Alan Wake 2 was my favorite game of 2023, a year ripe with excellent video games. It propelled Remedy’s storytelling to new heights which, understandably, frustrated some. Many see the Remedy Connected Universe as a textbook example of style over substance, but I love the way Remedy’s writing team leaves breadcrumbs for fans and lets them debate over the canonicity of it all. That’s heavily prevalent in Night Springs, the game’s first expansion that, amidst all the goofy stuff, may just be the biggest connective tissue between all of Remedy’s games.
Night Springs is a three-episode act, each letting you play as different characters from the RCU in “what if?” scenarios. In the Alan Wake universe, “Night Springs” is a Twilight Zone-esque fictional show that explores absurd horror stories, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. Most of the expansion isn’t “canon” to the RCU, but they do represent and explore the possibilities of where the franchise might be headed next.
The first episode is the simplest of the bunch, and even then it feels like a fever dream. You play as Rose Marigold, the waitress at the Oh-Deer Diner. In this reality, she is in love with Alan Wake, and his evil doppelganger has just shown up to cause some trouble.
This episode is essentially Remedy’s take on a horde mode, as you’ll spend most of your time shooting waves of enemies while moving through the map. It’s not a bad idea, and the tongue-in-cheek humor helps to distract from the somewhat monotonous gameplay. Alan Wake 2’s gunplay was fun, and this is just an excuse to indulge in it. Forget saving up ammo, this is the one where you empty your cartridge into the skulls of your enemies.
Alan Wake 2’s boss fights were challenging but frustrating owing to the slower movement of the player character. The same is true here, but the utter ridiculousness of the spectacle manages to wow me despite the mechanical simplicity. It’s just too stupid to not be fun, and it wraps up neatly without offering any explanation of what you just experienced. What if Alan Wake was made by the maniacs behind Doom? This is what you get.
Episode 2: North Star
This is where things get strange, bringing Jesse Faden from Control into Alan Wake’s world. The story is reminiscent of her solo game, being guided by Polaris on a quest to find her missing brother, this time set in the haunting backdrop of Coffee World.
Coffee World was one of the highlights of the base game, so repurposing it with even more supernatural phenomena works to the expansion’s advantage. This episode is equally focused on action, survival horror, and puzzle-solving. That first part feels a little neutered as we don’t have Jesse’s telekinetic powers or her trusty Service Weapon. Jesse must stick to shining a flashlight on an enemy’s face before shooting them, stripping away the fun of playing as Jesse in the first place.
It also has a couple of interesting puzzles, reminding me of those from Control. Alas, there’s no cool boss fight for Jesse to conquer, though an ending twist may reveal Remedy’s plans for Control 2. Spoilers: Jesse coming face-to-face with Alan, impersonating her brother, speaks more about Alan’s newfound ability to travel through dimensions. It may not entirely be canon to the Control franchise, but we know these characters will find their way to each other in the real world soon enough.
Time Breaker is Remedy’s craziest, most meta installment yet, topping everything the developer has done in the past. That’s a lot for a company that loves to insert self-referential humor and mythos in its works, and Time Breaker is an essential piece of the puzzle.
Starting in the “real” world, we play as Shawn Ashmore, the star of Remedy’s Quantum Break. After a hilarious explanation of the multiverse from an in-game Sam Lake, Shawn/ “the Actor” finds himself being hunted by Warlin Door (David Harewood) across dimensions. Time Breaker is a love letter to not just past Remedy games, but also games as a whole. The different universes you’ll traverse through all represent different eras of gaming, from gritty horror games of the seventh generation to text-based RPGs of yore.
Time Breaker packs the most punch, delivering an equal amount of action, puzzle-solving, and horror. It also explains the true nature of Remedy’s multiverse, how each variant of a character is an “echo” of another. It’s a clever way to acknowledge the reality-shifting events of Quantum Break without directly mentioning it, as Remedy can put its own spin on what’s real and what’s not.
The episode also teases the grand plan that Remedy is seemingly setting up – one that aims to put Alan, Jesse, Sheriff Breaker/Jack Joyce, and Warlin Door on the same playing field. Alan Wake 2’s true ending teased the author transcending his humanity, becoming a “Master of Many Worlds.” That idea is explored briefly in Time Breaker, putting him and Door squarely against each other, with Jesse and Breaker just caught between an interdimensional war. I can’t wait to see what Remedy has in store for us in the next chapter, Control 2.
Just as the first Alan Wake DLCs were imperative to understanding the nature of the Dark Place, Alan Wake 2’s expansions are a must-play for anyone interested in the RCU. Don't forget to play Alan Wake 2, the base game, before diving into it. Before that though, another Alan Wake expansion, The Lake House, releases later this year and if that’s remotely as entertaining as this one, then we’re all in for a good time.
Alan Wake 2 Night Springs technical performance
Just like the base game, Night Springs is a gorgeous, but somewhat unstable experience. The frame rate takes a hit during firefights with large groups, especially in the first episode. I also encountered a couple of visual bugs which were fixed by restarting the expansion. While the performance mode smooths things out but, as stated in our Alan Wake 2 review, the hit to visuals, particularly in the shadows, may not be worth it. You’ll have a better experience playing on a VRR screen or PC following its post-launch optimization. For the rest of us, the expansion’s entertainment value exceeds its technical hiccups.
Version tested: PlayStation 5
Alan Wake 2 is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
