If you’re anything like me (and given Alan Wake’s cult-hit status, you’re probably not), you have been wondering about what happened to Alan Wake for the past few years, and dreaming of the day that Alan Wake 2 might finally explain what it meant when the game ended on the enigmatic line, “It’s not a lake, it’s an ocean.”
Well, Polygon just talked to Remedy to get some answers and even got a video of a working prototype for Alan Wake 2. Most importantly, to fanatics like me, is that Remedy refuse to rule out Alan Wake 2. Which can only mean one thing, right? Right?
The report by Brian Crecente on Polygon is well-worth a look, and gives a lot of context for what happened to Alan Wake 2 and what Remedy have been doing since then. They’ve also got an incredible 15 minute gameplay video of the prototype, which looks like it was building from one of my favorite aspects of the end of Alan Wake, when Wake beings to use his writing as a way to summon things into being.
But for those of us who fell in love with Remedy’s odd, charmingly (or obnoxiously) meta videogame, the most important part of this article might come near the end, as Remedy’s Sam Lake talked about the prospects for another Alan Wake adventure. Apparently, there is some hope for more Alan Wake after Remedy finish with Quantum Break, though right now it sounds like a very distant “maybe”.
Explaining that he was willing release the demo because it contained no spoilers, Remedy’s Sam Lake said, “That being said, I do hope we get an opportunity to work on Alan Wake 2. I want to do more Wake at some point.”
It’s encouraging to hear that Remedy haven’t given up on the series, and Microsoft’s Phil Spencer sound amenable to the notion of a new one.
On the other hand, I think it might be impossible to recapture what made Alan Wake so special. One of my favorite articles was a critical analysis of Alan Wake for The Escapist, in which I basically argued that Alan Wake is an expression of Remedy’s own frustration and self-doubt about game development. It exists as this singular, weirdly self-referential action game that’s entirely about its own developer and writer. Could any sequel tap into that same mixture of creativity and anger? On a triple-A budget, no less?
Still, I like to think that we might see another Alan Wake adventure in the next few years. It was different, and it was beautiful, and I’ve always wondered where it would have gone next.
Go read that Polygon article to learn more about Remedy’s odyssey with Alan Wake.