Summary
Remedy Entertainment has always tried to push the boundaries of gaming, and it usually tries to do this via two main areas, a title’s gameplay and storytelling. With regards to gameplay, Remedy has always tried to implement at least one kind of novel mechanic into the core gameplay loop, withMax Payne’s bullet-timebeing the perfect example of this. And when it comes to storytelling, Remedy usually tries to bring in some imagery, concepts, or themes that aren’t often seen too much in the video game landscape, withAlan Wake 2having plenty of those.
In its pursuit to break the mold, Remedy Entertainment has stumbled upon a number of unique mechanics and narrative devices, but none have stuck with Remedy quite as long as live-action storytelling. For years now, Remedy has tried to implement live-action elements into its games wherever it can, usually to very mixed results, but withAlan Wake 2, it finally all comes together.Alan Wake 2’s live-action sequencesaren’t just serviceable - they actively enhance the experience.
Remedy Has a Long History of Putting Live-Action in its Games
Quantum Break Took Things a Step Too Far
Back in 2016, Remedy launchedQuantum Break, its first major project since the originalAlan Wakeback in 2010. In an attempt to really push the boundaries for its first proper next-gen, high-budget game, Remedy gaveQuantum Breakan incredibly unique video game structure. The general gameplay loop ofQuantum Breakwould see players engage in third-person action gameplay for a chapter, and then be presented with a 30-minute live-action episode of TV. As the game progressed, players would make choices in-game that would affect the episode of live-action TV they would then watch at the end of the chapter. Though this concept is still very novel, it draggedQuantum Break’s pacingto a screeching halt, and proved to be just a bit too much for many fans.
Control Offered a Good Compromise
Hearing the criticisms fromQuantum Break, Remedy made the bold decision not to drop live-action altogether from its next major release, but instead rework it into the game’s structure in a much more natural way. 2019’sControlonce again brought live-action elements to the game, but this time, it wasn’t part of the core gameplay loop nearly as much. Instead, most ofControl’s live-action sequences are presented as in-game informative presentations, with live-action members ofthe Federal Bureau of Controlperforming demonstrations on a projector screen, which many fans agreed was much more palatable.
Alan Wake 2 Finally Uses Live-Action to Great Effect
By most accounts,Alan Wake 2finally strikes the perfect balance of live-action and gameplay, and it finally proves that Remedy’s love affair with live-action hasn’t been a waste of time after all. Rather than take players out of the experience or grind the pacing to a halt,Alan Wake 2’s live-action elements actually go a long way in enhancing the game’s supernatural horror tone.
One of the biggest examples of this isAlan Wake 2’s lengthy live-action cutscenes when Alan is in the Dark Place. Being a nightmarish, otherworldly dimension, it makes perfect sense that unsettling, oddly-toned live-action sequences would fit here. This is also the case forAlan Wake 2’s jumpscares. While there are way too many in the game, these little bursts of creepy live-action imagery are usually very unsettling in a way that normal video game animation wouldn’t be. Saga’s Mind Place Profiling also uses live-action elements frequently, but again, it’s in service to the game’s tone, with players immediately getting the sense that this is an unnatural, strange ability.
Alan Wake 2
WHERE TO PLAY
A string of ritualistic murders threatens Bright Falls, a small-town community surrounded by Pacific Northwest wilderness. Saga Anderson, an accomplished FBI agent with a reputation for solving impossible cases arrives to investigate the murders. Anderson’s case spirals into a nightmare when she discovers pages of a horror story that starts to come true around her.Alan Wake, a lost writer trapped in a nightmare beyond our world, writes a dark story in an attempt to shape the reality around him and escape his prison. With a dark horror hunting him, Wake is trying to retain his sanity and beat the devil at his own game.Anderson and Wake are two heroes on two desperate journeys in two separate realities, connected at heart in ways neither of them can understand: reflecting each other, echoing each other, and affecting the worlds around them.Fueled by the horror story, supernatural darkness invades Bright Falls, corrupting the locals and threatening the loved ones of both Anderson and Wake. Light is their weapon—and their safe haven — against the darkness they face. Trapped in a sinister horror story where there are only victims and monsters, can they break out to be the heroes they need to be?
