In 2010, Remedy Entertainment gave fans the action-adventure video game Alan Wake. Fans loved the game – and so did critics. Even though many asked for a sequel, the video game company only released a spinoff before it moved on to other projects. Despite this, fans never lost hope and now, thirteen years later, that hope is turning into reality. Alan Wake II is finally on the way to consoles and PC.
Recently, co-director Kyle Rowley and the principal narrative designer Molly Maloney sat down with Video Game Chronicles to talk about the upcoming game and we learned some pretty interesting things.
For one, Rowley revealed that they took inspiration for the game from different places, including the HBO anthology crime drama series True Detective.
In his words, "When we were thinking about introducing a new character and we knew that we wanted to have FBI agents investigating these ritualistic serial killings, there were some certain TV shows and movies that we were definitely like ‘okay, they did this really well.’"
He continued, "So the slow burn nature and the kind of buddy cop scenario that True Detective season one had is there, and those kind of ritualistic serial killings were definitely on our mind."
Rowley credited other sources for the game’s art direction namedropping the Coen brothers, Fargo, and media from the ‘90s like Se7en. Within the gaming industry, he pointed to Silent Hill and Resident Evil as having some impact on their approach to the game.
Last month, Remedy announced it's only releasing a digital version of the game, much to the disappointment of the fans. Rowley and Maloney addressed this thorny issue during their interview. Rowley explained that making physical discs is a long process since they have to apply for certification and wait for approval. According to him, that waiting period is better spent polishing the game and fixing bugs so they can provide an excellent experience for gamers.
Maloney mentioned the issue of pricing stating that a digital-only version is the reason they can keep the game’s price low.
The studio’s stance makes sense and we agree that a digital-only version has many advantages.
But then, a physical version has its advantages, too. Firstly, having a disc is useful for sentimental reasons. We would think that having a physical version of something would make the average person feel more like they own it than an online version that they can’t see or touch.
There is also the issue of people who live in areas with poor network connectivity. Unlike a disc which the average person can play without having to worry about internet strength, the digital version will require crisp internet access absence of which will ruin the game’s experience.
Oh, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will debut only three days after Alan Wake II.
Rowley and Maloney Didn’t seem too fazed, though, to their credit. If anything, they seemed optimistic and confident they can hold their own. Rowley said, "You know, no matter when you release a game, there could always be something else that’s coming out, right? You just can’t worry about it too much."
Alan Wake II will make its eerie debut on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC on October 17.
