Alan Wake 2 – Night Springs & The Lake House | Games of the Year 2024

It has been over a 12 months since I fell down the Treatment rabbit gap, and I am completely happy to report there is not any finish in sight.

Since the launch of Alan Wake 2 in October 2023, I’ve performed practically each sport in Treatment’s catalogue, in some instances greater than as soon as (I am lovingly you, Management and Max Payne 2). All these great video games left virtually no area for anything this 12 months.

That is to not say I have not skilled any new releases in 2024. Little Kitty, Large Metropolis stole my coronary heart, Thank Goodness You are Right here had me in stitches, and Star Wars Outlaws gave me a a lot-wanted dose of nostalgia. Baldur’s Gate 3 can be a contemporary expertise that I’ve managed to place in over 120 hours in 20 days.

“The absurdity is off the charts, from Alan speaking as a mounted bass decoration to a bike turning right into a werewolf (sure, actually)”

Alas, Treatment simply had to proceed releasing content material for Alan Wake 2, which got here in the type of two expansions: Night Springs and The Lake House.

Night Springs arrived on June 8, consisting of three episodes centered round characters from Treatment’s related universe. Night Springs itself is a homage to The Twilight Zone, and seems as an precise TV present all through 2010’s Alan Wake.

This was expanded in 2012 with Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, which is framed as a Night Springs episode written by Alan as a method to flee The Darkish Place – an alternate nightmare dimension he is been trapped in for 13 years.

The Night Springs enlargement follows the similar premise, with Alan utilizing characters from Treatment video games as a method to flee.

One relies on the overarching plot of 2019’s Management, following its protagonist Jesse Faden – the director of a secret authorities company referred to as the Federal Bureau of Management. In Night Springs, she is just generally known as The Sibling and is in search of her brother at a theme park that seems in Alan Wake 2.

The different is a head-spinning journey by means of parallel universes, the place gamers tackle the position of precise actor Shawn Ashmore. He portrays Sheriff Tim Breaker in Alan Wake 2 in addition to protagonist Jack Joyce in 2016’s Quantum Break. However on this episode, he performs an unnamed hero in a sport referred to as Time Breaker developed by Poison Tablet Leisure (doubtless as a result of Microsoft nonetheless owns the Quantum Break IP).

However what captivated me instantly was the first episode of Night Springs, Quantity One Fan.

This instalment is centered round Rose Marigold, a waitress from the sport’s fictional diner. In Alan Wake, she was an endearing however stereotypical fangirl. Fortunately, her character was fleshed out in Alan Wake 2, and much more so in Quantity One Fan.

Rose is tasked with saving her beloved author Alan from the clutches of his jealous twin brother, Scratch (in the most important video games, Scratch is a manifestation of a supernatural entity referred to as the Darkish Presence, which takes on Alan’s look).

(*2*)

Quantity One Fan hinges on Rose’s dedication to Alan, however not in a derogatory approach. The episode does not make enjoyable of how devoted she is to the author she loves; it embraces it.

Since falling for Alan Wake, I’ve develop into generally known as “the Alan Wake author” – it does not take lengthy to see why should you comply with me on social media. However as a neurodivergent one that hyperfixates on issues, I’ve usually been made enjoyable of for loving a sport or TV present “an excessive amount of.”

However the Treatment group has accepted me with open arms, and I am also known as Rose by my shut pals… though, that was very a lot my very own doing after I adopted in her footsteps and managed to acquire a life-dimension cutout of Alan.

Rose being the heart of consideration and the total hero of Quantity One Fan made me really feel seen. It is a token of appreciation to Alan Wake followers, which sport director Kyle Rowley emphasised once I spoke to Treatment’s dev group about the enlargement earlier this 12 months.

After pouring over 100 hours into replaying Alan Wake 2, I actually wished to see Treatment’s kookiness take centre stage – and it does so exponentially right here. The absurdity is off the charts, from Alan speaking to Rose as a mounted bass decoration and a deer to a bike turning right into a werewolf (sure, actually).

On high of that, Jessica Preddy’s unbelievable portrayal of Rose and the unbeatable duo that’s Matthew Porretta and Ilkka Villi (as each Alan and Scratch) cemented the first enlargement as my sport of the 12 months proper off the bat.

After which got here The Lake House.

Launched on October 22, the sport’s second DLC amplified the survival horror all the approach as much as 11, however in a very Treatment approach.

Arrange as a Management crossover occasion, you play as Kiran Estevez – an agent from the Federal Bureau of Management. She’s been tasked with investigating the scenario unfolding in the sport’s fictional city of Vibrant Falls. Estevez seems mid-approach by means of Alan Wake 2, throughout which she refers to an incident that happens throughout this enlargement.

This incident takes place at The Lake House: a analysis facility set as much as monitor paranatural occurrences at Cauldron Lake close to Vibrant Falls. Cauldron Lake simply so occurs to be a portal to The Darkish Place.

Estevez arrives at an deserted Lake House, solely to find that horrific supernatural entities have been unleashed by means of an unlikely supply: summary work. It is right down to her to search out out why, and extra importantly, find out how to cease them.

Enjoying as Estevez jogged my memory of how I related to Jesse in Management. Not solely was I experiencing the world as a powerful feminine protagonist, however each characters are brilliantly sarcastic and unphased by the weirdness transpiring round them.

“[Estevez] makes use of a grounding approach of taking six deep breaths when overwhelmed, which was refreshing to see as with nervousness”

Though, that is what it appears like with Estevez. When you begin diving deeper into the horrors unfolding inside The Lake House, her seemingly calm demeanor begins to falter. She makes use of a grounding approach of taking six deep breaths when issues get overwhelming, which was refreshing to see as somebody who suffers with nervousness. It gave me a brand new coping mechanism that I’ve gone on to make use of just a few instances since.

There’s additionally a brand new music for the DLC centered round this theme, written by singer-songwriter Poe. She contributed the song ‘This Road’ for the most important sport, which seems in segments after you end chapters in Alan’s part. That music grew to become an necessary mantra for me, as has this one. ‘6 Deep Breaths’ jogs my memory to cease, take a step again, breathe, and face your fears.

With that in thoughts, I usually discovered myself reacting to conditions in the similar approach as Estevez does, very like I did with Jesse in Management. There have been numerous instances the place I’d say the very same factor Estevez would say in response to what was being uncovered.

For instance, there’s a complete ground of the facility housing rows upon rows of typewriters, eerily clacking and pinging away on their very own. A system has been created to automate Alan’s writing type to imitate his skill to make fiction develop into actuality. As quickly because it dawned on me what the researchers have been attempting to do, I audibly groaned and stated to myself that is such a silly thought – as did Estevez.

It is also a extremely fascinating commentary on the future of AI, one thing I used to be not anticipating to look on this survival horror expertise. Alan’s writing is exclusive to him by way of his tone, use of metaphors, and the approach he units a scene. The prose these typewriters are pumping out cannot match that in any respect, which is additional confirmed by the experiment being unable to copy Alan’s energy since he isn’t there to gasoline it.

As an enormous fan of Treatment’s video games, I discovered how The Lake House mixed Management and Alan Wake to be joyous. From the questionable experiments to the extraordinary moments blended with pure horror, this enlargement was the excellent endnote to Alan Wake 2.

After all, it left me wanting extra – not solely from Alan Wake but in addition Management 2, as a sneaky teaser was hidden in the direction of the finish. Hopefully, it isn’t going to be that lengthy a wait to see what Treatment has in retailer for its ever-increasing related universe, and I can not wait to expertise it.