Summary
The gaming industry has seen a ton of trends come and go over the last few decades. Much like the movie industry where certain genres of movies are popular for a while and then fade into obscurity only to return again decades later,the video game industryfollows a similar trend, with particular genres remaining in the zeitgeist for a while before they’re swapped out for the latest, hottest trend.Alan Wake 2isn’t afraid of adopting a few of these recent trends.
One of the biggest video game trends thatAlan Wake 2adopts is the recent resurgence of the survival horror genre. Though it’s stayed fairly popular since its introduction in the 1990s, survival horror has definitely seen a golden age in recent years thanks to games like theResident Evilremakes, andAlan Wake 2makes it very clear that it’s leaning all the way into those inspirations, and by all accounts, it might even be remembered as one of the best survival horror games in the modern age. But there’s one other big, recent video game trend thatAlan Wake 2adopts, and again, it’s probably one of the genre’s best examples in recent memory.
Time Loops Have Become Gaming’s Most Prominent Recent Trend
Time Loops Have Been a Concept in Gaming for a While
The general concept of a time loop game sees players repeat the same story over and over again, achieving different results every time. While the vast majority of games want players to continue playing long after the credits roll, there are few that bake this replayability into the game’s very DNA, andThe Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Maskwas one of the very first. Widely considered to be one of the best games in the franchise,Zelda: Majora’s Mask’s main conceitsees Link trying to stop the end of the world by repeating the same three days over and over again, stuck in a loop until he can save the day. Though it isn’t some fans' favorite gameplay loop in the series, it is still pretty novel, and one of the first instances of a time loop in mainstream games.
Time Loops Are Really Starting to Grow in Popularity
In the last few years, time loops have become more popular than ever. One of the most prominent games leading the charge in this golden age of gaming time loops wasUndertale, where the player’s save and load mechanics are explained to be in-game abilities that see them enter a time loop. Things have only continued to ramp up exponentially in the last few years, with games likeDeathloop,Loop Hero,12 Minutes,Returnal, andThe Forgotten Cityall releasing within fairly quick succession of one another.
Alan Wake 2 Is Another Great Time Loop Game
Alan Wake 2is the latest in a long line of recent time loop games, and it may just be one of the very best. Without spoiling too much about the intricacies ofAlan Wake 2’s plot, one of the main narratives in the long-awaited sequel followsAlan Wake in the Dark Place. For the last 13 years, Alan Wake has been trapped in this alternate, nightmare dimension, and for all those years, he’s been trapped inside a time loop, waking up with no memories of what came previously.
Players first take control of Alan at the start of one of these loops, but very quickly, Alan starts to work out that things aren’t quite what they seem. Without spoiling the ending ofAlan Wake 2directly, it’s revealed that there’s a lot more to this supposed time loop than any of the game’s characters or fans first thought, and in its final moments,Alan Wake 2flips this time loop concept on its head, teasing a sequel that could really push the boundaries for this unique genre even further.
Alan Wake 2
WHERE TO PLAY
A string of ritualistic murders threatens Bright Falls, a small-town community surrounded by Pacific Northwest wilderness. Saga Anderson, an accomplished FBI agent with a reputation for solving impossible cases arrives to investigate the murders. Anderson’s case spirals into a nightmare when she discovers pages of a horror story that starts to come true around her.Alan Wake, a lost writer trapped in a nightmare beyond our world, writes a dark story in an attempt to shape the reality around him and escape his prison. With a dark horror hunting him, Wake is trying to retain his sanity and beat the devil at his own game.Anderson and Wake are two heroes on two desperate journeys in two separate realities, connected at heart in ways neither of them can understand: reflecting each other, echoing each other, and affecting the worlds around them.Fueled by the horror story, supernatural darkness invades Bright Falls, corrupting the locals and threatening the loved ones of both Anderson and Wake. Light is their weapon—and their safe haven — against the darkness they face. Trapped in a sinister horror story where there are only victims and monsters, can they break out to be the heroes they need to be?
