Alan Wake 2: Creating The Dual Protagonist Experience First
His name may quite literally be the title of the game, but Alan Wake is not the only main character in Remedy Entertainment’s upcoming survival horror. The ‘2’ in Alan Wake 2 doesn’t just point to its sequel nature, but also to the duality that runs through the entire game. Two protagonists. Two perspectives. Two worlds. And two approaches to gameplay.
“Obviously we're making a sequel and we knew that Alan was going to be a big part of it,” says Kyle Rowley, Alan Wake 2’s game director. “But we also knew that we wanted to have a different perspective for the players who are maybe not familiar with Alan Wake 1.”
The second perspective is that of Saga Anderson, an FBI agent investigating a ritual murder. For September’s IGN First we spoke to two developers at Remedy to learn how they created different experiences for both Alan and Saga, how they developed two unique spins on the core survival horror gameplay, and how swapping between the two leads affects the way Alan Wake 2’s story unfolds.
Saga’s case brings her to Bright Falls, the small town America setting of the original Alan Wake. “She's here with her partner, Alex Casey, trying to solve this increasingly impossible seeming series of mysteries,” explains Molly Maloney, principle narrative designer on Alan Wake 2. “She's a really complex person, and I think as you go deeper into the game, you get to see more and more sides of her.”
While Saga is the story’s new character, it's through her that you’ll experience the setting of the original game, along with all its Twin Peaks-inspired oddities. “Saga obviously exists in our world, so it's a more grounded reality, but it's still Remedy's take on the Pacific Northwest, which means it's a little quirky, a little
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