Alan Wake 2 finally sheds some light on the titular character at Gamescom ONL 2023

It feels like we already know a lot about Alan Wake 2: since the game was announced, we’ve had a few waves of news beats about the highly-anticipated cult sequel. Back at Summer Games Fest, I managed to grab half an hour with two of the lead developers at the title, and we learned that there’s going to be some interesting Remedy/Max Payne history in the title, we’ll have some music to look forward to a la Control’s ‘ashtray maze’ and that the game is the result of four other doomed attempts at getting Alan back on our screens (and in our hearts).

But – with the recent delay in mind – there’s still a lot we don’t know about the game. There hasn’t been an awful lot of gameplay from the title shown (we’ve mostly just got ‘vibes’ to go on at the moment) and much of the author’s foray back into reality is still shrouded in mystery… until today.

At Gamescom Opening Night Live – more commonly referred to as ONL – we saw a new tease from the game that finally shone a light (no pun intedned) on some of the recently-obscured elements of the game. For the first time since the marketing beats for the game began, we get to focus more on Alan and his (mis)adventures within the Dark Place.

Check out the trailer below. It’s worth noting that developer Remedy has travelled much more down the ‘survival horror’ route with this game than its previous titles. Expect more scarce ammo, scares designed to make you welp, and a more intense difficulty than previous titles in the cult studio’s ouevre-to-date.

For a quick primer on Alan Wake 2, all you need to know at a glance is that Remedy’s long-awaited sequel will take place over a decade after the events of the first game. Whilst part of the story will have you controlling Alan Wake as he fights his metaphorical (and literal) demons, you will also see the world through the eyes on one Saga Anderson – an FBI agent and brilliant profiler who has been sent to Bright Falls in order to investigate some dark, brutal, occult murders.

Alan Wake 2 launches on October 27 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC platforms (so, good news, it’ll still be in your hands in time for Halloween).