alan began navigating a dark, twisted version of New York City. He encountered a version of Alex Casey, this time as a fictional character, and wrote a novel called Initiation that followed Casey's investigation of ritualistic murders in New York in 2013, mirroring events that happened in the real world. Alan reunited with Thomas Zane, who directed him to murder sites to continue the story. He also made occasional contact with Saga through Overlaps and found video diaries from his wife Alice, documenting her experiences being haunted by a man with Alan's face. Alan died multiple times and repeated his journey from Mr. Door's studio, to a murder site, to Alice's apartment again and again.

Eventually, Alan writes Return, which details the events of Saga's investigation into the Cult of the Tree, but finds that it has been edited, presumably by Mr. Scratch, into a horror story. Alan warns Saga that Scratch is searching for the Clicker, which amplifies the Dark Place's reality-bending power and could be used to free the malevolent Dark Presence completely or permanently defeat it. Saga decides to follow its trail and realizes that Return has rewritten her past so that her daughter Logan drowned in an accident. Saga recovers the Clicker, but before she can get it to Alan, agents from the Federal Bureau of Control led by Agent Kiran Estevez arrive and apprehend him as well as the Cult leaders, revealed to be town entrepreneurs Ilmo and Jaakko Koskela.

Saga tracks down Odin and Tor Anderson, who she learns are actually her grand-uncle and grandfather, respectively, and passed on their seer abilities to her, allowing her to discern the changes to reality Return is causing. Saga then heads back to Bright Falls to get the Clicker to Alan, but Ilmo and Jaakko warn that he is a monster, prompting Alan to kill Jaakko and attack Saga. Saga, reasoning that he must have been Scratch pretending to be Alan, stops him with the FBC's light technology. A grieving Ilmo explains that the Cult's purpose was to protect Bright Falls from the Taken (people possessed by the Dark Presence) that emerge from the lake. Saga enlists the help of Casey, Estevez, Odin, and Tor to summon the real Alan out of the Dark Place using the Clicker and a new song from the Old Gods of Asgard.

Back in the Dark Place, Alan receives a phone call from his future self, explaining that his repeated attempts to write himself out of the Dark Place are causing him to experience temporal loops. His final journey to Alice's apartment reveals that the hauntings eventually caused her to take her own life. In anger, Alan kills who he believes is Scratch but is actually his past self editing Return, perpetuating the loop. Realizing there was no Scratch and he is responsible for Alice's death, Alan's despair allows the Dark Presence to possess him. The summoning ritual does bring Alan back to the real world, but the time distortion sends him back earlier in the story, with the Dark Presence already inside him waiting to take over. After the summoning, the possessed Alan attacks Saga and Saga is able to banish the Dark Presence from Alan's body, only for it to possess Casey instead, steal the Clicker, and throw Saga into the Dark Place.

Alan returns to Bright Falls to find it has begun turning into a nightmarish version of his own egotistical desire for praise. He finds his Writer's Room and begins writing a new ending to reverse the damage. Saga, with help from Mr. Door, implied to be her father, and Alice Wake, learns to navigate the Dark Place, retrieving the Clicker and a Bullet of Light, and reuniting with Alan to help him write an ending to save Casey and Logan.

With the Clicker and the revised ending, Saga is able to banish the Dark Presence from Casey's body. Alan goads it into possessing him again, and Saga shoots him with the Bullet of Light, seemingly killing him and destroying the Dark Presence. As the bullet passes through Alan, he sees clearly for a moment, and realizes that the whole story has been looping endlessly and he will return to the beginning without his memory: this monologue continues into the monologue from the game's opening. As Casey recovers from his possession, Saga calls Logan to see if the ending worked, but the scene cuts to black while the phone rings and the credits roll.

In a post-credits scene, a recording left behind by Alice reveals she knew Alan was trapped, and used her videos to trick Alan into thinking she committed suicide, explaining that the only way he can escape the loops is through either "destruction" or "ascension". Alice is now in the Dark Place too, helping him and Saga through the story. Alan must continue the loop and keep going through destruction until he's ready for ascension, with Alice's words and love as his light preparing him bit by bit. Alan then revives from his gunshot wound and says, "It's not a loop, it's a spiral."

The New Game Plus mode, The Final Draft, presents a different ending, implying that the player's repeated playthroughs have brought them to the end of the spiral. As he hands Saga his revised ending for Return, Alan realizes that the Dark Presence was born from the darkness that was shot out of his skull by the Bullet of Light, and it has been influencing him all his life. The link between it and Alan was severed after he finished Return, but the Dark Presence remained as Alan was missing the part of himself it was born from: Alice. Realizing that he and Alice are still connected through his writing and her photos, the Bullet of Light finally succeeds and destroys the Dark Presence for good, breaking the loop. Logan answers Saga's call, and Alan revives soon after, no longer returning to the beginning of the loop. He thanks Alice, then declares himself the master of not just two worlds, but many.

Development

[edit]

Pre-production

[edit]

Remedy Entertainment released Alan Wake in 2010. Learning from Max Payne, they wrote Alan Wake in a way that allows additional story to be told through sequels and further installments. The team began discussing sequel ideas after Alan Wake was shipped, which would continue to star Alan Wake as the protagonist, but also explore the stories of the supporting characters including Wake's friend Barry Wheeler and Sheriff Sarah Breaker. A prototype was created to show off the gameplay of Alan Wake 2 when the studio was showing the game to potential publishers. The game would have been a direct sequel to Alan Wake, featuring new enemies and new gameplay mechanics, such as being able to rewrite reality, which were showcased in the prototype. Ultimately, Remedy pitched the project to Alan Wake publisher Microsoft Studios. Microsoft, however, at the time was not interested in a sequel and instead, tasked Remedy to create a new game. This ultimately became Quantum Break, released in 2016. It included, alongside other easter eggs to Alan Wake, a short live-action film, titled Alan Wake: Return. It features two FBI agents, one named Alex Casey, investigating the reappearance of Wake, which had been created by Remedy as to help promote a sequel to publishers.[5][6] The other FBI agent was Saga Anderson, who was portrayed by Malla Malmivaara. She was later recast with Melanie Liburd. Most of the ideas for Alan Wake 2 were implemented in American Nightmare, a downloadable follow-up to Alan Wake.[7] Remedy CEO Tero Virtala stated that any further sequels to Alan Wake would require Microsoft Studios' approval as the publishing rights holder, though Remedy otherwise owns all other intellectual property rights to the series.[8]

When Quantum Break was announced, Sam Lake explained that a sequel to Alan Wake had been postponed, and that Alan Wake was not financially successful enough to receive the funding they needed to continue developing the sequel at the time.[9] Director of communications Thomas Puha stated in April 2019 that Remedy had briefly returned to work on an Alan Wake property about two years prior, but the effort did not work out, and the company was booked for the next few years, between their own new game Control, supporting Smilegate on its game CrossfireX, and another new project. Puha said that the only limited factor for them to work on an Alan Wake sequel was "time, money, and resources".[10] Despite that, Lake continued to be part of a team in Remedy to brainstorm ideas and work on different incarnations for Alan Wake 2. Internally, the project was code-named "Project Big Fish", which represented its importance and significance to Remedy.[11] In the second downloadable content pack for Control, Remedy's next game following Quantum Break, Alan Wake was featured as a character. According to Remedy, Control established the "Remedy Connected Universe" which is shared by both Control and Alan Wake, and that the next game released by the studio will also be set on this universe.[12]

Remedy fully acquired the rights to Alan Wake from Microsoft in July 2019, including a one-time royalty payment of about €2.5 million for the game series' past sales, which helped pave the way for a sequel.[13] Remedy had signed with Epic Games Publishing in 2021 for the release of two games. Remedy released Alan Wake Remastered in October 2021 as the first game of this partnership,[14] while the second, larger game, Alan Wake 2, was announced at The Game Awards 2021.[15] Remedy's communications director Thomas Puha said that Epic allowed Remedy to create the game they wanted to make with minimal publisher interference, while providing extensive feedback to help improve the game.[16]

Production

[edit]

With Epic as their publisher, Remedy began production on Alan Wake 2 in August 2019.[17] According to Sam Lake, the game would be powered by Remedy's own Northlight Engine, which they used for Quantum Break and Control. Lake also stated that Alan Wake 2 would be a survival horror game, as opposed to Alan Wake, which Lake said was "an action game with horror elements", though he did not explain the difference between the two. Lake further added that players will not need to play the previous games in order to understand Alan Wake 2.[11] The sequel continued to draw inspiration from the works of David Lynch, particularly Twin Peaks.[18][19] According to Lake, he sought influence specifically from the third season of Twin Peaks, whereas the first entry was influenced by earlier seasons. [20] Also influential were more detective themes from works like Seven, The Silence of the Lambs, and True Detective.[21] Lake said that his approach to Alan Wake 2 was bolstered by the success of the film Everything Everywhere All At Once.[22]

Remedy confirmed the game would remain in the third-person perspective despite the switch to survival horror, and that both Ilkka Villi and Matthew Porretta would return to provide the appearance and the voice of Alan, respectively.[23] Other cast include Melanie Liburd as the live-action and voice of Saga Anderson, David Harewood as both the live-action and voice of Mr. Door, James McCaffrey and Lake as the voice and live-action appearance of Alex Casey, respectively.[24] Further, Alan Wake 2 includes cameos from characters in Control, including Jesse Faden (voiced by Courtney Hope), Dr. Darling (Porretta) and the mysterious janitor Ahti (Martti Suosalo).[25]

Alan's mission "Initiation 4: We Sing" has the player guide Alan through a surreal set while the character Mr. Door and others sing "Herald of Darkness", a musical summarizing Alan's story to that point with music provided by Poets of the Fall (playing as the fictional band "Old Gods of Asgard").[26] Lake said the idea for the musical sequence was inspired by Alan Wake's concert standoff as well as the Ashtray Maze level in Control, both set to Poets of the Fall's music. Lake also knew that Porretta (Wake) and Harewood (Mr. Door) could sing, and Poets of the Fall were able to help with choreography. Frequently through development, some of the developers questioned the need for the musical sequence due to both the strangeness of the sequence in the horror game and the difficulties in executing it. However, Lake insisted that the sequence must be kept.[27] The song was played live at The Game Awards 2023 by Poets of the Fall, along with Villi, Porretta, Harewood, and Lake reprising their roles.[28]

Overall, the game took 13 years to develop. In an interview, Sam Lake said this was because "The sequel contains many characters and locations, as well as a continuation of the supernatural lore established and introduced in the original Alan Wake."[29]

The budget for the game reportedly stands at €70 million, with €50 million in development and an additional €20 million spent on marketing.[30] This is considered to make the game one of the most expensive cultural products in the history of Finland.[31]

Post-launch updates

[edit]

In October 2024, Remedy Entertainment released the free anniversary update for Alan Wake 2, adding accessibility options like infinite ammo, one-shot kills, and gameplay assists. The update added DualSense motion control support and enhanced haptic feedback on PlayStation 5, along with expanded axis inversion options.[32]

Graphics technology

[edit]

Prior to the release of Alan Wake 2, Remedy Entertainment had earned a reputation for pushing visual boundaries and graphics technology with releases such as Control and Max Payne 2.[33] Alan Wake 2 was developed with ninth generation consoles in mind. For its traditional graphics rasterization, Alan Wake 2 harnesses mesh shaders that are only supported by the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nvidia's GeForce RTX 20 and 16 series or AMD's Radeon RX 6000 series of GPUs and later on PC.[34] The game was the first to be released with native support for mesh shaders.[35] As opposed to older vertex and geometry shading techniques, mesh shaders try to reduce the bottleneck from rendering a large number of fixed vertex triangles by instead flexibly rendering large groups of triangles. Developers are given greater control over rendering complex geometry as mesh shaders can be segmented into smaller meshlets that can be re-used and rendered in-parallel while making less calls for data from memory.[36] The graphics pipeline is also shorter with mesh shaders as opposed to a traditional vertex and tessellation pipeline.[36] Alan Wake 2 running on hardware without mesh shader support, such as Nvidia's GeForce GTX 10 series or AMD's Radeon RX 5000 series of GPUs and older, results in poor performance and visual errors.[37] However, an optimization patch released in early 2024 improved performance on GTX 10-series GPUs.[38]

Ray tracing is extensively used in Alan Wake 2 to better simulate how light realistically behaves in the real world. Scenes are lit using global illumination and the light provided by the global light source bounces off surfaces and diffuses depending on the materials present. The use of ray tracing is particularly important for adding ambience to dark scenes in the game that feature flashlights as a sole light source.[39] Alan Wake 2 even goes beyond ray tracing to incorporate path tracing where diffused light will also bounce across duller surfaces in addition to reflective ones.[40] Path tracing's computational demands means that it is not available on the limited console hardware.[41] Alan Wake 2's extensive use of ray tracing made it a promotional vessel for Nvidia's graphics technologies such as supporting DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction. On Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics cards, it seeks to improve ray tracing visual quality and performance by not performing calculations on multiple rays per pixel and instead using machine learning to fill in the gaps.[42]

Music

[edit]
Alan Wake 2: Original Game Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Petri Alanko
Released14 May 2024 (2024-05-14)
Recorded2011–2023
Length108:49
Label

The original score for Alan Wake 2 by Finnish composer Petri Alanko was released via Epic Games and Laced Records on 14 May 2024, the 14th anniversary of the first Alan Wake game's release.[43] Alanko returns to the role of composer from the first Alan Wake game with his approach to composing for Alan Wake 2 "akin to reuniting with an old friend, discovering both familiar and new elements to play with".[44]

Alanko first began recording Alan Wake 2's original score in 2011, and in the years since then, it became a "very different entity". The biggest change that occurred since Alanko began work on the score was the addition of the game's second protagonist Saga Anderson.[45] In the years since beginning work on Alan Wake 2's score, he also composed the score for Remedy Entertainment's 2019 game Control.[46] To create some of the sounds for Alan Wake 2, Alanko used unconventional means such as dropping pianos off forklift trucks.[47]

Release

[edit]

Remedy announced in May 2023 that Alan Wake 2 would be a digital-only release, rationalizing that many players had already shifted to only buying games digitally, so they wanted to ensure the game maintains a low price, and they didn't want it to require a separate download even if a physical version was released.[48] Originally planned to release for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 17 October 2023, Remedy delayed the game by ten days to 27 October to avoid competition from other major triple-A releases.[49] The PC version is exclusive to the Epic Games Store for "a long time".[50] Free downloadable content packs and two paid expansions titled Night Springs and The Lake House were announced.[51] Remedy later announced that physical editions of the game would release in October 2024, including a limited collectors edition produced with Limited Run Games.[52]

Marketing

[edit]

An Alan Wake cosmetic outfit was added to Fortnite as part of the "Fortnitemares 2023" event[53] and a retelling of the first Alan Wake was available within Fortnite Creative in the weeks prior to the sequel's release to help new players come up to speed on events from the first game.[54]

From 10 October to 13 November 2023, a free copy of Alan Wake 2 was included in a promotional bundle with the purchase of certain Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 series GPUs.[55] The eligible GPUs for the bundle were the RTX 4070, RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 4080 and RTX 4090.[56]

Alan Wake was added to the video game Dead by Daylight in January 2024. Additional cosmetics were included with his release, including skins that turn the character into either Saga Anderson, Rose Marigold, and Mr. Scratch.[57][better source needed]

Downloadable content

[edit]

The first downloadable content (DLC) addition, Night Springs, was released on 8 June 2024.[52] It contains three episodes, featuring echoes of existing characters in the Remedy shared universe in "what if" type scenarios within Bright Falls. These include "Number One Fan," with the player controlling the Waitress, who is based on Rose; the second is "North Star," which features a protagonist based on Jesse Faden, the main character of Control; the third is "Time Breaker," which features the Actor, real-life actor Shawn Ashmore appearing as himself as well as Sheriff Tim Breaker (whom Ashmore also voices).[58]

The second DLC expansion, The Lake House, was released on 22 October 2024.[59] This expansion is a crossover with Remedy's Control series. In The Lake House, players take control of FBC agent Kiran Estevez. While the events of the expansion take place towards the beginning of the main game's plot, players are able to access the expansion from the main menu at any time, or during the mission "Return 6: Scratch", in a similar vein to the Night Springs DLC, which players could enter by finding various television sets around the Dark Place. The game also saw the release of new tracks from Petri Alanko and Poe, as well as a new in-game outfit for Alan, the "classic outfit".[60][61]

Reception

[edit]

Critical response

[edit]

Alan Wake 2 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics for the PC and PS5 versions, while the Xbox Series X/S version received "universal acclaim", according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[62][63][64]

Andrew Farrell of PCGamesN in his Alan Wake 2 review awarded the game 9 out of 10 saying, "Alan Wake 2 is a marvel, serving up intense gameplay, a twisty, dark story, and more secrets and surprises than you could possibly imagine. Remedy has outdone itself here, delivering a truly remarkable experience."[76]

Alan Wake 2 was ranked first on Time's top 10 best video games of 2023 list.[82]

Sales

[edit]

By the end of December 2023, Alan Wake 2 had sold over 1 million units, and by February 2024, had sold over 1.3 million units, making it Remedy's fastest-selling game. It sold more units and over three times more digital units in its first month than Control did in its first four months.[83][84] As of late April 2024, the game had not recouped its development and marketing costs.[85] In its January–June 2024 financial report, Remedy confirmed that the game still had yet to turn a profit for the company.[86] In the quarterly earnings report on 1 November 2024, the company announced that while the game has not yet started generating royalties, it is close to fully recouping most of the development and marketing costs with ongoing sales.[87] On 19 November, Remedy announced that the game had sold over 1.8 million units.[88]

Awards

[edit]
Date Award Category Result Ref.
2023 Golden Joystick Awards Critics Choice Award Won [89][90]
Best Game Trailer (The Dark Place Gameplay) Nominated
Best Lead Performer (Ilkka Villi / Matthew Porretta) Nominated
Best Lead Performer (Melanie Liburd) Nominated
Ultimate Game of the Year Nominated
The Game Awards 2023 Game of the Year Nominated [91]
Best Game Direction Won
Best Narrative Won
Best Art Direction Won
Best Score and Music (Petri Alanko) Nominated
Best Audio Design Nominated
Best Performance (Melanie Liburd) Nominated
Best Action / Adventure Game Nominated
2024 13th New York Game Awards Big Apple Award for Game of the Year Nominated [92][93]
Herman Melville Award for Best Writing in a Game Nominated
Statue of Liberty Award for Best World Won
Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game Nominated
Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game (Melanie Liburd as Saga Anderson) Won
27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Game of the Year Nominated [94][95]
Adventure Game of the Year Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction Won
Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Character (Saga Anderson) Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Story Nominated
Outstanding Technical Achievement Nominated
22nd Visual Effects Society Awards Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project Won [96]
24th Game Developers Choice Awards Game of the Year Honorable mention [97][98]
Best Narrative Nominated
Best Technology Nominated
Best Visual Art Won
Audience Award Nominated
20th British Academy Games Awards Best Game Nominated [99][100]
Animation Nominated
Artistic Achievement Won
Audio Achievement Won
Game Design Longlisted [101]
Music Nominated [99][100]
Narrative Nominated
Technical Achievement Nominated
Performer in a Leading Role (Ilkka Villi as Alan Wake (Live Action + Mocap)) Longlisted [101]
Performer in a Leading Role (Matthew Porretta as Alan Wake (Voice)) Longlisted
Performer in a Leading Role (Melanie Liburd as Saga Anderson) Longlisted
Performer in a Supporting Role (James McCaffrey as Alex Casey (Voice)) Longlisted
Performer in a Supporting Role (Martti Suosalo as Ahti) Longlisted
Performer in a Supporting Role (Sam Lake as Alex Casey (Live Action + Mocap)) Nominated [99][100]
Nebula Awards Best Game Writing (Sam Lake, Clay Murphy, Tyler Burton Smith and Sinikka Annala) Nominated [102]
Hugo Awards Best Game or Interactive Work Nominated [103]
Game Audio Awards Best Game Music Won [104]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Stylized as Alan Wake II

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Puha, Thomas (24 May 2023). "Alan Wake 2 launches on PS5 October 17". PlayStation.Blog. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b Robinson, Andy (10 June 2023). "Alan Wake 2 interview: 'True Detective was definitely on our mind'". Video Games Chronicle. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b Indovina, Kurt; Caswell, Tom (10 June 2023). "Alan Wake 2 Gameplay Impressions | Summer Game Fest 2023". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  4. ^ Simelane, Smangaliso (27 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2: How the Mind Palace and Writer's Room work". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  5. ^ Robinson, Nick (1 March 2016). "Quantum Break is full of Alan Wake easter eggs". Polygon. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  6. ^ Robinson, Martin (7 March 2016). "Remedy still in talks about Alan Wake 2". Polygon. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  7. ^ Crecente, Brian (20 April 2015). "Introducing the Alan Wake 2 you will never play". Polygon. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  8. ^ Batchelor, James (16 July 2018). "How Remedy is taking Control of its own destiny". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  9. ^ Narcisse, Evan (22 May 2013). "Alan Wake Creator Explains Why We Are Not Getting A Sequel". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  10. ^ McKeand, Kirk (4 April 2019). "'We were working on Alan Wake 2 years ago and it just didn't pan out' – Remedy". VG247. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  11. ^ a b Lake, Sam (9 December 2021). "Alan Wake 2 announced for PS5". PlayStation.Blog. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  12. ^ Chalk, Andy (7 August 2020). "The next 'Remedy Connected Universe' game is already in development". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  13. ^ Phillips, Tom (1 July 2019). "Alan Wake developer Remedy regains publishing rights". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  14. ^ Marks, Tom (10 September 2021). "Alan Wake Remastered Release Date Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  15. ^ McWhertor, Michael (9 December 2021). "Alan Wake 2 revealed, will be Remedy's first survival horror game". Polygon. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  16. ^ Nelson, Will (30 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 devs could make the game 'we wanted' thanks to Epic". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  17. ^ "Company announcement 09:00 am (EET) 12 November 2021 BUSINESS REVIEW January–September 2021 (unaudited)", Remedy Investors, Remedy Entertainment Plc, 12 November 2012, archived from the original on 14 November 2021, retrieved 12 November 2023, In September, we announced that the smaller of the two Epic Games Publishing projects, Alan Wake Remastered, was completed and ready to be launched in October on PC on the Epic Games Store, Xbox, and for the first time in the franchise's history, PlayStation console [..] Another key milestone was the entry of the bigger Epic Games Publishing project into full production in August.
  18. ^ D'Amato, Lee (8 November 2023). "Alan Wake 2 Isn't A Horror Game, It's A Twin Peaks Game". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  19. ^ Fillari, Alessandro (13 November 2023). "Why Remedy Entertainment went all in on Saga Anderson in Alan Wake 2". Game Developer. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  20. ^ "Alan Wake 2's Sam Lake explains Twin Peaks: The Return's 'bold' influence". Digital Trends. 27 September 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  21. ^ Fillari, Alessandro (13 November 2023). "Why Remedy Entertainment went all in on Saga Anderson in Alan Wake 2". Game Developer. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  22. ^ Park, Gene (16 December 2023). "Sam Lake, gaming's genre-bending auteur, on breaking reality". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  23. ^ Cryer, Hirun (14 December 2021). "Alan Wake 2 is bringing back the third-person camera and lead actor Matthew Porretta". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  24. ^ Erskine, Donovan (2 November 2023). "Alan Wake 2 voice actors & cast list". Shacknews. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  25. ^ Moiseyev, Dennis (9 November 2023). "Alan Wake 2: Every Returning Character From The Original And Control". The Gamer. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  26. ^ Mahardy, Mike (30 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 has the best 15-minute stretch in a video game in years". Polygon. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  27. ^ Delaney, Mark (4 November 2023). "Alan Wake 2's Best Scene Was Nearly Cut From The Game, Sam Lake Reveals". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  28. ^ Mahardy, Mike (7 December 2023). "The Old Gods of Asgard are The Game Awards' best musical guest yet". Polygon. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  29. ^ Hussain, Mudassir (17 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 Interview: 13 Years Of Struggle, Saga's Relation, And Significance Of DLCs". eXputer. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  30. ^ Niemi, Liisa (27 October 2023). "Alan Wake II on yksi Suomen kalleimmista kulttuurituotteista, ja siitä voi tulla Remedylle kultakaivos" [Alan Wake II is one of the most expensive cultural products in Finland, and it can become a gold mine for Remedy]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  31. ^ Mattila, Mattias (26 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 on kymmenien miljoonien eurojen selviytymiskauhua – yksi vuoden odotetuimmista peleistä on täynnä Suomi-viitteitä" [Alan Wake 2 is a survival horror worth tens of millions of euros - one of the most anticipated games of the year is full of Finnish references]. Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  32. ^ Dinsdale, Ryan (21 October 2024). "Alan Wake 2 Gets Major Anniversary Update Tomorrow". IGN. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  33. ^ Mackenzie, Oliver (26 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 on PlayStation 5 - Remedy raises the bar for visuals yet again". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  34. ^ Tyson, Mark (30 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 Requires Mesh Shaders, Excluding Most Older GPUs". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  35. ^ Evanson, Nick (30 October 2023). "Mesh shaders explained: What are they, what's the big fuss, and why are they only in Alan Wake 2?". PC Gamer. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  36. ^ a b Kubisch, Christoph (17 September 2018). "Introduction to Turing Mesh Shaders". Nvidia Developer. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  37. ^ Battaglia, Alex (3 March 2024). "Upcoming Alan Wake 2 patch drastically improves GTX 10-series performance". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 16 March 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  38. ^ "Upcoming Alan Wake 2 patch drastically improves GTX 10-series performance". Eurogamer.net. 3 March 2024. Archived from the original on 16 March 2024. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  39. ^ Swan, Cameron (3 November 2023). "Alan Wake 2's Use of Lighting Shouldn't Be Taken for Granted". GameRant. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  40. ^ Battaglia, Alex (5 November 2023). "Alan Wake 2: a deep dive into Remedy's high-end ray tracing". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 9 April 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  41. ^ Walton, Jarred (27 October 2023). "Testing Alan Wake 2: Full Path Tracing and Ray Reconstruction Will Punish Your GPU". Tom's Hardware. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  42. ^ Walton, Jarred (23 August 2023). "Nvidia Reveals DLSS 3.5: AI-Powered Ray Reconstruction". Tom's Hardware. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  43. ^ Croft, Liam (13 May 2024). "Alan Wake 2's Haunting Soundtrack Out Tomorrow, Includes 35 Tracks". Push Square. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  44. ^ Huttunen, Miika (13 May 2024). "Celebrating Alan Wake's 14th Anniversary with a New Soundtrack". AlanWake.com. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  45. ^ Brown, Andy (1 March 2024). "How Petri Alanko scored 'Alan Wake 2' with mayhem and miracles". NME. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  46. ^ Banas, Graham (8 October 2019). "Interview: Taking the Hiss with Control Composer Petri Alanko". Push Square. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  47. ^ Peppiatt, Dom (8 March 2024). "'It seems it has its own mind': the bizarre and terrifying instrument behind Alan Wake 2's soundtrack". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  48. ^ Peters, Jay (25 May 2023). "Alan Wake 2 won't be available on disc". The Verge. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  49. ^ Winslow, Levi (17 August 2023). "Alan Wake 2 Spooked By October Games Onslaught, Delayed 10 Days". Kotaku. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  50. ^ Makuch, Eddie (26 October 2023). "Why Alan Wake 2 Isn't On Steam". GameSpot. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  51. ^ Cryer, Hirun (25 May 2023). "Alan Wake 2 will get free DLC and two full expansions". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  52. ^ a b Phillips, Tom (7 June 2024). "Alan Wake 2's deliciously bizarre Night Springs DLC out this weekend, physical version finally due later this year". Eurogamer. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  53. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (10 October 2023). "Fortnite Update 26.30 Adds Alan Wake, Michael Myers, and Jack Skellington Outfits". IGN. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  54. ^ Riveria, Joshua (17 October 2023). "Fortnite put a whole other dang game in Fortnite". Polygon. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  55. ^ Newcombe, Rosalie (11 October 2023). "Get Alan Wake 2 free with select Nvidia RTX 40 GPUs". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 24 June 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  56. ^ Sims, Daniel (10 October 2023). "Alan Wake II is Nvidia's next RTX 40 series bundle, available now until November 13". TechSpot. Archived from the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  57. ^ "Dead by Daylight's TOME 18: REVISION Highlights Alan Wake & The Deathslinger". Dead by Daylight. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  58. ^ McCarter, Reid (8 June 2024). "Remedy reveals surprising ideas behind Alan Wake 2 DLC's new chapters, characters". Epic Games Store. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  59. ^ Kennedy, Victoria (17 October 2024). "Alan Wake 2 Lake House DLC will be another slice of full on horror, with new playable character and enemy type". Eurogamer. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  60. ^ Starcevic, Vida (7 June 2024). "New Alan Wake 2 Night Springs expansion launches June 8, first details". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  61. ^ Starčević, Vida (17 October 2024). "The Lake House expansion releases October 22nd". Remedy Blog. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  62. ^ a b "Alan Wake II for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  63. ^ a b "Alan Wake II for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  64. ^ a b "Alan Wake II for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  65. ^ "Alan Wake 2 Reviews". OpenCritic. 26 October 2023. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  66. ^ Simelane, Smangaliso (2 November 2023). "Review: Alan Wake 2". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 13 January 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  67. ^ Colantonio, Giovanni (26 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 review: Remedy's endlessly creative sequel embraces its dark side". Digital Trends. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  68. ^ Ong, Alexis (26 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 review - incredible style, overbearing writing". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  69. ^ Hilliard, Kyle (26 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 Review - Back To Reality". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  70. ^ Delaney, Mark (26 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 Review - A Miracle Illuminated". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  71. ^ West, Josh (26 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 review: 'An imaginative and truly ambitious sequel'". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  72. ^ Wells, Cory (26 October 2023). "Review: Alan Wake 2". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  73. ^ Ogilvie, Tristan (26 October 2023). "Alan Wake II Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  74. ^ Blake, Vikki (31 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 review: don't sleep on this unsettling horror thriller". NME. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  75. ^ Valentine, Robin (31 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 15 January 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  76. ^ a b Farrell, Andrew (26 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 review – a new horror game classic". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  77. ^ Bayne, Aaron (26 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 Review (PS5)". Push Square. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  78. ^ Denzer, TJ (26 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 review: Flexibly frightful fiction". Shacknews. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  79. ^ Lane, Rick (26 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 review – a confidently strange horror thriller". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  80. ^ Middler, Jordan (26 October 2023). "Review: Alan Wake 2 is a confident, ground-breaking thriller". Video Games Chronicle. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  81. ^ Raynor, Kelsey (26 October 2023). "Alan Wake 2 review". VG247. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  82. ^ Newby, Richard (29 November 2023). "The 10 Best Video Games of 2023". Time. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  83. ^ Romano, Sal (16 February 2024). "Alan Wake II sales top 1.3 million". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  84. ^ Kennedy, Victoria (16 February 2024). "Alan Wake 2 fastest-selling Remedy game, but yet to turn a profit". Eurogamer. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  85. ^ Parijat, Shubhankar (29 April 2024). "Alan Wake 2 Hasn't Fully Recouped Development and Marketing Costs Yet". Gamingbolt. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  86. ^ "Alan Wake 2 Still Hasn't Made Back Its Budget". 9 August 2024. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  87. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (1 November 2024). "Remedy Has Recouped 'Most' of the Development and Marketing Expenses for Alan Wake 2". IGN. Archived from the original on 10 November 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  88. ^ "Control 2 Confirmed As Action RPG; First Game Receiving Free 2025 Update". 19 November 2024. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  89. ^ Donnelly, Joe (10 November 2023). "Alan Wake 2 wins Critics' Choice Award at the Golden Joystick Awards 2023". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  90. ^ Loveridge, Sam (10 November 2023). "Here are all the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 winners". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  91. ^ Spangler, Todd (13 November 2023). "The Game Awards 2023 Nominations: Alan Wake 2, Baldur's Gate 3 Lead the Pack With Eight Noms Each (Full List)". Variety. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  92. ^ McEvoy, Sophie (5 January 2024). "Baldur's Gate 3 leads New York Games Awards 2024 nominations". Gameindustry.biz. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  93. ^ McEvoy, Sophie (24 January 2024). "Baldur's Gate 3 wins big at New York Game Awards 2024". Games Industry.biz. Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  94. ^ McEvoy, Sophie (11 January 2024). "Spider-Man 2 receives most nominations for 2024 DICE Awards". Gameindustry.biz. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  95. ^ Chandler, Sam (15 February 2024). "The D.I.C.E. Awards 2024 winners & finalists". Shacknews. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  96. ^ Pedersen, Erik (21 February 2024). "VES Awards: 'The Creator' & 'Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse' Early Winners At Visual Effects Society Show". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  97. ^ Takahashi, Dean (16 January 2024). "Game Developers Choice Awards releases finalists". VentureBeat. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  98. ^ Bankhurst, Adam (20 March 2024). "Game Developers Choice Awards 2024 Winners: The Full List". IGN. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  99. ^ a b c Gerken, Tom (7 March 2024). "Bafta Games Awards 2024: Baldur's Gate 3 and Spider-Man lead nods". BBC News. Archived from the original on 23 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  100. ^ a b c "20th BAFTA Games Awards: The Nominations". BAFTA. 7 March 2024. Archived from the original on 12 April 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  101. ^ a b "The 60 Best Video Games of 2023". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 14 December 2023. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  102. ^ Baker, Kathryn (15 March 2024). "SFWA Announces the Finalists for the 59th Nebula Awards". SFWA. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  103. ^ "2024 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. 29 March 2024. Archived from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  104. ^ "Game Audio Awards". Game Audio Awards. 8 March 2024. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alan Wake II.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Alan Wake II.
Retrieved from "https://wiki.riteme.site/w/index.php?title=Alan_Wake_2&oldid=1263776637#Plot"