Alan Wake 2 Is A Survival Horror Game

remedy entertainment responsible F hands down some of the most creative and Innovative games ever made from their early days back with max pain 1 and 2 through to the most recent title controlled in 2019 and the he add yet another title to that list with Alan Wake 2 the sequel to the original 2010 game and an experience that really is one of a kind hang going to your sheep baby cuz just want a screamer I still don't know how to explain what exactly goes on in Allen wake 2 it often feels like some kind of bizarre fever dream combined with a psychedelic Kaleidoscope of sounds and imagery one thing is for certain though and that there really is nothing else quite like it and you definitely can't fault it for being original having said that though it's also a bit of a testament to how something being wacky and confusing even if it is by Design doesn't necessarily make it good just on that alone had I had this conversation before because Alan Wake is often completely nonsensical directionless and Bloated to the point that it just becomes frustrating to play through I didn't remember much at least the good news here though is that it makes it impossible to spoil because even if I included footage from one of the game's many big Revelations you'd still have no idea what's going on without any kind of context take your time but if all you wanted was a spooky survival horror title to wrap up October and ties you over until the Robocop game comes out in like a week or so well you'll definitely find it here right so unlike the first game Alan Wake 2 now has two protagonists with obviously Alan being one of them but also newcomer sag Anderson an FBI profiler whose partner Alex Casey just happens to be max pain himself all right well not really but he is voiced by James mcaffrey and they do use Sam Lake for his in-game likeness so I guess in some way this is really the first look we're getting at what Max might actually look like in that upcoming remake the killers are usually the ones performing the ritual not the detective Anyway saga's come to town to investigate the murder of an FBI agent one who's been missing for over a decade and has now suddenly turned up in right Falls and this also somehow coincides with a mysterious cult in the area as well calling themselves The Cult of the tree it's kind of like the first season of True Detective combined with all those European crime dramas you see on every single streaming service good good yeah there has been another murder I already know you know the one where everyone's last name is Gunnerson or Odin's daughter and it's funny to say that considering this is supposed to be some kind of fictional American town here and yet half the population in brightfall seems to be finished um uh yeah I'm pretty sure the owner of the watery Lighthouse trailer park me can help you with that then there's also Alan's story as well which is something else entirely and you'll definitely need to have played the first game along with control to fully understand what's going on here otherwise it's like you've dipped into the third season of a TV series you've never seen before the victim was my son he does seem very upset as a result of these two characters the game play has broken up between playing as Saga in the real world and then playing as Allen in an entirely different area known as the dark place which is kind of like a fil Noir version of Silent Hill and again offers up a pretty cool look into what the max pain remake might look like because if this is the kind of dreary atmospheric City environments that remedy are pulling off now well then I can't wait to see what they end up with later down the track on the subject of the visuals Allen wake 2 is a bit of a mixed bag and while the overall detail in the game is really impressive and definitely nextg in some areas I do feel like the image quality itself often looks really blurry the actual PC requirements for this thing are insanely Hefty and it's definitely the kind of game that's going to get a lot of people considering if it's finally time for an upgrade even though having said that overall it seemed to run pretty well on my rig the this was however when I had dlss frame generation turned on with my RTX 480 because if I had that setting turned off it more or less hared my entire frame rate which it really shouldn't though because outside of a few noteworthy areas it's really not pushing out anything that looks that intensive and on some levels it looks about on par with even that decade old first game the exterior environments are more or less just forests beaches and then more forests most of which are just murky dark and really not all that impressive there is one section of brightfalls you explore that's all gray and foggy and if this isn't remedy's love letter to Silent Hill 2 then I don't know what is the page placed me in a trailer somewhere in watery and then even later on in the Dark Places Allen there's a whole chapter set inside a spooky Subway which kind of feels a bit like a throwback to Silent Hill 3 and those areas inside the dark place when you're playing as Allen are absolute highlights really kind of looking like all your paintings in motion and capturing this unsettling nightmarish film l City the usage of Neon Lights the weather effects and just that insane amount of prop variety really create this truly believable backdrop A vibe and I do think that some of those weather effects like the sunrises and the sun sets combined with things like the way that water and puddles reflect the environment does look nice but at other times it's definitely going to make you wonder where all this processing power is actually being spent I will say though that the facial animations for some of the characters are really impressive even if some of them start to border into The Uncanny valy oh I know what this is you're blocking out your traumatic memories but do I think that the visuals warrant the absurdly high PC requirements no I don't and there's plenty of other similar looking games that ask for significantly lighter Hardware right so being an FBI profiler that means that Saga is going to have a fure of detective work in pursuit of uncovering what's really going on luckily she's a complete Mary Sue and has these insane powers of deduction able to combine scattered Clues and shreds of information into solid tangible plot points by entering this meditative state in her head that she calls her mine place the mine place my version of the mine Palace technique to sift through Clues and work the case this is represented in the game as this cozy cabin where she can sort through all the Intel and collectible she's come across that are related to the case whereas in my mind Palace it's usually just me a bottle of bourbon and Terra Patrick and you're going to spend a whole lot of time sifting through all of this stuff believe me manually adding all these little tidbits of info to a giant wall creating literal flow charts to piece all of this stuff together there's definitely something in his chest the game makes a point of mentioning that all of this stuff is happening in real time so while saga's off in her little Fortress of mental Solitude the world is still moving around her which I find hilarious on some level to think that from the perspective of other characters she's just standing there staring off into the void for 5 minutes we're dealing with an organized group of killers not a lone serial killer H this really does form one of the first main issues I have with Alan Wake 2 and that's this massive overreliance on this mechanic because you quite often can't proceed through the game unless you first rifle through all of the stuff you found and collected and made some sense out of all of the Mayhem and it's just kind of detrimental to the overall pacing when you've got to stop everything you're doing and then spend 5 minutes sorting through sheets of paper I have what I need to figure out the password as for the other actual puzzles in the game almost all of these involve finding out some kind of obscure password and I've lost count of the amount of times you need to find the combination to a Goddamn padlock I mean it can tell you that it was way more than it needed to be the other facet is profiling all of the characters you come across and trying to make makes sense of their own motives and goals and this is more or less the same looking cinematic just replayed every time where you listen to Saga Breaking the entire thing down you can't really afford to skip these either because the story is so plot intensive and so focused on the details that by passing these is often going to leave you even more confused and dumbfounded the Moose mask is at the huari well in coffee World Allen's chapters on the other hand involve him doing his best John Wick impersonation and exploring the dark place as a writer it also requires him to rewrite events so they can side in a way that lets him Traverse through all of these surreal environments like literally writing about a scene in real time and watching the whole thing change before your eyes which I've got to admit is a pretty awesome idea the dark place reacted to my story the way into the tunnels was no longer blocked it's all about different realities multiverses and all that kind of stuff because yeah I guess every single [ __ ] piece of media that comes out these days has to have alternate universes doesn't it I mean at least I can take soless in the fact that there's an Nate Universe somewhere where this stupid Trend never kicked off but even though it does offer up a vastly different format to Saka chapters you're still really just doing the same thing walking around until you come across a relevant clue before then watching an exposition heavy sequence I mean you're not really actually deducing all of this stuff yourself I changed the story and with that the dark place changed and in fact I think in some ways Alan's CHS are even less exciting than sagas with some of them being completely devoid of action entirely one of the early ones has these multiple sequences where you're just watching him as the guest on this late night talk show and then another one is more or less just like an interactive music video which just goes on and on to the point that it was almost like a bit of a sensory overload that also brings me on to my second issue with Alan Wake 2 and that's the pacing and how it often feels feels like you spend more time watching the game instead of actually playing it the opening prologue and those first few chapters in the game is mostly just Saga and Casey walking around brightfalls talking to people walking somewhere before then talking to more people frankly we could use the help it's a glacially slow introduction but something you can kind of excuse given the fact that it's trying to set all the events in motion but it's actually really setting the foundations for how the rest of the game ultimately plays that was actually a big part too of why I could never get through Quantum break because after a couple of hours most of which was spent watching cinematics it started to dawn on me that this was setting the stage for the remainder of the campaign and while Stalin wake 2 does break out of a crawling speed and eventually find its way into what you could describe as a brisk walk it is also a very very slow burn it is at least a lot less linear than the first game was with the areas you explore this time being more or less like open maps it's just that so much of this is is completely devoid of you know anything when you're playing a saga you'll spend a lot of time walking around all the forest getting into the occasional fights with enemies but never to the point that it becomes consistent and I just found that encounters were few and far between scattered around all the various areas of bright Falls are cult stashes little chests that contain items and some of these are mini puzzles alone requiring you to explore your nearby surroundings to uncover the combination and it gets to the point where it often starts to feel like a walking Sim because is you're just listening to narration and finding Clues around the environment yeah and what a perfect backdrop for a walking Simulator 2 a forest which looks like it could be completely interchangeable with a forest in any single other video game the sudden threat of a group of enemies ambushing you in the first game was a constant source of tension and horror because it really felt like it could happen at any time but here in the sequel if you even see them at all they're usually just standing around right in front front of you clear as day locals new at one point I honestly started to think my game had like glitched out or something because I had all of this ammo for my pistol and shotgun healing items flares and all that kind of stuff but there was no one around to use it on so yeah I guess on some level this is still a horror game you know if you're scared of falling asleep maybe they should have called it Alan trying to stay awake too the only real horror in the entire game at least for me comes from the absolute lamest and cheapest jump scare tactics where they just throw some horrific image up on the screen and pair it with like an obnoxiously loud sound effect it even got to the point where it felt like Saga was commenting on it directly like even Sheed had enough of this [ __ ] oh come on just kind of disappointing because the first game really seemed to find a way to balance the narrative and the combat it always seemed like right around the time when things were starting to get boring you'd get thrown into a lengthy sequence where you had to fight for your life remedy knew how much time to spend on storytelling and Exposition but then also offset it with enough actual gameplay so you never felt like you were getting too bogged down with one element or the other on the other hand Alan Wake 2 like it just seems to mess this recipe up and it's far less exciting as a result and it's like in the hour or so where I went back and started replaying the first game to capture footage to use for this video was without a doubt more exciting an action pack than the 18 hours I spent with alen W 2 and that's kind of disappointing considering how much they've developed the combat mechanics to the point that it really does have all the Hallmarks of a proper survival horror game with Resident Evil being an obvious influence for starters they've more or less completely copied across the interface from the recent Resident Evil games even down to the health bar and the way you can equip items and weapons into Quick slots if you ever grabb by an enemy you can use a flare to break their hold which is almost identical to how sub weapons work in the recent re games there's also Inventory management with an item box saving is mostly manual and of course there's a pair of bolt cutters plus the gore has been greatly increased to the point that it almost seems out of place we can now shoot entire chunks out of enemies but again kind of similar to those recent Resident Evil titles plus you know it's survival horror because Saga and Allan move about as slow as a middle-aged man with a bad knee and that so-called sprinting speed is more or less like a light jog weapons include those classic Staples like pistols revolvers and shotguns and healing is a slow and methodical process that can rarely be done under any kind of duress still though miles better than the healing animation in Kalisto protocol come on come on While We're Young Saga also gets a new weapon in the form of a crossbow so she can do her best Daryl Dixon impression and this thing is a slow to fire slow to reload weapon which is going to really make you want to keep your aim steady because those bad guys aren't going to sit around waiting for you to reload so overall it does have a pretty crushing combat system relying heavily on avoiding attacks and all that kind of stuff and some of the new en types are horrific to encounter it all still works more or less the same as the first game did most of the enemies are the taken innocent formerly harmless citizens infected by the dark presence who've now become murderous and hostile and before you can really damage these guys you first need to destroy the darkness that's surrounding them which is most easily done by shining them with your flashlight and then once that's gone all bets are off I mean there's no cures or salvation for any of these people if they were dumb enough to get infected by this other worldly Apparition then that's their fault and you got to help them learn the errors of their ways by shooting them in the face immediately although you only start off with a basic pistol you eventually get bigger and better means of dispatching these guys quicker like dropping down explosive propane tanks throwing out flash grenades the flare gun handheld rocket flares up just the tried and true road flare it definitely does feel less impactful than the combat in the first game did probably because it's lacking some of those visual effects that made the whole thing feel a lot more visceral that sucks and this mechanic of the taken now having these glowing weak spots is kind of bizarre considering it seems to be outright RNG where those weak spots are going to appear there's weapon upgrades now as well the components of which you find in Hidden lunch boxes scattered around the map but none of these were really all that much of a game changer I mean yeah look being able to fire the crossbow twice before reloading is a nice touch but it hardly swung combat massively in my favor or anything like that Allan also has his own set of upgrades too called The Words of Power and do you get it Words of Power cuz he's a rider and these are more of the same too they're just like incremental improvements to things like health or weapon damage which didn't really play a huge part in his sections overall [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] plus I do think it's an absolute misfire to not let you acquire those bigger and better flashlights that was one of the most enjoyable features in the first game I thought was coming across these progressively bigger light sources and I mean by the end of the game you practically had a handheld fog l it also seems like there's less enemy variety this time as well with there also being much more of those taken who zip all over the place and throw axes and other sharp pointy things and this is yet again a source of constant frustration because I mean there really isn't anything fun about some [ __ ] [ __ ] hiding in the bushes throwing stuff at you from a vantage point you can barely even see every now and then you'll have to fight some kind of giant Timber Wolf and these bits are so laughably average that whoever came up with this crap should probably consider updating their resume surprise [ __ ] but at least there's no Poltergeist controlled props anymore because [ __ ] those things I remember too how in the first game you'd always come across those lone light sources in the forest those beacons of safety in the form of telegraph poles offering up some much needed respite but it just seems this time they forgot about that mechanic entirely and the few times you do see one of these in Allen wake 2 they don't even really serve up any use whatsoever it just means that if you encounter the enemies now you more or less have to engage with them which is fine I mean I play an Allan weight game because I like killing murderous shadow people and I guess my only real complaint there is that there's just not enough of it overall I mean look if I have a crossbow and half a dozen bolts for it well you better damn well give me something to shoot at I want to shoot things damn it the sections playing as Allen in the dark place aren't all that much different either and in fact a lot of the enemies you encounter here can be dispatched by simply shining your flashlight on them there's also the thing of trying to figure out if these guys are even a threat to begin with because a lot of them can simply be run past and ignored so it does seem kind of weird to me how all the sections when you're playing a saga are the only times where it actually feels like an allen weight game when you're actually playing as Allen it's like something else entirely with it also having this weird gimmick of him being able to capture light sources in this kind of portable light bulb that he carries around the water was gone the way forward was open cool as a result Allan's chapters definitely felt the weakest to Me overall too which is a bit of a shame considering it's his name on the cover and another big part of that also just comes from how muddled and nonsensical all of his chapters are wait this isn't right I I haven't written anything and look I get that the writing is supposed to be vague on purpose but you've really got to ask yourself like at what point does it go from being purposefully muddled to just being sloppy and poorly written especially considering that almost all of the dialogue is exposition that's trying to explain things to the player even seven or eight hours in when it's still adding in new characters and plot points it's it's a crazy jumble like like a nightmare and on that note too I swear that this game has to have the record for the most McGuffin of all time which brings us to your magical light switch the clicker it actually kind of had me wondering if this game was originally just going to be about Saga but then someone at remedy felt that it had to include Allan maybe for like brand recognition or something so they decided to try to shoehorn his story in on the side and I would have absolutely been happy playing the whole game of saga it could have totally been like this Anthology story with the events ultimately tying in with Alan no no that doesn't sound like him either way though it's just a jumbled mess of plot points borrowing elements from the first game heavily and never quite settling into a proper gameplay Loop are you okay there my friend you look like you've been cooped up in the writer's room for a few too many years on the way to is far from being a bad game but it's definitely not amazing either and overall I'm still not even really sure if I liked it but all I can really say for certain is that I guarantee you've never played anything quite like it it was a lot longer than I expected to coming in at around the 18 hour mark and that's not even considering all the Collectibles to find not to mention the upcoming new game plus mode to dig into as well so on value alone you can't really fault it remedy have continued their trend of making experiences that differentiate themselves from the pack I just wish it had I found a way to balance the elements a little bit better and not have me feeling like a filing clerk for so much of my time that I spent here and I'm really hoping they find a way to crack that formula because their next title is probably going to be the max paint remake and that's one game that they can't afford to screw up you've been missing for 13 years 13 come on come on While We're [Music] Young [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: GmanLives

Views: 180,926

Keywords: alan wake 2, alan wake 2 review, alan wake 2 gameplay, alan wake, alan wake 2 new gameplay, video games, alan wake 2 reaction, alan wake ii, alan wake 2 impressions, playstation 5, alan wake 2 reviews, xbox one, alan wake remastered, alan wake ii review, alan wake 2 story, series x, alan wake 2 interview, alan wake 2 gameplay 4k, alan wake 2 pc, alan wake gameplay, alan wake remastered gameplay, alan wake fortnite, gmanlives, gggmanlives

Id: zHDNVGJA1SM

Length: 23min 13sec (1393 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 27 2023