Alan Wake 2: The Lake House is a creative cataclysm. Review

Played on PC

If the first addition to Alan Wake 2 was a collection of spectacular game episodes and colorful concepts, seasoned with dashing shootouts without a hint of balance (but spectacular), then The Lake House offers a much more restrained gaming experience. The adventure of Kiran Estevez (an FBK employee who helped Saga in the sequel) is performed in the classic manner of action-horror, and the narrative is not focused on global matters, terrifying threats to all humanity or deep research into universal truths. Instead, players will find an intimate statement about human relationships, personal and professional conflicts, art and creativity. And, of course, Remedy won’t leave us without a meta-commentary either…

You won’t be able to relax in this lake house…

⇡#Take back control

In basic mechanics, The Lake House almost completely follows the path of the original Alan Wake 2, except that the scale is noticeably more modest. In the DLC, we have to go through five floors of a secret complex, where another incident occurred (oh, those scientists), and find out the causes of the disaster. You have to solve riddles, find passwords and cards, and open locked doors. And, of course, personally curb the raging paranormal activity.

Here it is represented mainly by familiar possessed opponents – first we flash it with a flashlight, then we deal damage with a pistol or shotgun. Auxiliary tools such as flash-noise grenades or flares will also come to the rescue. And although there are not many battles in the expansion, each is a real event that requires accuracy, dexterity and competent planning.

Well, how good is the shooting in games from Remedy!

In addition to the standard enemies from the original game, The Lake House also features much deadlier opponents. Creepy monsters crawling from paint-splattered walls look both dangerous and incredibly deadly. But their main feature is their absolute invulnerability to damage using standard means; and they don’t care about the bright light of a flashlight, and a whole pistol magazine is not a hindrance, and a load of shot is not a threat. In the first half of the game, confronting them can be quite nerve-wracking, and the best tactic in these cases is to avoid confrontation and simply hide away.

But there is also control over the special enemies of the add-on – special experimental weapons developed in the depths of the complex, which will fall into our hands in the second half of the add-on. The Black Rock grenade launcher is essentially a standard model, but with a slight twist. To deal maximum damage, you need to build up a charge, which takes time, and enemies can easily take advantage of the moment and deal a crushing blow. Use with caution.

A tactical retreat will save both nerves and ammunition!

By the way, although in the gaming vein The Lake House inherits the ideas of Alan Wake 2, the general aesthetics, location interiors, stylized posters, workplaces, the spirit of a strange and sometimes frightening corporate culture – all this is much more reminiscent of Control. And a lot of different “Easter eggs”, including the Control 2 teaser, are extremely pleasing to the fan’s heart. And there are so many notes here…

⇡#Art not for art’s sake

Personally, I don’t really like it when some of the interesting events, delving into the universe, or details about the characters are presented through ordinary notes. In my opinion, this ruins the pace of the story and is simply tiring – the notorious audio recordings appeal to me much more. But, alas, in The Lake House, as in Control, many interesting plot discoveries are hidden in a pile of manuscripts. Beautifully written, I have to give it credit.

It’s always nice to meet a familiar face

From them, as well as from rare videos, we restore the true picture of events at the site. In The Lake House, the tragedy that occurred is primarily closely intertwined with the people who worked and led the research at the scientific site. And the path to the next catastrophe was paved not by the actions of entities from another layer of reality, but by the personal ambitions, intrigues and machinations of the married couple who were at the head of the research. As we go floor by floor, we better understand why the split occurred in the couple, we get to know each side in a little more detail and see how their basic perception of the scientific mission has been distorted. And, of course, we will see the ending of difficult personal and work relationships – unexpected and dramatic! It’s a shame that the length of the DLC doesn’t allow the story’s characters to develop a little more deeply.

In the meantime, the management was carried away by intrigue, the staff of the complex conducted dubious experiments in order to learn how to recreate objects of creativity and art without the creators themselves. For example, they tried to emulate the writing style of Alan Wake and the artistic style of Rudolf Lane (whose unenviable fate is also revealed in the add-on), but all attempts to feed a massive amount of data to the machine and get something really valuable and worthwhile resulted only in pale copies of the original works (and partly – to a cataclysm at the facility).

Study, but don’t admire!

This motive is in tune with the debate about the use of AI in the field of creativity and art, and especially in the gaming industry, where hundreds of specialists are losing their jobs due to “process optimization” using neural networks. It also feels like a subtle and largely fair jab at colleagues whose games sometimes actually look like AI-generated content rather than the full-fledged work of art that Remedy is famous for. And to which we can confidently include The Lake House.

***

While The Lake House doesn’t feel as monumental as Alan Wake 2, it’s a great intimate adventure for fans of Remedy games, with enough but not excessive references to previous projects, a good story that slightly expands the overall universe and, of course, exceptionally enjoyable gameplay.

Advantages:

• A fascinating story and an interesting meta-commentary;
• Intense and perfectly balanced contractions.

Disadvantages:

• The short duration prevented the plot and characters from being fully revealed;
• Interesting nuances of events in the scientific complex are hidden in notes – someone (for example, me) will not like this type of narrative.

Graphic arts

With excellent lighting work, superb animations and solid level design, The Lake House is visually exceptional.

Sound

As in the original game, the sound aspect of The Lake House is executed at the highest level – setting the atmosphere in all segments, be it tense wandering through dark corridors or hectic battles with possessed former colleagues. And, of course, at the end of the story, a great song awaits players.

Single player game

A short and intense adventure that will definitely appeal to fans of the Remedy universe.

Estimated time of completion

The entire expansion will take you from two to three hours, depending on how meticulously you study the locations and read the notes.

Collective game

Not foreseen.

General impression

A pleasant, if optional, addition with a good story, intense action and relevant meta-commentary.

Rating: 8.0 / 10

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