Summary
Alan Wake 2 is astonishingly cinematic. Within a minute of starting the game and seeing its gorgeous opening, I was sold. Its camera movement is beautiful, the use of reflections and subversion of expectations is surprising, and it immediately builds atmosphere in a way that reminds me of the best horror movies and thrillers. Every cutscene I’ve seen is masterfully made, cut with clear attention to timing and tension. I’m one of those film bros that goes, “Oh, that was a nice shot” while watching movies at home, which is unfortunately a side effect of studying film theory in university. It’s not often I say that while playing a video game, but I said it within 30 seconds of starting Alan Wake 2.
Do you think I could get away with going as Alan Wake for Halloween?
But it’s not just the cinematics that impress me. Alan Wake 2, like its predecessor, is partially set in the town of Bright Falls. Just in the forest that the first section of the game takes you to, I was already wishing I had a way to take photographs of my surroundings. I want to be upfront here: I have a longstanding hangup about the Pacific Northwest. I’ve never been there, but I’m convinced that standing among trees bigger than I imagined possible would alter my brain chemistry permanently and perhaps cure my depression. I think this might be because I was, unfortunately, a Twilight fan as an adolescent. In it, I saw a world that was vastly different from mine. Rainy, cold, and green is now the cosiest thing I can imagine, especially considering I come from a hot, humid tropical island.
Bright Falls is exactly that: rainy, cold, and green, if exceedingly creepy and also plagued by cultist murderers and malevolent spirits. Although I screamed, yelped, and swore my way through the first few minutes, I had quite a nice, peaceful time exploring the woods as Saga Anderson in broad daylight. At some point, my partner remarked that he didn’t even know trees could grow so tall, and I looked up into the sky. Gigantic trees, bigger than almost any I’ve seen in real life, stretched upwards so tall I couldn’t tell where they ended. I wanted to enter photo mode immediately, position myself at the base of that huge tree, and look upwards, and soak in the feeling of being very small and insignificant.
I opened the menu, fully ready to live out my nature photographer dreams, only to discover that there isn’t a photo mode… not yet, anyway. Remedy has announced that one is in the works, alongside a New Game+ mode with added manuscripts and new video content, but there isn’t a release window for either quite yet. I was immediately heartbroken, because I intend to speed through Alan Wake 2 this weekend, meaning I’ll likely finish the game before the photo mode patch comes out. I’m going to have to rely on furiously taking screenshots like some kind of plebian.
I’ve seen the settings that Remedy has created through trailers and preview photos, and I already know that I’m going to want to capture everything, even details of the subway stations. It’s a shame that I won’t be able to do that with a full photo mode handy, though I guess it’s a great motivator to play through the game again, capturing its details in full fidelity. But before I even decide to do that, I’ll have to see if I survive my first playthrough without quitting out of terror.
