Highlights
- Expect heavy linear narrative and live-action cutscenes that hinder gameplay in Alan Wake 2.
- Get ready for genuine non-stop jump scares that will have you jumping out of your seat.
- There are connections to Control and only three manual save slots in Alan Wake 2.
After an over decade-long wait, the next installment of the Alan Wake series has arrived, and things aren’t as you last left them. Alan Wake 2 takes the classic mechanics of the first game while upping the horror and reimagining the gameplay to the likes of The Evil Within and Resident Evil, but still keeping the mind-bogglingly weird Remedy style.
![Alan Wake 2 Characters And Their Voice Actors - Ilkka Villi as Zane, Drew Hylton as Logan, James McCaffrey, David Harewood as Mr. Door, and Melanie Liburd as Saga](https://static1.thegamerimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/alan-wake-2-characters-and-their-voice-actors-ilkka-villi-as-zane-drew-hylton-as-logan-james-mccaffrey-david-harewood-as-mr-door-and-melanie-liburd-as-saga.jpg)
Alan Wake 2: 22 Characters And Their Voice Actors
Geralt of Rivia, Jack Joyce, and even Teletubby Tinky Winky join protagonists Alan and Saga in Alan Wake 2!
From the very opening level of the game, you’ll find the atmosphere and narrative direction take a refreshing new turn, and the rest of the game is just as unpredictable and filled with plenty of new content. So here are some things to know if you plan on wandering through the Dark Place in Alan Wake 2.
Updated on December 30, 2023, by Dennis Moiseyev: There are a lot of unexpected things happening in Alan Wake 2, particularly the gameplay and narrative design, which truly make it one of the most memorable games in years. It’s always best to know what you’re getting into when getting a new game, so the following list has been updated with more helpful information on the overall package Alan Wake 2 delivers.
10 Expect Heavy Linear Narrative And Live-Action Cutscenes Over Gameplay
What you’re getting in Alan Wake 2 is an incredibly detailed narrative that goes above and beyond what any game can deliver. That also means there are lots of cutscenes everywhere and moments railroading you to story events, which hinders the survival horror gameplay significantly and leaves you wanting more.
Some of Alan’s chapters are straight cutscenes with Mr. Door in his studio or watching Alice’s videos in Parliament Tower, leaving only three main Initiation chapters with significant gameplay, which are still pretty short. Saga’s mechanics entail profiling characters, which requires you to pause gameplay and watch her learn new information from dialogue exchanges within her mind.
Echoes are narrative perspective puzzles you have to wait and watch as Alan; even moving just slightly from the spot will cause it to restart. You also have lots of live-action video collectibles and manuscripts to watch and listen to from the menu.
There’s even an entire live-action movie, Yötön Yö (Nightless Night), which is available to watch from start to finish on the cinema screen after completing Initiation 8.
9 You’re In For Genuine Non-Stop Jump Scares
If you thought what you’re getting into with Alan Wake 2 is similar to the first game, you’d be unpleasantly surprised right from the very start of the game. Alan Wake 2 is extremely frightening, to the point where you may be jumping out of your seat and yelling expletives.
![Alan Wake 2 Split Image coffee world and cult of the tree image](https://static1.thegamerimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/alan-wake-2-split-image-coffee-world-and-cult-of-the-tree-image.jpg)
Alan Wake 2: 10 Scariest Moments
We might have screamed once or twice while playing it, but we won’t confirm it.
There are many jump scares throughout the game, which are masterfully delivered by an eerie flash of a black-and-white figure taking over your screen at points when you least expect it. Then some are more environmental-based, like deer and Taken busting through walls to attack you. The sound design is intense and will get you every time, guaranteed!
Create a more immersive and spooky experience with these scares by playing with the lights off and your headphones on. You won’t regret it, hopefully…
8 There Are A Lot Of Connections To Control
Alan Wake 2 was marketed as a standalone enjoyable experience, where you didn’t necessarily have to play previous Remedy games to understand the story. While that may be the case, and you don’t need to learn the entire lore of Control forwards and backward to engage with Alan Wake 2, there still are plenty of connections where knowing some things from Control may help.
Saga meets characters from the Federal Bureau of Control, which may be an unfamiliar organization if you never picked up the 2019 game, as would the meaning behind Altered World Event (A.W.E.) flashing on computer monitors at Cauldron Lake or even the word parautilitarian. Ahti, Dr. Casper Darling, and Mr. Door from Control may also lose their wider significance.
7 There Are Only Three Manual Save Slots Available
The number of manual save slots you have to work with in Alan Wake 2 is abysmally scant. Even fellow 2023 survival horror game Resident Evil 4 comes with a default 20, which modders still thought wasn’t enough and changed to 100. With 18 total chapters in the game, having only three manual save slots can feel very frustrating.
If you missed something in an earlier chapter, your only means of going back is restarting with a new game if you’ve already overwritten the file. And if you want to replay an earlier chapter, certainly a great one like We Sing, that unfortunately may seem impossible. So, use those slots wisely.
6 Not Every Enemy Requires Headshots Or Your Battery To Drain
The combat design from Alan Wake to Alan Wake 2 doesn’t see a massive change regarding the flashlight and shooting mechanics, but it’s still not a total copy and paste. The visuals are updated, and it feels more like Resident Evil, where it’s not only about headshots but shooting at weak points for a better advantage.
![Three-image collage of Alan Wake with a flare, Saga with her flashlight out near a light source, and Saga approaching a coffee thermos in a break room.](https://static1.thegamerimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/mixcollage-19-dec-2023-12-15-pm-9405.jpg)
Alan Wake 2: 10 Tips For Nightmare Mode
Show me the Champion of Light, and I’ll show you the best tips to progress through the Nightmare in Alan Wake 2!
To get their weak points exposed, you need to drain your flashlight’s battery and break their force shield to highlight it on their body. Enemies also vary, so headshots don’t always have to become your default move. Another difference, especially with those shadows in the Dark Place, is that not all enemies are hostile, and you barely need to focus your flashlight on them to get them to disappear.
5 Visit The Case Board And Saga’s Mind Place Frequently
When playing Agent Saga Anderson, you often head over to her Mind Place like you would Alan’s Writers Room, which is basically the part of her detective noggin where the crime-solving happens via the Case Board, allowing you to proceed further into the story.
Luckily, the transition from the Mind Place world to and from the game world and vice-versa is quick and easy, for all it takes is one button to teleport you there. Whenever you find yourself confused as to what you need to do, always pay a visit to the Mind Place to double-check if there are any updates in case files or profiling, and always place new evidence on the board to see if anything gets triggered.
Although you’re removed from the gameplay events Saga is dealing with when you’re inside the Mind Place, this isn’t a pause screen, and you won’t be immune from enemies. The only time when you shouldn’t put yourself there is during combat.
4 How Certain Gameplay Mechanics Work
Inventory
Alan Wake 2 is more survival horror than any other Remedy game. That was something discussed before launch, though just how much it borrows isn’t very clear at first. But there is Resident Evil-style inventory management in the game, where you can store items and expand your inventory to take on more essentials down the line, as well as quickslot essential weapons.
Healing
In the first Alan Wake, regaining health is as easy as staying in well-lit areas and spotlights outside. Alan Wake 2 introduces healing supplies like painkillers and first aid kits. The caveat with them is that they can be harder to find sometimes, and applying them in combat means you have to equip the item in place of a weapon and hold a button to use it, being unable to defend yourself and potentially dying before a current save.
Character Switching
The beginning portion of the game leads you to believe that Alan and Saga’s stories are meant to be separate experiences that will eventually intertwine. However, this turns out not to be the case at all, and you can switch freely between the two after reaching a certain point. Keeping with the weirdness, it involves a janitor’s bucket.
There are a lot of media pieces to collect this time around in Alan Wake 2, but the good thing is you shouldn’t feel pressured to stand there and view the full entertaining segment of the Koskela Brothers’ adventure tours or something you catch on the radio. These are all thankfully stored in the menu within the Mind Place for your later convenience.
![Three-image collage of Alan with Sam Lake dancing in We Sing, Saga heading toward the janitor bucket, and a pop-up jumpscare of Scratch.](https://static1.thegamerimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/mixcollage-05-dec-2023-06-18-pm-5080.jpg)
11 Biggest Differences Between Alan Wake And Alan Wake 2
To say Alan Wake 2 takes things in an original new direction would be an understatement.
The Mind Place is the go-to for many things, including access to these collectibles, even the manuscripts. The in-game narration only gives you a chunk of the manuscript, so you can sit back and hear it in full like an audiobook while a filler cutscene of Alan’s Writers Room plays out on the screen. Manuscripts are important guides as well for what comes next.
You can likewise listen to chapter songs or Old Gods of Asgard tracks as collectibles from the radio in the Mind Place and Writer’s Room.
2 Don’t Be Afraid To Explore Areas
Alan Wake 2 is a strong contender for being one of the scariest horror games, so, understandably, it may feel daunting for you to venture off too much and overstay your welcome in an area, not knowing what terrifying things might be in store. Exploration is an important part of the game, however, and something you don’t want to miss out on.
There are many secrets littered around environments that are easy to miss, whether they be locked containers to come back to later, intriguing lore elements, Easter eggs, numerous collectibles, or perhaps some desperately needed ammo and health re-ups. You can always opt for the Story difficulty if this is one of your reservations.
You’ll Also Want To Do This To Get Upgrades
Another factor that plays into exploration is gathering materials that will accumulate into helpful upgrades for Saga and Alan facing the Taken. For Saga, you want to find all the Alex Casey licensed lunchboxes (yes, he’s on lunchboxes, too) that have torn-up fragments of manuscript inside, which translate to weapon upgrades. The lunch boxes are also inscribed with random messages.
For Alan Wake in the Dark Place, you’ll need to identify “Words of Power,” terminology that sounds similar to Objects of Power from Control and appears as repetitive yellow spirals of a phrase hiding somewhere in the environment and can give you perks. For example, “Word of Stuff” can increase your flashlight’s charge or display resources on your map, while “Word of Fix” corresponds to health.
There Are A Lot Of Collectibles
In addition to lunchboxes and Words of Power, you have many other collectibles, like petting deer heads to access secret rooms, tons of manuscript pages hidden everywhere, cult stashes for extra supplies, nursery rhymes for unlocking useful charms to compliment Saga’s upgrades, Mayor Setter campaign slogans, Writer’s journey videos across the Dark Place, and radio show segments.
1 Pick Up Every New Map You Find
One of the most important things to consider is how the map system works in the game. There aren’t any waypoints to guide you to your objective or a compass at the top of your screen pointing you in the right direction. Instead, you need to collect maps of areas and refer to your location from there or risk relying on muscle memory for destinations, which may work in smaller places like the woods near Cauldron Lake but is not advisable.
Maps are generally pretty easy to spot and stand out, as though it’s the game’s way of telling you, “Take me!” while other times aren’t as obvious and can be missed. These are critical to successful exploration and navigation, so you don’t want to advance without them, especially if you don’t want to explore any longer than you have to.
![Alan Wake 2 Updated Easter Eggs Feature Image - American Nightmare Outfit, Nazareno's Pizza, Sam Lake Expression, and Max Payne Casey](https://static1.thegamerimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/alan-wake-2-updated-easter-eggs-feature-image-american-nightmare-outfit-nazareno-s-pizza-sam-lake-expression-and-max-payne-casey.jpg)
The 24 Best Easter Eggs And Hidden Details In Alan Wake 2
Alan Wake 2’s mind-bending horror is scattered with Easter eggs to Remedy’s greatest hits.