Little is known about what Alan Wake 2 may entail now that the IP is transitioning from an action-adventure game to a survival-horror game, but that is perhaps one of the most intriguing parts about it. In the time since its announcement, Remedy celebrated Alan Wake’s anniversary last month, where it revealed that Alan Wake Remastered will be available on Nintendo Switch. Concept art for Alan Wake 2 was also debuted that emphasizes its survival-horror tone and atmosphere.
So far, no other details about gameplay are known besides the fact that the eponymous protagonist will again wield a flashlight and a revolver, as revealed in a behind-the-scenes glimpse at Ilkka Villi in motion-capture performance. But one interesting point to note is whether Alan Wake 2 will feature Remedy’s compulsive obligation to include live-action performances. If it does, it will be interesting to see what capacity they are implemented in, and if the sequel benefits from having them or not. Regardless, there are multiple ways Remedy could employ live-action in Alan Wake 2.
Alan Wake 2 Could Reprise the Original’s Talk Show Appearances and Night Springs Episodes
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Alan Wake is surely not the first game that may come to mind when Remedy’s live-action elements are considered, due to how subtle or subliminal they are. Indeed, Alan Wake features some of Remedy’s most effective uses of live-action segments through talk show appearances that the author attends and through episodes of Night Springs, a cosmic, episodic series imitating The Twilight Zone that players could watch on intermittent television sets throughout the game.
Live-action content only works effectively if it is able to marry itself saliently and cohesively with in-game content, where one complements the other and there is not a considerable dissonance between the two. In Alan Wake, players can watch a television set in the character’s apartment airing an episode of a reality-television talk show, where Wake appears as a guest interviewee.
This talk show segment is in live-action on the character’s television, and perfectly adheres to the game’s premise with an author protagonist since it is not out of the ordinary for celebrity authors to make guest appearances on talk shows. The same idea is echoed in the film Sinister, where the protagonist watches himself on a taped airing of his appearance on a talk show and is disgusted by his own smug and untruthful expressions.
In Alan Wake 2, the same instances could occur where the author’s appearances as a celebrity figure could be represented in live-action, whether he appears as a talk show interviewee, a guest on a podcast, or any other relevant media. Further, Alan Wake’s whimsical Night Springs could return to the same capacity as in the original game, but with new episodes that reflect on cosmic choices and concepts introduced in the sequel. If not Night Springs, then another episodic show that is more centered around horror could be portrayed.
Alan Wake 2 Should Resist the Urge to Include Live-Action Like in Quantum Break
The aforementioned examples of live-action segments from Alan Wake would make sense for reprisals in the sequel. However, Remedy should resist implementing more live-action than necessary. One example of a time when Remedy may have been overindulgent with its implementation of live-action in Quantum Break.
Quantum Break is as much an action-shooter with time-bending powers as it is a genuine live-action serial, culminating Remedy’s evident adoration for live-action entertainment in half-an-hour-long episodes tacked onto the end of each act. The live-action series portrays the lives of its antagonists more thoroughly, and while many fans may believe it to be entertaining, it is arguably a jarring experience that takes away from the actual game and fails to add anything meaningful or relevant to the player.
Players are able to make choices in-game that affect the events of the series, but its sheer length, as well its insignificance in relation to the protagonist, make it a disservice to Quantum Break. Control thankfully renounced this urge, dialing Remedy’s live-action back to the perfect amount in discoverable documents and videos featuring Matthew Porretta’s Dr. Casper Darling and others. These collectibles were majorly optional and fun to dissect on the player’s own time, without disrupting their own experience of the game. Plus, they were able to maintain Control’s psychedelic and enigmatic tone.
Alan Wake 2 is branded as a survival-horror game, and live-action segments as interpolative as those in Quantum Break could greatly disrupt tension built up throughout the actual game. If Alan Wake 2 did feature lengthy episodic material in live-action, however, it could perhaps be best utilized in the form of a visualization of Wake’s manuscript, assuming that he’s continuing to write one.
Alan Wake 2 Could Forgo Live-Action Elements Entirely
On the other hand, Alan Wake is about an author whose written work manifests itself in-game, and visualizing parts of the story in live-action would defeat the purpose of the written or spoken word. Alan Wake’s manuscript page narration was perfectly appropriate as a result, where players simply saw a typewritten page with the narration reading off of it.
If live-action was implemented into this narration, or any part of Alan Wake 2 for that matter, it could water down the effect and purpose of Wake being an author. Of course, this is the less likely option, but Remedy could choose not to include any live-action elements in Alan Wake 2.
Even if the sequel decides to introduce ideas such as Wake’s novels being produced as audiobooks, or having Wake appear on podcast episodes, it still would not create the need for any live-action segments. Instead, these moments should only center around Wake’s celebrity appearances or in episodes of other television shows.
Most importantly, these television shows should be depicted precisely as they are in Alan Wake, where players remain in-game with an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective of Wake as they watch them. This will allow players to sit with the tension and dread that Alan Wake 2 hopefully perpetuates as a survival-horror game, while still allowing them to consume certain entertainment that could complement and add to its own unique atmosphere, just as intermittent episodes of Night Springs do in Alan Wake.
Alan Wake 2 is scheduled to release in 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.