It has been 13 years since the original Alan Wake was released as an Xbox 360 exclusive. That's a long time, and if you've not played since then (or even played Alan Wake at all!) then you may want a recap of the story to help prepare you for Alan Wake 2. You could read a plot synopsis, or you could join us for the finale of this month's IGN First, in which the game's writer himself - Sam Lake - tells us the entire Alan Wake story so far.
In today's video, Sam will cover the events of Alan Wake and its two DLC episodes; the standalone expansion Alan Wake's American Nightmare; and AWE, the Alan Wake crossover expansion for Control. With these games covered, you'll be more than caught up on the events of Bright Falls and the Cauldron Lake incident.
If you’ve never encountered Alan Wake before but you think the sequel looks interesting, let IGN be your introduction to the haunted world of Bright Falls before you watch Sam Lake tell the bigger picture. Alan Wake is a crime fiction author who heads to the small town of Bright Falls, Washington on vacation with his wife, in hope that time away will cure him of his writer’s block. This idyllic cabin getaway soon turns sour, though, as Alan has nightmares of shadowy figures who try to kill him. Soon nightmares become reality as Alan's wife goes missing overnight. Not only that, but the figures from Alan's dreams begin to stalk him in the woods. As he tries to work out what is going on, Alan keeps finding pages of a new, twisted novel that he has no memory of writing... and it seems to know exactly what is happening to him.
Things go from bad to worse as the entire town, from its people to its trucks, are possessed by dark forces intent on killing Alan. And if that wasn’t bad enough, an FBI agent arrives in town with the sole mission of arresting Alan by any means necessary. And so the story unfolds as Alan attempts to dodge the ire of both the possessed townsfolk and a wild FBI agent, all while attempting to free himself from this dark nightmare and find his wife.
For more from Alan Wake 2, check out all of the videos and features from this month's IGN First:
- Our exclusive Alan Wake 2 hands-on preview.
- How Alan Wake 2 is combining horror and detective fiction like never before.
- How Alan Wake 2's dual protagonists change the game.
- How the Remedy Connected Universe links Alan Wake to Control and more.
- 5 minutes of Alan gameplay
- 11 minutes of Saga gameplay
Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.
