Many exciting video games were showcased during The Game Awards. One such title that many fans were delighted to finally see was the long-awaited Alan Wake 2. After the trailer, Geoff Keighley spoke with Remedy Creative Director Sam Lake about the sequel, revealing that Alan Wake 2 will be Remedy’s first survival horror video game.
Speaking with IGN, Lake further stated that Alan Wake 2 will “by far, be the best-looking, most beautiful Remedy game ever.” It will run on Northlight, the same proprietary game engine that ran Control and Quantum Break. Northlight wasn’t solely used due to how beautiful games looked when running on the engine, though.
Although Epic Games is publishing Alan Wake 2, Remedy won't be using Epic's much-publicized Unreal Engine 5. As Lake explains, Remedy opted to stick with Northlight in favor of Unreal Engine 5 due to familiarity with the engine as well as believing that it will best fit the Developer’s vision for Alan Wake 2. “We feel that especially for this kind of experience where atmosphere and stylization are more important than ever before, is that we know Northlight so well we can focus on certain things and push certain things forward.” Alan Wake 2 will seemingly partially abandon if not fully abandon the action aspect of the original so the title will have to heavily rely on visuals as well as its atmosphere.
Since Remedy is comfortable with Northlight, it will have the opportunity to go further with the game engine than it has previously. Games like Control and Quantum Break were both great-looking video games but they were more visually interesting due to how Remedy used environments. Both titles relied heavily on Northlight’s ability to create diverse and interesting environments that users could destroy while also offering environments that seamlessly morphed and changed.
Survival horror games need to get the atmosphere right in order for the title to succeed. With Lake’s comments on the sequel, it looks as though fans won’t have to worry about how the title will look. The trailer didn't showcase real gameplay footage but still gave viewers an idea of the atmosphere that Remedy is going for. Additionally, the announcement trailer revealed that Alan Wake 2 will be a current-gen and PC exclusive title meaning any mechanics introduced in the game theoretically won't be limited by what previous generation consoles can handle.
Judging from Lake’s comments and the fact Alan Wake 2 won’t release on previous-gen consoles, fans have a lot to be excited about. Remedy has been thinking about Alan Wake 2 ever since the first released back in 2010 and the developer’s passion shows in its comments. Of course, the game won’t be released until sometime in 2023 so things can of course be changed down the line. Godfall was a PS5 and PC exclusive but then later released for PS4. Despite being a current-gen title, it’s always possible Alan Wake 2 doesn’t need to be.
Alan Wake 2 is scheduled to release in 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: IGN