Alan Wake 2: Night Springs and The Lake House review

Alan Wake 2: Night Springs and The Lake House feel like a landmark moment for Remedy as a developer. Fully embracing everything fans have adored about the developer for years, it contains some of the most imaginative and meta moments for the developer to date, while also offering a glimpse into the future for what Control 2 may bring. If you’re a fan of Alan Wake 2, or even Control, grabbing the upgrade to access these two pieces of content is a no brainer, because even though it’s a slightly uneven package, when it hits, it hits harder than almost anyone else can manage.

Starting with Night Springs, it’s almost a shame that this three part content isn’t going to get a fourth or fifth episode. Designed to be 45 minute sessions, each of the three episodes is exactly that, using a sometimes skewed version of the narrative inside the shell of the Night Springs TV show, offering flights of fantasy, and bizarre storylines that make you wonder what’s canon and what isn’t anymore.

First up is “Number One Fan”, which turns Alan Wake 2 into a full on action game for its brief window. Starring Rose Marigold, the waitress who adores Wake, you start off in a fantasy world of worship where she’s adored by everyone while running her diner. Here, criticism of Wake’s work is quite literally from “haters”, but I won’t spoil the story more than that. She goes from her day-job serving customers and helping them with their problems, to a sudden rescue mission for her hero and would-be Soul Mate Wake.

As Rose, you’re given an abundance of ammo, heavy weapons, and it’s a full on action romp through the woods up to the house where Wake is being held captive. There’s some humorous dialogue throughout that really made me smile, and the music is jovial, bouncing into action as the haters attack Rose, her shouting “you’re being very rude” as she shotguns them down. It’s a great start, and sets the tone nicely

“North Star” is the middle ground for the first expansion, and you play as Jesse Faden (yes, from Control) who is exploring the Coffee World location, which for those who played Alan Wake 2 in full, is more like the Wake-version of Coffee World than the Agent Saga Anderson version. A governmental conspiracy is in full effect, with Officer Tim Breaker trying to stop it all. This is the most “normal” piece of the first DLC, and is absolutely fine, offering the standard gameplay from the base game, but with Jesse trying to find her brother via some combat and puzzles.

“Time Breaker” rounds off the Night Springs part of the package, and here you play as an actor who who looks like Tim Breaker. You’re basically trying to track down Mr Door in this DLC, but the gameplay fluctuates wildly from idea to idea, and really feels like Remedy is having fun with the universe, and pushing boundaries. It’s tremendous and will make you smile from start to finish.

“The Lake House” is the second, and more recent expansion and offers up a more traditional Alan Wake 2-style experience, clocking in at around three hours. It’s as though Control has fully invaded Alan Wake 2, and while it’s in the Wake 2 engine and location (to begin with, anyway), it’s actually more about the overall Remedy-verse or Control story than Wake itself.

As Agent Kiran Estevez (superbly voiced by Janina Gavankar) you are deployed to investigate something going awry at the titular Lake House in Cauldron Lake. The location is usually used to study paranatural activity and effects of what the Lake is up to, but as you can imagine it pretty quickly goes south.

It’s a fairly standard version of Alan Wake 2, with puzzling, combat, and screen-flashing jump scares, and while some puzzles are a little dreary (like solving a computer login code via a post it note that’s attached to the monitor), the combat is just as good as it always was. Flash, shoot, and take them out. There are new enemies, and a new weapon, but the real meat is in the lore buried in the massive amount of paperwork strewn around the five floor office. Uncovering the story of what happened at The Lake House leads to revelations that, I think, have wider connotations for the future of the Remedy-verse as a whole, and maybe even a hint at what’s to come in Control 2.

It’s not a complete home run as a package, but with enough standout moments throughout the two packs, the expansion upgrade should be an easy buy for fans. For anyone looking for more of the unique storytelling and ideas behind Remedy titles, it’s also pretty cheap considering how much story is told in how short period of time. It was a real treat revisiting the game, and made me want more, and if that’s not a good reason to grab DLC, what is?