Alan Wake 2 Announces Roughly 20 Hour-Length, 2 Expansions & More
Summer Games Fest has concluded, and in the wake of the recent announcements, Remedy’s Communications Director, Thomas Puha, led a short Alan Wake 2 demo along with a Q&A session for all attendees to the event. This session revealed more about the game than before, confirming DLC and game length. Plus, we got a look into what the story has in store for us.
The original Alan Wake was initially conceived as an Xbox-exclusive title, aiming to capture the magic of episodic thriller narratives mixed with supernatural beasts. This led to a series that expanded into the Remedy Connected Universe, a continuity that squarely places each title Remedy has created into the same universe. This led to Control explaining the more fantastical elements of the universe, eventually even having the titular writer appear in the Control‘s AWE Downloadable Content, or as fans call it, the Alan Wake Expansion.
With the universe being as interconnected as it is, it’s unfortunate to hear it is unlikely that any characters from Control will make their way to Bright Falls in order to make Alan Wake 2 as accessible to new players as possible. Puha did state that there would be connections leading back to Control and the original game to discover but implied that these connections are not needed for players to enjoy the game.
New players will be taken through FBI Agent Saga Anderson, who is sent to Bright Falls to investigate a series of murders that have been happening around town. This will likely take up the bulk of her campaign, as Puha clarified how players would switch between the two protagonists. Each character will have their own set of missions separate from each other, so there won’t be any instance of playing through the same level twice as a different character.
Instead, two complete stories have been packaged into a single game, and while no release dates have been said, two expansions will be released after launch to keep players on the edge of their seats.
This being said, content is still being added to the game, but Remedy estimates that it will exceed twenty hours in length; it’s unclear if this is for full collection or just the two campaigns. However, judging by the first entry into this series, which main campaign took 11 hours to beat, Alan Wake 2 is set to be possibly twice as long as the first game.
Finally, while similar mechanics from the previous title are being implemented, they have been modernized, which includes dodging. This mechanic was clunky and could easily lead to players’ deaths. The team has refined the mechanics to accommodate the longer length, taking inspiration from games like Resident Evil 4. So, players will find tighter and more responsive controls for combat and movement to make the time spent with our favorite writer as enjoyable as possible.
For more info, check out wccftech’s coverage.
Alan Wake 2 is shaping up to be an adventure that will have as many twists as any good novel should, and players won’t need to wait for much longer to get their hands on this game. Alan Wake 2 will release on October 17, 2023, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
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