What’s going on with the Dark Place?
And what about that doppelganger?
One of the game’s key creators has some answers.
The Dark Place resembles New York City in ‘Alan Wake II’.Remedy Entertainment
Alan then sacrificed himself to save his wife.
However, the new Gamescom trailer centers on Alan and where he’s been all this time.
(Gamers will be able to play as both Saga and Alan in the sequel.)
A sign for Night Springs can be spotted in the NYC-esque Dark Place setting in ‘Alan Wake II’.Remedy Entertainment
“This kind of struggle and this constant nightmare has clearly left a mark.
Below, Lake breaks down the newAlan Wake IItrailer with EW.
The Dark Place
“In a horror story, they’re only victims and monsters.
A Coffee World reference spotted in the new ‘Alan Wake II’ trailer.Remedy Entertainment
The trailer opens on a dark, rain-drenched vision of New York City.
Lake confirms this is indeed the Dark Place.
As such, the setting is malleable.
Ilkka Villi appears as live-action Alan Wake in ‘Alan Wake II’.Remedy Entertainment
Alan previously resided in New York, and his crime-fiction book series was set in the Big Apple.
The central character was Alex Casey.
(It’s no coincidence that Saga’s partner has the same name.)
David Harewood appears as Mr. Door in ‘Alan Wake II’.Remedy Entertainment
Remedy pulled inspiration from classic films for the vibe, includingMartin Scorsese’s 1976 movieTaxi Driver.
“Alan Wake, early on in his career, actually wrote screenplays for the show.
So, it is part of his background,” Lake says.
665, a popular number featured in Remedy games, appears in the ‘Alan Wake II’ trailer.Remedy Entertainment
Coffee World is one of those connecting threads.
(Matthew Porretta provides the voice of Alan.)
Live action serves that purpose on one side.
A dark double stalks the Dark Place in ‘Alan Wake II’.Remedy Entertainment
Remedy shot live-action configs and brought them intoAlan Wake II, sometimes as 1:1 recreations.
Which brings us to…
Mr.
Door
“One of my favorite writers is here on the show!
Alan Wake is accosted by a stranger in an alley in ‘Alan Wake II’.Remedy Entertainment
He’s here to talk about his latest book.”
In the trailer, we see a live-action Alan on a late-night talk show calledIn Between With Mr.
Door in his dreams.
The red lights of ‘Control’ return in ‘Alan Wake II’ as a stylized visual connected to the supernatural.Remedy Entertainment
He describes him as a traveler of the multiverse, endlessly “shifting” between realities.
Now, in theAlan Wake IItrailer, we see actorDavid Harewood(Supergirl,Homeland) as Mr. Lake teases, “It’s a good question, how much can you trust anything that Dylan says?
Because he doesn’t feel to be all there in some ways.
Usually there is a payoff and a meaning.
One fan theory predicts that Mr.
So, is he?
They are not part of Remedy’s plans,” Lake says.
I don’t want to shoot them down on that level.
We are making questions possible and giving ideas to people that they can then form their own theories.
I think that’s very much part of the fun.”
665
The number 665 appears in various Remedy games, and here it pops up again.
When asked about it, Lake just laughs.
“I keep pushing that in and I find it amusing,” he says.
“It was in the originalMax Paynejust as a one-liner joke.
Dark doppelganger
“Wake has a double.
Where is he now?”
Lake acknowledges, “There is a mention of a double in this [trailer].
We get creepy glimpses of a scary guy who kind of looks like Alan Wake.”
Who is the double?
Lake won’t offer a definitive answer, but fans can theorize.
Mr. Scratch is a likely candidate.
He was also mentioned during the events ofControl.
Is this the Alex Casey of Alan’s novels come to life?
Is it Mr. Scratch?
That’s still not confirmed.
Lake does, however, explain how duality is a key aspect of the story ofAlan Wake II.
More connections to Control?
The trailer ends on a spine-tingling note.
The whispered chants sound an awful lot like the Hiss, the inter-dimensional force introduced inControl.
Meanwhile, the red lights inAlan Wake IIalso evokeControl.
The red lights, though, are slightly different.
Very much the stylization also being this modern flash photography.
So, we are using colored lights to tie to supernatural events.
It’s not so much, ‘This game is part of the Remedy Connected Universe.’
At the end of the day, however, this is still anAlan Wakesequel.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
