![]() I was always begging that whatever path I'd chosen was the right one. For example, in my hands-on preview, I found myself doing a lot of light-swapping and back-tracking, which inevitably forced me to confront waves of enemies I'd evaded before, this time with less ammo, adding a heap of tension and challenge in simply exploring the Dark Place. We've seen the precursors to this mechanic throughout Alan Wake and Alan Wake's American Nightmare, but put into practice in Alan Wake 2, it adds a whole new dimension, literally and figuratively. Using it near light sources absorbed that light energy and released it somewhere else, dramatically changing the environment and opening brand new pathways to track and backtrack. It could still be used to blast away enemy shields, but it was now more crucially a tool for unlocking new areas of the map and progressing through levels. Immediately, nothing about my surroundings was familiar a dark, concrete jungle where my only points of navigation were obscured neon signs pointing toward the main mission, and graffiti with cryptic and ominous messages.Įven my flashlight had a whole new purpose. In this chapter, Alan is trapped in a fictional version of New York City known as The Dark Place, and he's trying to find his way out. It wasn't until I started playing as Alan that I realized just how much of Control's DNA is present in Alan Wake 2 and the degree to which it shakes things up. Even the sudden shifts from feeling safe and serene to fighting for my life using my trusty flashlight reminded me of playing the first game, but bigger, more detailed, and more modern. The uncanny Pacific Northwest atmosphere, the moving from set piece to set piece in search of literal keys, the slowly unravelling mysteries. Once there, I pieced together a few visual puzzles, fought off a few bad guys, and unlocked a safe with the keys I was looking for.ĭespite new features like The Mind Place, a sort-of mental palace where you can profile people you've met, review clues, and upgrade your weapons - not to mention the less linear, semi-open world design and aforementioned survival horror elements - this section very much felt like an evolution of the Alan Wake I already know and love. ![]() My next task was to hike through a large, non-linear forest in search of a local theme park called Coffee World, where I was told I'd find keys to a mobile home I had no recollection of owning. Here, I was able to leisurely explore the fog-covered, waterside village and chat with an assortment of Finnish settlers, enjoy a stirring performance of The Finnish Tango by Ahti, the enigmatic janitor from Control, and track down a lead from the quirky Koskela brothers. Despite stepping into the shoes of an unfamiliar hero, it's during this early chapter in the quaint Pacific Northwest town of Watery that Alan Wake 2 felt most like a sequel to the first game, although one with a decidedly less linear design and some nifty new mechanics. My introduction to Alan Wake 2's gameplay was in the shoes of newcomer protagonist Saga Anderson, an FBI detective investigating a string of recent murders tied to a cult. ![]() So the starting point for this was to create an experience that can be played independently." New beginnings Maybe you will lose some references or connection points, but that's not really on the critical path. "There are a ton of elements that connect to Control and Alan Wake, but it's been built in a way where you learn what you need to learn for this experience. "And our thinking is that, even if it's called Alan Wake 2, it needs to be approachable, it needs to be something that players who have never played any previous Remedy game can understand, follow, and be excited about." "It is very much a starting point," he says. But even so, Lake tells me it's a great game to go into blind without any knowledge of the studio's body of work. And yes, it's absolutely littered with clever references to earlier Remedy games. Yes, it's the first full-length game in the Remedy Connected Universe, bridging together the worlds of Control and Alan Wake. Despite the increased challenge, Alan Wake 2 was designed from the very beginning to be a starting point for the series.
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