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It’s Too Late for Alan Wake 2

It’s Too Late for Alan Wake 2

Polygon recently published an article detailing the plans for and ultimate demise of Alan Wake 2 . It’s a fantastic article, and it shows how Remedy created the first game, eventually made the small standalone game Alan Wake’s American Nightmare , and then went on to develop Quantum Break – which is still set to come out for the Xbox One. In it, members of Remedy said that they would happily work on an Alan Wake 2 , should the opportunity arise, and they remain hopeful that it will. However, perhaps because I am a jaded gamer that loves to ruin other people’s fun, i.e., a realist, I wager that there is no longer a place in our market for the next Alan Wake.

Alan Wake was praised for its narrative structure and setting. It was an Americana horror drama that progressed almost like episodes of a TV show. It was praised for its setting, which helped add to the plot. Everything from the lighting effects to the appearance of a Twin Peaks -like TV show inside the game world helped to make that world feel real. It was a master of atmosphere and people called it more of a cinematic experience than a game. In fact, the light shooting gameplay segments were some of the weaker parts of the game.

Alan Wake came out in 2010, in the middle of the last console generation. It was a transition point, one where we were just starting to be done with an oversaturation of shooters, and starting to move on to an innovation explosion. As a result, it had elements of both.

But today’s market is a lot different. Look at the games that are being praised for their narrative structure and setting now. Telltale’s point and click adventures are highly recommended, as is Life is Strange by Square-Enix and Dontnod. Horror games like Amnesia and Five Nights at Freddy’s have been the subject of praise, instead of games like Resident Evil. Games with action elements and deep narrative structure have started to fade to give way to more minimalistic cinematic experiences.

Even Remedy’s own Quantum Break is partially non-interactive. It’s being developed around a TV program, which will be completely non-interactive in nature. Telltale is developing an interactive TV experience which will feature real actors and release on the same schedule of what we might see from HBO or Netflix.

It’s Too Late for Alan Wake 2

Narrative games are pulling away from the action genre, and arguably Alan Wake helped them make that transition. But if Alan Wake 2 were to come out in our current market, we might say that the gameplay and the story feel very unlike each other. On one hand, we have this deep narrative horror experience and on the other we are throwing flash bangs and shooting people with shotguns. The two just don’t seem to fit.

Then again, it might be a breath of fresh air to see a narrative game that does focus on gameplay. In fact, one of the big criticisms of games like Amnesia and Life is Strange is that they don’t have enough gameplay. So maybe fans would welcome Alan Wake 2 , but would it sell?

What do you think? Is Alan Wake past its time? Let us know in the comments.

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