Alan Wake II: Night Springs Review - We Are All Coffee
Not content with developing one of 2023’s finest video games, Remedy returns in 2024 with DLC to Alan Wake II, a single DLC that contains three stand-alone arcs centred upon three different characters in the ever-expanding Remedy-verse. Though each 45-minute slice is stripped of several components that made the Alan Wake II whole work so well, these three sub-stories tempt and tease aspects of the overall plotline, making them imperfect, but essential additions to an already engaging package.
One of the many elements that made Alan Wake II such a marvel last year was its quirky cast of characters and how their stories intermingled with those of Alan and Saga. The Night Springs DLC focuses on three characters from the Remedy-verse, the Alan mega-fan Rose, the Sherrif lost in time and space, Tim Breaker, and then, making her grand return, Control’s Jesse Faden. Each has their own, standalone narrative for players to digest, and each is additive in different ways to the overall plot, however, it is the looming presence of Warlin Door, a prominent figure in the Alan Wake II main game that draws the majority of spotlight. This, along with threads that Connect Alan Wake II to the DLC are drawn and then intermingle with threads connecting Alan Wake to Control make this DLC expansion an unmissable chapter in the Remedy-verse.
Rose’s chapter, titled Number One is undoubtedly the quirkiest of the trio, as Rose is drawn to an SOS from Alan, and must fight her way through swarms of ‘haters’ to complete her objective. From the haters themselves, to the wall-mounted Sea Bass that coveys Alan’s words, there’s weird moments throughout this first DLC act. The second piece of DLC, North Star, where Jesse takes centre stage is a little more straightforward than the story that proceeded it. Jesse’s segment slows the momentum down a bit, but dials up the familiar tones of the Alan Wake experience as Jesse. You won’t have access to Jesse’s amazing shape-shiting gun, but will need to work with the same arsenal as Rose, Alan, or even Saga would have at their disposal, and this leveler does take some sting out of the DLC’s tail somewhat. This segment does change things up somewhat, with a final encounter surviving a stealth sequence against some roaming surprises. Finally, the third and final component of the Night Springs package is Tim Breaker’s chapter, titled Time Breaker, seeks to break through the fourth wall on as many occasions as possible as Breaker is thrust through time and space by Mr. Door himself. References to past Remedy works from Alan Wake to Control, Quantum Break, and even Max Payne all exist as Breaker explores many realms on his journey to find Door. While the previous two pieces of DLC all have their minor flaws, Time Breaker is peak Remedy with the flair, self-indulgence, and devious creativity you know and love from the team.
As a gameplay experience, all three DLCs play it quite simple, with fairly basic puzzles, combat sequences, and objectives all to be completed, but this is what allows the scenario-design to shine brightest. The team has revisited a number of familiar locales, but has reworked their functionality to breathe new life into these spaces for our latest visit. Character models again look great, as do the environments, and, as always, the sound design, from the voice-acting, to the SFX, and music, is sublime.
There is a lot to like about Night Springs, and while it doesn’t climb to the same heights as the core product, it is still a wonderfully engaging 2.5-3 hour experience that hits some seriously high heights, and is at worst, a bit flat in other stages. With more DLC still to come, there is no better time to jump into Alan Wake II than now with this newest arrival.
Alan Wake II: Night Springs was reviewed on PS5 with a code kindly provided by Remedy
