The newest game from one of the most talented studios in the gaming industry is here, bringing a unique plot and highly engaging setting, but several technical problems stand in the way of fun with Alan wake 2.

The return of a best sellers

The last time we saw Alan Wake, the writer with the most unlucky streak ever seen, was during the final extra content of Control, game of Remedy Entertainment released a few years ago. Jesse Faden, the protagonist and agent of the FBC, the mysterious North American government agency focused on the supernatural, investigated AWE – Altered World Event, translated as Altered World Event – ​​which occurred in Cauldron Lake, in the fictional Bright Falls, Washington.

During that mission, characteristic elements of the cult classic released on the Xbox 360 and later on the PC were mixed with the incredible gameplay of that game, and Alan revealed that he was trapped in the parallel dimension where the Dark Presence and his evil doppelganger, Mr. Scratch, reign. After that, the question remained in the air: finally, would we finally see a Alan wake 2? The answer arrived shortly afterwards, during the events that replaced the old E3, a games industry event, where a trailer for the long-awaited game was shown.

And now, the time has come to talk about this magnificent work, a thriller of horror of unique quality, starring the eponymous protagonist and the newcomer, an FBI agent with an above-average power of deduction. We step back into Bright Falls, the sleepy little town surrounded by the supernatural, and we finally have answers to the many questions that remained in the air, as well as several others.

In the thirteen years since the last game, time has also passed in the universe in which the plot of Alan wake 2 happens. Wake, since the calamitous events at the end of his last adventure, has been missing, and during this period, ritualistic murders began to take place, with a clear connection to the works of the best-selling author, but nevertheless macaronic. The most recent, from an FBI agent also missing since 2010, brought Saga Anderson and her partner, Alex Casey, to rural Washington.

Saga soon finds out what is happening and begins to realize that there is something more going on, which goes far beyond a mere killing, a case that will demand a lot of her investigative skills. The dead man, for example, had his heart ripped out of his chest, and when taken to the morgue, he got up and massacred practically everyone around him, leaving behind a manuscript describing the entire macabre scene in detail, as well as his actions and reactions. by Anderson.

Using his deduction technique that takes place in his Mental Place, a kind of research room inside his head, Saga is able to link elements found during his comings and goings, and based on this, draw initially bizarre conclusions. , but which prove to be correct about the course of their mission. In this, the game gives space for us, as players, to participate in the process, linking facts to key issues, in addition to watching the process of creating profiles of the many characters linked to the case, when Saga has a kind of conversation with the element in question. your mind.

Shortly after the frightening occurrence at the police station, while she was fighting the supernatural and grotesque figure of the escaped dead man, Alan Wake himself reappears, sharing with the agents his story of suffering linked to his work as a writer, as everything he wrote came from becoming reality, and what has been happening has already been typed at some point, without your memory. Confused and helpless, Wake becomes the second playable character in this dark adventure through the dense and haunted forests of the Northwest United States.

A joint adventure

In the first moments, it is not possible to change characters, but after a few hours of play, Alan wake 2 It starts to encourage switching between Saga and Alan, pointing to a non-linear narrative that the game handles so well. When in control of Saga, the gameplay follows a pattern more in common with the first Alan Wake, like a real survival horror, of the suit of Resident Evil 4, for example, in addition to the investigative elements. Anderson is able to assemble a veritable arsenal of weapons, which she can upgrade using objects found scattered around the locations she visits.

Just like the original, the big threat comes in the form of the Possessed, people who have been taken over by the shadows, becoming horrifying monsters. Only with the light coming from your flashlight do they take on physical form, making them capable of being shot by your shots. But like every game of this genre, its resources are relatively scarce, in this case, the batteries for your flashlight, meaning they need to be used with some moderation, which becomes another game element, especially on the highest difficulty.

When switching to Wake, the game becomes a mix of adventure and exploration, as the writer has to explore the dark side where his manuscripts have true power to change reality. Coming across sources of inspiration, he is able to use his typewriter to alternate what is in front of him and, in doing so, take a different direction in the story. Shadows are also vulnerable to light in their campaign, but in a somewhat unique way, not being a threat of the same size as on agent Anderson's side.

Both playstyles are extremely well developed over the course of Alan wake 2, and give the game a duality that will easily hook you, as the story that gradually develops is of very high quality. Just like the developer's other games, there are layers to be discovered at all times, and just like control, Alan wake 2 contains interconnections with past titles, not only due to the presence of Federal Bureau of Control, but with mentions and participation of even Max Payne, with everything but his name, as he now belongs to Rockstar Games.

For fans of the corny New York noir detective, the presence of a doppelganger who acts the same way he does in the form of Saga's partner Casey, who, coincidentally, also happens to be one of the characters in Wake. The doll has the features of Sam Lake, creative director of Remedy, and the voice of James McCaffrey, the same as the company's classic title. It gives me chills to see it characterized with current technology, much more realistic than what was seen in the title from the mid-2000s.

Technical problems are also scary

As incredible as Alan wake 2 whether in technical terms, with a jaw-dropping presentation in practically every aspect, be it graphics, the precision with which the characters are modeled and how they interact with their respective actors in the flesh with whom they act, or the reality changes that play with your senses of vision and hearing during this frightening adventure, there is also something to be said about its many problems, in the form of bugs.

Unfortunately, in its current state, at least on the platform I tested the game on, the Xbox Series S, Alan wake 2 It's a game with extreme problems. In the 20 or so hours that I've already put into it, I've suffered from inopportune closures, which forced me to restart scenes of the game almost completely, as it doesn't have a very reliable automatic save system, and when trying to save manually, in many On occasions, the application simply closed completely.

There are also several issues that pop up here and there that affect progression within the game. During my time playing, I have had numerous occasions where the scripting it simply stopped working, not allowing me to advance, which forced me to resort to saving files or completely restarting the chapter. As much as I'm enjoying Alan wake 2, and I must say, I am simply LOVING it, these problems tested my patience, to the point that I decided to stop until fixes are released by the developer.

our verdict 

Alan wake 2 is a unique game, which features incredibly well-designed elements thanks to its presentation, a continuation of the bizarre and engaging style of Remedy Entertainment. There is something to be said about the quality of the titles coming from Naughty Dog in terms of graphical fidelity, but what has been coming out of the Finnish studio is hats off in terms of the advancement of the gaming entertainment medium as a whole. 

What they have been doing is unique, with a level of mastery that is only achieved with a lot of confidence in what is being worked on, which Remedy wastes time in this game, a real thriller Psychological gameplay that even Hollywood would envy, often surpassing the film format, giving the player agency over the events of the plot with a firm gameplay of its own and totally involving both its protagonists.

Even with the technical problems I went through, I stayed glued to Alan wake 2 all the time, thinking about him when he wasn't playing, during other totally different situations. There are very few games that cause this, and if it weren't for these technical defects, I would most likely not be preparing this review, but rather playing. 

the quality of Alan wake 2 there is so much that he ALMOST overcomes these issues. If he is already that good in this state, imagine when everything is resolved? Yes, my friends, this is one of the best games of recent times, easily deserving of the praise it has been receiving. As much as I want to stop and wait for a more functional state, I find myself wanting to play more and more, despite the regrets, because it can't get out of my head. This is the talent of Remedy in full shape. 

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Text proofread by: Pedro Bomfim (1 / 11 / 23)