Alan Wake 2 Xbox Series X

Alan Wake 2 for Xbox Series X

Release Date: October 27, 2023

Deliciously pulpy horror storytelling was at the heart of the original Alan Wake. It returns for the sequel, too, but the Stephen King-isms look to be confined to The Dark Place; the New York-styled nightmare cage the titular writer is trapped in. Out in the real world (or at least what seems like the real world) – the domain of our second protagonist, FBI agent Saga Anderson – developer Remedy Entertainment has crafted a new collage from pieces of its favourite detective stories. The eerie shadows of True Detective, Seven, and The Silence of the Lambs creep through Alan Wake 2’s gorgeous digital depiction of the Pacific Northwest.

For this month’s IGN First, I visited Remedy’s studio in Finland to play Alan Wake 2. Across more than an hour of play I experienced the entirety of Local Girl, the third chapter of Saga’s story. Within it, I saw plenty of things that will make long-term Alan Wake devotees happy. Manuscripts still litter the world, as do blue thermos flasks. There are generators to power up, and your shadow-burning flashlight is still a fundamental part of combat. A pair of ageing rock stars make a very welcome return. But the shift from nightmare horror to grisly detective thriller on Saga’s side of the story is the first sign of the bold, sweeping changes that Remedy has made in its long-awaited sequel.