Show me the champion of audio sync fixes
The wait for Alan Wake 2 has been crazy, to borrow a bit from the worst Star Trek theme song it has indeed “been a long time, getting from there to here” but my God it has been worth it. Alan Wake 2 is a fantastic piece of media that manages to transcend everything about the original. It is by far and away the sequel fans of the original and the spin-off American Nightmare have been waiting for.
In Alan Wake 2 we are reintroduced to Bright Falls, the quirky lakeside town from the original game and it still exudes those Twin Peak vibes as well. This time a ritualistic murder has brought FBI Agent Saga Anderson and her partner Alex Casey to the creepy town. I loved the opening hours of this adventure, what begins as a murder investigation soon gets weird as only Remedy can do. For starters Alex Casey as players know is a creation of Alan Wake, the writer. Casey is his most famous literary character but in Alan Wake 2, Alex Casey is real and Saga’s partner. And if that’s not enough meta craziness for you Alex Casey is played by Remedy’s Sam Lake who also famously portrayed Max Payne originally. Oh, this gets deep, because I feel like Alex Casey is the stand in for Max Payne but due to rights and such, they can’t use the name anymore, and of course it doesn’t help that Casey is voiced by James McCaffery (RIP) who voiced Max Payne in all of this games.
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $59.99
This is only scratching the surface in this meta-mystery horror game, to say I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish is an understatement. One of the things I was worried about initially with this game was the dual protagonist system. Afterall, I had waited for more than a decade for the continuation of Wake’s story and for him to have to share the spotlight seemed crazy to me. I have never been happier to be worried about nothing because I think Saga ended up being my favorite character in Alan Wake 2. Players are free to complete each story however they choose but there are times where they will need to progress in one side to move things along on the other. Alan and Saga are tied together and their fates intertwined, and in order to save one of them players must save the other.
Yet, despite this change Alan Wake 2 retains the top-notch storytelling. There are twists and turns aplenty throughout the 15-20 hours campaign. All of the characters exude personality from returning ones to some of the new folks we are introduced too. The entire town just feels alive as players walk through the buildings as Saga and interact with each citizen. But the level of detail that went into creating the faux New York, Dark Place or Bright Falls is insane. The original Alan Wake wasn’t known for its graphics but the sequel is killing it with some amazing graphics and vistas that just beg for a photo mode. (developers have said its coming post launch)
I wish I could go on about how fantastic this game is, but sadly my time on Series X has been marred by an ongoing issue with audio sync. There is a fantastic showtunes bit early in Alan’s story about the Champion of Light and while the music is great my experience was subpar because the dances, FMV and other things were all out of sync with the audio. If you have seen this scene from the game, you can imagine how crushing it is to have seen it all out of whack. And while the last patch did fix the issue for a few days, I was forced to finish the game with the final few cutscenes all being out of sync. It is just baffling at how this game managed to nail so much, have so much excellent stuff going for it but they have yet to fix this sync problem. While I did experience some T-poses, and other weird glitches it was by far and away the audio sync that gave me the most problem.
Listen, I have waited a long time for this game and Remedy delivered a masterpiece here, flaws and all. The new creation of their own Remedy Universe shines brightly with the amount of crossover on display here with their last game Control. It was almost surprising how much the Federal Bureau of Control comes up against Saga and the FBI over the course of the game. I say surprising, but it is actually exciting to see what the future holds for these games. If Alan Wake 2 is any indication, Remedy is just getting started and whatever the greater story being told here I cannot wait for more. Fans of Alan Wake and its spin-off American Nightmare are going to love getting to reap the harvest of those seeds sowed so long ago. But Alan Wake 2 is also accessible for new fans alike and I would admonish anyone who genuinely enjoys weird, deep stories to check this one out.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
