Alan Wake Remastered just received a new update that adds HDR compatibility to the game, which is sure to bring a major boost to its visual fidelity on PCs. Furthermore, if the news has you thinking about starting another playthrough, yet you’re hesitant because you don’t want to replay the tutorials, there’s an option to skip it altogether, getting you into the thick of things much faster.

There are also improvements to its DLSS support, scaling fixes to its FOV, fixes to buffering and rendering, and a new frame rate cap of 240 FPS for systems that can hit that number. It’s quite a list of additions to a game that was launched in 2021.

If that wasn’t enough, Filippo Tarpini, a graphics programmer at Remedy and a long-standing supporter of HDR implementations in video games, has worked on the patch, so you know it’s going to be good. For more details on Alan Wake Remastered, check out our review.

https://x.com/alanwake/status/2027012046198391003

https://x.com/FilippoTarpini/status/2027029309009854636

When asked about a potential endgame that the Remedy Connected Universe’s overarching story might be building towards, Lake stated that the shared universe is only “just getting started” right now, and that as such, it’s “too early” right now to talk about how things might conclude. 

“I feel we are just getting started, so I feel it’s too early to start talking about an endgame,” he said. “I love tying these things together. I love making it deeper and expanding on the lore. It really feels like this kind of opportunity to take these strands that we have put there, expand, and entertain different ideas. It feels really exciting.”

According to Lake, the goal for Remedy is to ensure that each game feels like it can stand on its own feet, while also having plenty of material and expanded lore for fans of the larger universe to dive into.

“The way we are looking at it, every game needs to be enjoyable on its own and stand on its own feet,” Lake said. “But then, for our fans, for people who have been playing other Remedy games, we want to put in a lot of content for them to discover for the ongoing universe story. And also, we feel hopeful that now there is a universe and a catalog of games that we’ll be expanding as we go, hopefully for somebody playing their first Remedy game, they can continue in the universe and check out the other games as well, and dive deeper into that rabbit hole.”

Currently, Remedy Entertainment is working on Control 2, while a multiplayer spinoff, FBC: Firebreak, is also in the works. The developer is also working on Max Payne 1 and 2 Remake, though that’s unlikely to be part of the Remedy Connected Universe.

It was a magical time when Halo, Gears of War, and Forza had multiple follow-ups and extensive respect. Even before Microsoft slowed down on the exclusives and delved further into Kinect, the Xbox 360 generation offered some legendary releases. Here are our picks for the top 15, as of 2024.

Grand Theft Auto 4

Going from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to Grand Theft Auto 4 on a new generation of consoles wasn’t easy for Rockstar. However, while the latter had its shortcomings, it’s still a phenomenal entry in the series, with Niko Bellic’s rise through crime showcased in grim, unrelenting fashion. Its improvements to character models and motion capture, the sheer amount of dialogue, the increased scale of Liberty City, and more all made for an incredible sequel.

Specifically, it’s been confirmed that Annapurna will be working with Remedy on bringing the Control and Alan Wake franchises “to film, TV and beyond”. No specifics have been shared yet, which presumably means nothing has advanced enough yet to be at a stage where there’s anything to share, but given the storytelling chops and cinematic qualities of Remedy’s games, this should come as exciting news to the studio’s fans.

Creative director Sam Lake said, “I’m absolutely thrilled by this opportunity to expand the story of Alan Wake and our whole Remedy Connected Universe to mediums beyond games, and to build all of this in close collaboration, games, film, TV, and other mediums as well, as one unified vision. I trust Annapurna are the perfect partner for us to make this dream come true.”

Remedy Entertainment is currently developing Control 2 and a multiplayer spinoff set in the same universe, while work is also ongoing on Alan Wake 2’s second expansion, The Lake House.

In fact, Remedy is looking to increase the frequency with which it puts out new Alan Wake and Control games. That’s as per CEO Tero Virtala, who said in a recently published financial statement that Remedy is looking to grow both franchises in a number of different ways, which will include “a more regular cadence of sequels”. Given the fact that Alan Wake 2 launched 13 years after its predecessor, that should come as a big relief to fans.

“With Alan Wake and Control we now have two established franchises, and our ambition is to grow them into franchises that have high brand recognition, steadily growing user base, more regular cadence of sequels and an ability to generate revenues and profits at a high level,” Virtala said.

Last month, it was also announced that Remedy Entertainment had acquired the full rights to Control from publisher 505 Games. With the studio now looking for a new partner for the franchise, Virtala says having full control of the IP will allow it to “make the right product and business decisions focusing on long-term franchise growth for both Alan Wake and Control.”

Currently, Remedy is working on two paid expansions for Alan Wake 2, both of which are due out this year. Meanwhile, Control 2 is currently in pre-production, while co-op spinoff Codename Condor (which might be officially titled FBC: Firebreak) will enter full production before July.

In the announcement for Alan Wake 2’s sales figures, Remedy Entertainment’s CEO Tero Virtala said that the studio intends to “grow and expand” both Alan Wake and Control, with both franchises being “a key part” of the studio’s future. Virtala also revealed that Alan Wake 2’s successful launch has also provided a boost for the development of other projects, including the Max Payne 1 and 2 remake and Control 2, both of which well enter the next stage of production in the first half of this year.

“We are happy with the start of Alan Wake 2’s sales,” Virtala said. “The price point has also remained at a high level, and the game has already recouped a significant part of the development and marketing expenses. We will continue to develop the game to serve existing fans and attract new players and expect the game to continue selling well.”

“The successful launch of Alan Wake 2 has supported our other game projects: Condor, Control 2, and Max Payne 1&2 remake have all increased development pace thanks to the personnel released from Alan Wake 2, and we expect these projects to reach their next development stages during the first half of 2024,” he continued. “We now have two established franchises: Control and Alan Wake, which are linked through the Remedy Connected Universe. Growing and expanding these franchises will be a key part of our future.”

Alan Wake 2 is set to receive two paid expansions this year, titled Night Springs and The Lake House.

Remedy recently also announced that Control has sold over 4 million units worldwide. 

As for how Alan Wake winds up in The Fog, Wake’s attempts to escape from The Dark Place by writing his way to freedom led to him falling into the thralls of The Entity, ultimately trading his spot in The Dark Place for The Fog.

Along with the arrival of Alan Wake, Dead by Daylight is also getting a special limited-time modifier—Lights Out. The modifier essentially makes the game much darker, stripping Survivors of several of the tools that they typically make use of in their usual matches.

Alan Wake was being teased for Dead by Daylight yesterday with a cryptic image showing nothing but a flashlight. Dead by Daylight has seen several collaborations with other IPs, including Resident Evil, Alien, Child’s Play, and even Nicholas Cage.

Dead by Daylight is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Taking to Twitter via the official Dead by Daylight account, Behaviour Interactive tweeted out a simple yet effective gif showing a plain old flashlight shining a beam of light into the surrounding darkness. Fans were quick to connect the dots, and widespread speculation right now suggests that the developer is teasing something related to Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake. Interestingly, Alan Wake 2 game director Kyle Rowley has also liked a tweet that suggests the same.

Of course, if the titular tortured writer does indeed come to Dead by Daylight, it’ll be interesting to see whether that’s as a Killer or a Survivor- because as those who’ve played Alan Wake 2 will know, he can potentially play either of those roles.

Either way, Behaviour Interactive says more details will be revealed on January 9, which happens to be today, so we’ll know more soon enough. Stay tuned for further updates.

Dead by Daylight is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS, and Android. Behaviour Interactive announced in November that it had surpassed 60 million players.

https://twitter.com/deadbydaylight/status/1744388607421395441

McCaffrey was best known for his role as Max Payne in Remedy Entertainment’s Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, as well as Rockstar Games’ Max Payne 3. He collaborated with Remedy Entertainment on a number of other titles over the years, voicing Alex Casey in 2010’s Alan Wake and its recently released sequel Alan Wake 2, and Zachariah Trench in 2019’s Control. 

Though McCaffrey did not reprise his role as the titular protagonist in the Max Payne movie, he did make a cameo appearance.

Remedy Entertainment is currently working on a combined remake of Max Payne 1 and 2, though it hadn’t been officially confirmed whether McCaffrey was set to return in the lead role. The remake had moved into the “production readiness” stage as of the end of October.

Let’s look at 15 of the biggest differences between Alan Wake 1 and 2, from their gameplay and story-telling mechanics to the overall scale and development time.

Psychological Thriller vs Survival Horror

Alan Wake has elements of horror as the writer extraordinaire was involved in various supernatural affairs, but it felt closer to a psychological thriller and mystery. There’s nothing wrong with that, but with Alan Wake 2, Remedy is leaning much more into survival horror and even adding body horror into the mix (no dismemberment, though). It touts the sequel as being its scariest game to date – interesting, given the bar thus far, but we’ll wait and see how it pans out.

Playable Characters

The first game only had Alan Wake, as he ventured through Bright Falls trying to make sense of what was happening. There were allies and other characters, but you only controlled Wake. The sequel upends that by having two protagonists – Wake and newcomer Saga Anderson, an FBI agent who arrives in Bright Falls to investigate some murders.

Inevitably, she gets caught up in a story that Wake is writing. After a certain point, players can switch between the two characters at any time during the story to experience their perspective. As for how the game is split between Saga and Wake, game director Kyle Rowley says it’s about “50/50.”

New and Returning Characters

Some characters like Alex Casey, who was only referenced in the first game and voiced pages from The Sudden Stop, one of the manuscripts, will appear in Alan Wake 2. Remedy teased other characters in The Dark Place, but it’s unknown if Alice Wake will appear. One thing is for sure: Robert Nightingale, who pursued Wake in the previous game as an FBI agent, returns, but he’s now a monster and an “agent” of The Dark Presence.

The Dark Place

As an alternate dimension and the “ocean” in which the real world is but an island, The Dark Place has existed for a long time. It’s a massive, constantly shifting location and can manifest concepts, ideas and characters. Wake accesses The Dark Place at various points in the first game before ending up trapped in the dimension to save his wife, Alice. The Signal and The Writer DLC sees him dealing with an irrational version of himself throughout an alternate version of Bright Falls, eventually reconciling and writing a new story to try and escape The Dark Place.

By contrast, The Dark Place in Alan Wake 2 is a surreal version of New York City, where Wake wanders around and meets characters from his books (including Alex Casey). While gorgeous in its lighting and shadows, this version of The Dark Place still has several dangers to beware of.

Inspirations and Influences

It’s no secret that the first Alan Wake took inspiration from many games. While many of those influences are apparent in the sequel, Alan Wake 2 also looked at Resident Evil 2 Remake. There are also influences from Silent Hill, per Rowley in an interview with VGC.

Gameplay Changes

The first game’s core mechanic involved using light, usually flashlights, to break down the darkness shielding the Taken, the main enemies. By focusing the flashlight’s beam, enemy shields would break faster, but its energy would deplete quickly. Collecting batteries would keep the flashlight topped off.

These mechanics return in Alan Wake 2, and you’re still aiming and dodging in the third person. However, there are fewer combat encounters, per Sam Lake, with a focus on more variety. Speaking to IGN First, he said, “We just realized that in survival horror, the pacing is slower. [Alan Wake 2] leans much more on building up to an encounter and then having more strategic resource management and all.

“So, we chose to give more variety in combat but also have less combat. Instead, we’ll have more moments to do things with the story.” The focus, instead, is on paranoia – some enemies may appear but not attack right away, for instance.

New Mechanics

In terms of new mechanics, Alan Wake 2 takes a more investigative approach to its gameplay, best seen in Saga’s Mind Place. It’s an entirely separate space consisting of her thoughts, deductions, clues, character profiles and a board linking everything together that can help players as they investigate the mystery.

Wake has the Writer’s Room and a Plot Board, discerning the plot of each chapter into a sequence of events and adjusting things accordingly to progress. While the manuscript pages return, sections have been edited or scratched out. Who did this and why? You have to keep playing to find out.

More Open Areas

Alan Wake 1 is a pretty linear experience. You could collect manuscript pages, often foreshadowing upcoming events, collect thermos flasks and discover TV and radio shows that provide more information on the town. However, from beginning to end, there isn’t much freedom when exploring Bright Falls.

Alan Wake 2 offers “slightly more open” areas per game director Kyle Rowley, but you can now freely explore them, like the forests around Cauldron Lake or the Diner in Bright Falls, discovering more of the world in the process. It’s also possible to revisit locations in a playthrough. Again, this doesn’t seem like a massive open world, but there are at least options to go off the beaten path.

Development Time

Measuring the “development time” for the first Alan Wake is difficult because it wasn’t originally the game we see today. All the inspirations were there when Remedy started making concepts after Max Payne 2’s release in 2003. However, the plan was for a sandbox-style open world with a dynamic day and night cycle and survival mechanics where players fought for their lives when the sun went down. It was showcased at E3 2005, but plans didn’t pan out for various reasons. When it was finally released in May 2010, Alan Wake 1 was a far different game than initially planned.

Alan Wake 2, by comparison, is a game that went through several concepts. It was originally pitched to Microsoft, who didn’t want to make a sequel and eventually turned into Quantum Break. Remedy returned to work on the property around 2017, but plans didn’t pan out, and it was ultimately busy with other projects like Control (we’ll pretend that Crossfire FPS on Xbox doesn’t exist).

Creator Sam Lake and his team continued working on ideas, dubbing it “Project Big Fish.” The total development time for the current version is around four years, and, as Lake has stated, it’s the concept that he was most happy to have gone with.

Remedy’s Biggest Project to Date

Alan Wake wasn’t a small game per se, but its overall scope and scale are fairly contained compared to the likes of Control. Alan Wake 2 is Remedy’s biggest project yet, per Sam Lake. It’s in keeping with his previous declaration about the story being a “monster” with more pages written than any other title under the developer. Given that this was in July 2022, the script has likely grown even larger in the interim.

Ray Tracing

Alan Wake 1 and 2 both use Remedy’s Northlight Engine and just as the sequel looks stunning by today’s standards, so did the first game when it was released in 2010 for Xbox 360. That difference in generations and available technology also means that Alan Wake 2 will feature ray tracing support.

It’s not like this is a first for the developer’s games – Control used ray tracing to excellent effect. With Alan Wake 2, it should be interesting to see how the developer applies its learning (while hopefully still maintaining strong performance on Xbox Series X/S and PS5).

Digital-Only

While Alan Wake 1 had the benefit of digital and physical versions, Alan Wake 2 is digital-only, which means it will retail for $60 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S (as opposed to the $70 tag many big titles are embracing) and $50 on PC. Remedy opted not to release a physical version since that would require a download and would not “make for a great experience.”

Later, game director Kyle Rowley told Eurogamer that going digital only allowed for more “time to polish the game. Like, a significant amount of weeks, actually. Because otherwise, the game that goes on the disc obviously has to be playable without a patch. We didn’t want to release something we weren’t proud of, basically, and we didn’t want players to play. So hopefully, this way, we can give you a better version of the game.”

Playtime

When it comes to playtime, Alan Wake is in line with most linear Xbox 360 titles at the time. You could finish it in about 11 hours when focusing on the story (14 hours or so when doing extra content) but going on a completionist run and finding everything could take around 27 hours. Remedy has expanded on the length of its games since then, with Control being its longest experience yet, requiring almost 12 hours for the story and roughly 19 hours with side content. Going on a completionist run bumps that up to 29 hours or so.

With Alan Wake 2, Remedy aims to go even longer than Control, with Sam Lake saying it would be over 20 hours long when speaking to PCGamesN. That could include the story and side content, but how much longer remains to be seen.

Connections to the Remedy-verse vs a Standalone Experience

While Remedy has embraced the idea of a connected universe between its franchises, it wasn’t always like this back. Alan Wake 1 had several references to Max Payne, including Alex Casey, a fictional character created by Wake who was eventually killed off (in a not-so-subtle nod to Remedy wanting to move on from the third-person shooter series). However, it was still a self-contained story, with no direct connections to the developer’s other works.

That was before Remedy acquired the rights to Alan Wake and began tying it in with its supernatural shooter Control, as seen in AWE. As a result, Alan Wake 2 is part of the Remedy-verse and will even help set up the story for Control 2.

Free DLC

Remedy has already confirmed two expansions for Alan Wake 2, much like with the first game and Control. However, unlike its predecessor, it’s also getting some DLC separate from the expansions that will be free. Speaking at EGX Theater, Same Lake says there will be “pretty significant” with more details set to be revealed after the game’s launch. Will it be something akin to Control’s Expeditions, free for all players after launch, or perhaps New Game Plus? We’ll have to wait for more details.