Alan Wake 2 New Game Plus promises increased difficulty and alternative narrative
Write on.
Alan Wake 2 developer Remedy will add a New Game Plus mode to the game after it launches, which will add a harder difficulty mode and a new "alternative narrative".
The new difficulty is named Nightmare, which I can only imagine will be incredibly challenging. When I got to play some of Alan Wake 2 earlier this year I explored two chapters on Normal mode and I died a lot. And then I died again.
On the plus side, players will still have all their previously unlocked weapons and upgrades to hand when they return to the game, as this is all retained in Alan Wake 2's New Game Plus.
When players return, what will they find? Remedy's new "alternative" narrative will include both "new Manuscript pages and new video content", so maybe Alan then has to somehow help write Saga to freedom. Hmm.
I would kind of love to see Alan Wake's 2 two protagonists with their roles reversed. So, Saga Anderson now in the Dark Place, trapped just as Alan once was.
We don't have a timeframe for Alan Wake 2's new game plus mode as yet, but we will update you when we hear more.
Meanwhile, if you are curious about the three difficulty levels that will be available on Alan Wake 2's launch tomorrow, Remedy has laid them out for us.
Players will be able to either choose from Story, Normal or Hard. Story will focus on solving the mysteries of Alan Wake 2 and exploring its environments. Combat "will not pose a challenge".
Normal will see more balance between combat and puzzling. Combat here will be "challenging" (can confirm) and players will need to be more canny with their resources. Alan Wake 2 is a survival horror, after all.
Last, but not least, we have Hard. This will provide players with "significantly challenging" combat and Remedy has said "familiarity with the game mechanics is essential for survival".
If you want to remind yourself of the first game's story ahead of Alan Wake 2's release, Epic has actually popped a free playable 20-minute Alan Wake recap episode into Fortnite. Our Tom had a play around with it earlier this month. If you want to know more, you can read Tom's thoughts on its Fornite inclusion here.