Remedy Entertainment has long been one of the best developers of linear story-driven games in the industry, but more and more in recent years, the studio has started delivering experiences that are less linear than its earlier outings. 2019’s Control in particular is a much less linear game that, thanks to its Metroidvania structure, places a much greater emphasis on exploration- and the upcoming Alan Wake 2 will look to offer players plenty of room for exploration, if in a slightly different way.
Remedy recently released the first in a new series of behind-the-scenes videos that will look at several aspects of Alan Wake 2, and though the bulk of the video focuses on co-protagonist Saga Anderson, the developer also offers some brief insight into how the game itself has been designed.
According to game director Kyle Rowley, Alan Wake 2 will feature “slightly more open” areas that players will be able to “freely explore”, while the game will also let you revisit previous locations.
“The player will be going back to Cauldron Lake,” he said, “which is obviously a key part of the story, be exploring all the forests that are around there, and because we are more slightly open area based, the player can freely explore, [and] the player can kind of go back and revisit locations as part of their playthrough.”
Meanwhile, senior environment artist Anne-Lynn Sottas says that several locations from the original game – like the diner – will also be returning, though in their recreated form, they will allow players to explore more.
“In the first game, you didn’t really get to explore the environments,” she said, “but now you will be able to walk around the streets, discover the town a bit more, and revisit existing locations, like the diner, for example.”
The team at Remedy Entertainment also had to do “quite a lot of research” in order to ensure that it was creating its fictional Pacific Northwest town with as much authenticity and attention to detail as possible.
“I spent several weeks reading research papers, gathering data on forest surveys, learning about key species of the area to properly do justice to the Pacific Northwest,” said foliage and photogrammetry artist Ciara Creagh-Peschau. “The photogrammetry side of it means that we can actually scan trees on site ourselves. The trees that we are seeing in the game are literally the trees that are from this area in the Pacific Northwest.”
Alan Wake 2 is set to launch on October 17 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and will be a digital-only release. Remedy will be debuting raw gameplay footage for the survival horror title at Summer Game Fest on June 8, so stay tuned for more updates.
