Horror game Alan Wake II plunges you into a terrifying atmosphere right from the first minutes. What’s intriguing is that at certain points, it solely relies on that atmosphere. Developer Remedy excels at teasing. Through a blend of brilliant sound design, ominous storylines, and the anticipation of what might come next, I found myself constantly on the edge of my seat. Even when it didn’t turn out to be necessary at all. What makes Alan Wake 2 so very special within this genre, is that it doesn’t need hostiles in order to be terrifying.
In no time after launching Alan Wake II for the first time, you’re hit with a somewhat cheap jump scare. It’s the kind you might recall from the early days of YouTube (although you’d probably need to be…dare I say it…old for that..). In a video uploaded a whopping 17 years ago, you witness a car leisurely driving in a beautiful, serene setting. The scene abruptly cuts when out of nowhere, a screaming zombie-like figure appears. For enthusiasts, you can find ‘Relaxing Car Drive‘ here.
That exact same thing happens at various points throughout the game. And let me tell you, I never got used to it. Each moment not only made me leap out of my seat with a muttered expletive, but also had me nervously peering through my eyelashes for the rest of the game, anticipating Remedy’s next heart attack-inducing surprise. “I won’t let you get to me anymore,” I thought. Unfortunately, that ended up far from true, and my heart skipped a couple of beats every single time.
Remedy deserves credit, though, for not solely relying on these cheap shots. If these were the only frightening elements, they’d actually miss the mark. However, because everything in Alan Wake’s world contributes to the meticulously crafted tension, these jump scares complement the bigger picture quite well.
Everything at the Valhalla Nursing Home Instilled Fear in Me
The pinnacle of this atmosphere, for me, occurred at the Valhalla Nursing Home. I never thought an elderly lady could instill so much fear in me, but here we are. Warning: mild spoilers ahead for Alan Wake 2’s Chapter Return 5: Old Gods.
So, back to Valhalla Nursing Home. If I ever have to send my parents to a nursing home in the future, this one will be at the bottom of my list. The place feels incredibly creepy from the first moment you set foot in it. This is mostly due to the assortment of sounds there, from creaking doors to footsteps which locations were sometimes hard to identify. And that darn Cynthia Weaver appearing on the screen in the form of a jump scare every five minutes certainly doesn’t help. With every flash, my resentment towards the lady increased, and eventually, I couldn’t wait to send her to her well-deserved grave.
But before that could happen, you have to navigate through one of the creepiest basements I’ve ever seen (the one in The Last of Us Part 1 is nothing compared to it). The basement of Valhalla Nursing Home was the cherry on top of Alan Wake 2’s best chapter (except for ‘We Sing,’ of course…).
Of course the basement is pitch dark due to a power outage, which has to be fixed by our character Saga Anderson. Dripping, leaking pipes and other swirling water kind of noises, put all my senses on high alert. Not least because most of those noises seemed to come from something or someone else moving about.
The entire vibe of the basement seemed to warn from the very first second: you’re not welcome here. Turn back while you still can. A warning I was more than willing to heed. However, I had to write a review about the game. So, I gathered my courage and tiptoed through the low-standing water with ears pricked and eyes squinted.
The best part of it all: my fear turned out to be for nothing. Apart from the Cynthia Weaver jump scares, the basement had nothing more to offer than that incredibly creepy vibe. I didn’t encounter a single Taken in there. I was counting on at least one enormous monstrosity to pop out and attack me. The fact that all my fear amounted to nothing is solely due to Remedy’s impressive world-building. The absence of enemies in an incredibly hostile-looking environment actually heightened, and lengthened, the tension. While I wanted to stay alert for (nonexistent) enemies, I found myself extra focused on all those sounds, all those movements. The adrenaline remained high and steady from start to finish.
“Old Gods” is an absolute masterpiece of a chapter. Remedy faces tough competition for the Game of the Year awards, but they deserve at least to win in the Best Audio Design category.
