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      Alan Wake II preview: A waking nightmare

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Tuesday, 13 June, 2023 - 20:31 · 1 minute

    I just wanted some toilet paper from the General Store... what the heck is that?!

    Enlarge / I just wanted some toilet paper from the General Store... what the heck is that?! (credit: Remedy )

    Over a decade ago, the release of Alan Wake cemented Remedy Entertainment—then best-known for the Max Payne series—as the arbiter of mind-bending, original, and somewhat experimental experiences that blend traditional action-adventure gameplay with atmospheric environments and existential dread. Despite a generally favorable critical response , slow sales stifled the game’s franchise potential (launching the same week as Red Dead Redemption certainly did Alan Wake no favors). In the years since its 2010 release, however, Alan Wake has become something of a cult hit; a remastered version that dropped in 2021 renewed interest and paved the way for the sequel’s announcement at the Game Awards later that year.

    Alan Wake II has been a long time coming, but the 13 years in between games have given Remedy even more time to hone its game-development chops. At a hands-off, closed-door session during Summer Game Fest Play Days in Los Angeles, Remedy reps showed off the sequel’s progress with a live demo. According to Remedy, it’s the developer’s most ambitious game ever—and it shows.

    What is dead may never die

    Alan Wake II picks up over a decade after where the original left off, but don’t expect to see the titular character in the early hours of the game. Instead, the opening chapters put players in the shoes of FBI Agent Saga Anderson, who has come to Bright Falls to investigate a series of ritual murders alongside partner Alex Casey (who shares a name with the protagonist from Alan’s in-game novel series and looks suspiciously like Max Payne ).

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      Alan Wake II coming in mid-October, promising another cryptic PC powerhouse

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Wednesday, 24 May, 2023 - 22:37

    Alan Wake trailer image

    Enlarge / There's really not much more context for what's going to happen in Alan Wake 2 than what you can see in this image. Well, maybe a typewriter.

    Alan Wake 2 has a release date, an evocative trailer, and the requisite amount of meta-contextual horror to come.

    The latest title from Control maker Remedy Entertainment, a sequel to the acclaimed Alan Wake will arrive on October 17, 2023, on PC (exclusive to the Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Given the studio's track record, we expect to see some impressive ray tracing, storylines that make you question what a story really is, and novel gameplay conceits.

    In typical Remedy style, you don't get much direct information, but instead, some teasing hints. After some flashes of cultish horror, we meet Saga Anderson, an FBI agent that Remedy states ( in a PlayStation blog post) will be a second playable character.

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      Control, one of ray tracing’s first killer apps, is getting a sequel

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Friday, 11 November, 2022 - 23:08

    Concept art for <em>Control 2</em>.

    Enlarge / Concept art for Control 2 . (credit: Remedy Entertainment)

    Control 2 , the sequel to the 2019 third-person shooter that showcased many high-end gaming PCs, has been announced by developer Remedy Entertainment in a blog post .

    It's just entering pre-production, and it has no release date, but the announcement sets up some high expectations. The game's "initial" development budget is 50 million euros (currently around $52 million), suggesting that this will be a triple-A, big-budget action game at a large scale. For comparison, the first game's budget was just 30 million euros. Budgets for games like this often expand over the course of development, so it's possible Control 2 will cost double or more than Control to make.

    Control 2 's target platforms are Windows PCs, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Remedy will self-publish the game on the PC, but 505 Games will act as the publisher for the console releases.

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