 | |
| Released | October 27, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Remedy Entertainment |
| Publisher | Epic Games Publishing |
| Director | Sam Lake Kyle Rowley |
| Writer | Sam Lake Clay Murphy Tyler Burton Smith |
| PotF Tracks | Heroes and Villains |
| OGoA Tracks | Herald of Darkness Anger's Remorse Dark Ocean Summoning |
Alan Wake II is a 2023 survival horror video game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Epic Games Publishing. The sequel to Alan Wake (2010) and Alan Wake's American Nightmare (2012), the story follows best-selling novelist Alan Wake, who has been trapped in an alternate dimension for 13 years, as he attempts to escape by writing a horror story involving FBI special agent Saga Anderson. The game also acts as a parallel sequel to Control (2019) as part of the Remedy Connected Universe.
Alan Wake II features many Remedy Entertainment staple elements, such as Norse mythology, environmental storytelling, fourth wall breaks, naming puns, narrative jumping, horror elements, in-fiction media and ventures outside of the game's core genre. The game is structured episodically in the style of a classic tv series.
Alan Wake II marked the first time that Poets of the Fall's founding trio took on the live action roles of the Old Gods of Asgard in their youth. Visually, Marko Saaresto portrays frontman Odin Anderson, his brother Tor Anderson is played by Markus Kaarlonen and Olli Tukiainen plays Bob Balder. Marko provides Odin's vocals but his bass guitar and Tor's drums were recorded by Kaarlonen. Olli provides his guitar skills as Balder (although in a pre-recorded overlapping way that would be impossible to perfectly reproduce live).
Which Old Gods track is encountered first in the game is dependent on the player's actions. During Alan's gameplay in The Dark Place during the chapter Initiation 4: We Sing, the game transforms into a dynamic musical number with live-action screens forming battle arenas and telling the story so far. The sequence features the track Herald of Darkness, which is a sprawling genre-spanning epic that transitions between sections and is of dynamic length and intensity, similar to Take Control from the Ashtray Maze sequence in Control but on a much bigger scale. Herald features guest vocals by Matthew Porretta (Alan Wake (game)|Alan Wake) and David Harewood (Warlin Door). Captain released a full length cut of the track to the Old Gods of Asgard YouTube channel at a stunning 30 minutes long.
During Saga's gameplay in the Pacific Midwest during the chapter Return 5: Old Gods, the unreleased Old Gods of Asgard single Anger's Remorse plays a significant role in the story, holding the secrets of Saga's father Tor and acting as an apology her mother Freya. The vinyl has been stolen by Cynthia Weaver and can be retrieved through an overlap that connects to the Oceanview Motel in Initiation 5: Room 665. You can faintly hear the track playing as Alan during that chapter. Back in Return 5, Saga is able to use the song to access an overlap to pursue Tor and you can listen to the track in full during this time.
Later in Saga's adventure during Return 7: Summoning, she is driven to create a work of art to summong Alan from The Dark Place. She recruits her father Tor and uncle Odin to write and perform the new track Dark Ocean Summoning, which they play on the shores of Cauldron Lake during a horde battle similar to the Children of the Elder God battle from the original Alan Wake. A "false start" version of the track plays initially, with them botching the performance. When they get going properly, live-action apparitions of thier younger selves appear above and perform, including the now canonically deceased Bob Balder.
The Poets of the Fall track Heroes and Villains from Ghostlight plays during the game's ending credits. Music from the prior Remedy games can also be heard on a jukebox in-game, including War (AW) and The Happy Song (AWAN). The same jukebox also plays the Old Gods of Asgard tracks Children of the Elder God (AW), The Poet and the Muse (AW), Balance Slays the Demon (AWAN) and Take Control (Control).
Trivia
- The album exclusive track The Sea of Night is teased in in-game documents and framed vinyl artwork.
- The phrase "sea of night" is later given context in the Night Springs DLC's "Time Breaker" episode as being the fabric of the multiverse.
- The launch day version of the game on PC inadvertently featured a beta-version of Anger's Remorse with different lyrics when using the in-game radio. This was removed in the first patch but can still be found in the game's files.