Alan Wake 2 gameplay trailer shows off new character and survival horror vibes

The one thing we did know about it is that, unlike the original, this is intended to be a full-on survival horror. We’re still not entirely clear what difference that is supposed to make though, as the original was already pretty creepy and the sequel seems only slightly more so.

The footage was relatively brief and featured new protagonist Saga, who’s an FBI agent that is ‘living a narrative’ that Alan Wake has written. You will still be able to play as the titular character though, with director Sam Lake promising a 50/50 split between the two and the ability to switch between either whenever you like.

It almost seemed as if Lake revealed more than he intended when he came on stage, as he really didn’t want to explain Saga’s situation or what Alan Wake was doing in the ‘Dark Place.’

To us, it sounded like he was implying the game was using a variation of the old light/dark world gimmick from Zelda: A Link To The Past, with Saga stuck in a version of the real world and Alan in his weird dark dimension.

It probably would’ve been scarier if you were playing but while we weren’t terribly impressed by the game in terms of how frightening it was, the graphics were very good, with some great night-time effects as Saga waves her torch about nervously.

The whole deer monster thing was pretty uninteresting though and the beating heart in the freezer looked kind of silly.

The action definitely seemed solid, though, as it should from the makers of Control, with Saga sporting a handy looking dodge move.

The game’s out on October 17, just three days before Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which seems unfortunate timing, even if Spidey is a PlayStation 5 game and Alan Wake 2 is multiformat.