Alan Wake II has just been given a release date, confirming a tip from earlier this week that suggested a fall/fall window. During the PlayStation Showcase event, which took place early Thursday, developer Remedy Entertainment confirmed that the sequel to the supernatural horror game is coming out on October 17 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X. New lead, FBI agent Saga Anderson, shares the stage with our titular hero in this sequel, which also skews his genre towards survival horror. The studio also released a trailer for the game, which is quite reminiscent of recent Resident Evil remakes, that’s a positive.
The Alan Wake 2 trailer opens with a voiceover from Wake, who appears to be trapped within the echoing abyss that is the Dark Place. “I’m trapped here…in this nightmare,” he says, as we catch glimpses of a bald guy tied up and feted by masked cultists in a forest. “I write to escape. Every word is a step forward into darkness.” The writing seems quite monologue, heavy and fragmented, which has to do with the structuring of the game. With the inclusion of the new protagonist, players can play through the respective Wake or Anderson stories in any order they like. Their journeys are intertwined, but each one leads unsettlingly separate paths to unravel the mystery surrounding a series of ritual murders threatening Bright Falls. Yes, that’s the same location as the original. Alan Wake.
About him official website, creative director Sam Lake stated that playing as FBI agent Anderson is the “perfect point of view” for newcomers to the franchise, inviting players into the supernatural world of Alan Wake. “It’s important to us that Alan Wake 2 works as a standalone experience but also has plenty of connections for our fans to find,” he writes. The sequel begins with Anderson discovering pages of a horror story, apparently written by Wake himself, although the events described appear to have occurred in exactly this realm. The victim is described as one of Anderson’s colleagues, FBI Special Agent Robert Nightingale, who was apparently pursuing a writer (presumably Wake), prior to his eventual murder. Accompanying the case is Agent Casey, played by the game’s own writer, Sam Lake.
“We were all trapped in a horror story,” Wake continues to write. “The horror story wanted us dead.” We then cut to some raw gameplay footage of Anderson approaching a dilapidated general store with a gun drawn, relying on an over-the-shoulder perspective similar to Resident Evil 4. As he continues to investigate the interior, a masked cultist wielding an ax breaks through the wall and he proceeds to attack her. Combat seems to largely revolve around gunplay with no melee displays, which raises the question of ammo conservation. in a related PlayStation Blog Post, it is revealed that Anderson’s story will take place in three centers: the city of Bright Falls, the dense forest surrounding Cauldron Lake, and the ruined city of Watery. The latter seems to be decked out in cool neon lighting. Meanwhile, Wake’s story takes place in the Dark Place, which is described as a “looping, shifting reality”.
The games FAQ page confirmed that Alan Wake 2 would not have a physical CD release, with Remedy attributing the reasons to a “large number” of people switching to digital-only formats. “Second, not releasing a disc helps keep the price of the game at $59.99 / €59.99 and the PC version at $49.99 / €49.99. Finally, we didn’t want to ship a disc product that required a download for the game; We also don’t think this is a great experience,” the page says.
Alan Wake II launches on October 17 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X. Pre-orders are now available on all platforms.
