Review Maiden_in_Black 4/5 · Feb 8, 2026
Its not a lake, its an ocean.
I still consider myself a bit of a newcomer to the survival horror department, though I've played a few across the years.
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent
- Silent Hill 2 Remake (which I've yet to finish because god is the game oppressive)
- Resident Evil 4 remake
- Dead Space Remake
- Cronos: The New Dawn
And now Alan Wake 2
Of these, I …
I still consider myself a bit of a newcomer to the survival horror department, though I've played a few across the years.
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent
- Silent Hill 2 Remake (which I've yet to finish because god is the game oppressive)
- Resident Evil 4 remake
- Dead Space Remake
- Cronos: The New Dawn
And now Alan Wake 2
Of these, I think Resident Evil 4 and Alan Wake 2 work the best as introductions of sorts to survival horror, albeit for different reasons.
RE4 feels like it has a very strong emphasis on the horror and the shooter aspects, but save a few segments, not so much on the 'terror'. Meanwhile, AW2 thrives on having a gloomy, suspenseful atmosphere and story, with shooting segments scarce in comparison to the total length of the game. At the same time, thought, the suspense is not overwhelming. Its not Silent Hill 2 remake level of paralyzing dreariness.
Is a game that stands at the crossroads a good thing? In this particular case, I think so. By not being /too/ scary, or /too/ shooty, the game allows one to instead focus on the story it wants to tell. You can make it shooty if you want, you can eliminate every (okay, probably not every, but most? Maybe?) Taken you come across if thats your thing, but the game also gives you mechanics to manage and even run away if you want to just get on with it.
The game is also immensely generous with resources, particularly during boss fights. Its far, far easier to lose because of health damage than it is because you soft-locked yourself by mismanaging resources.
At its heart, I think Alan Wake 2 is a game that wants to use horror elements to tell a story. It uses horror tropes to its advantage, to facilitate the experience it wants to create, never pushing it beyond that point. The result is a game not only perfect for horror lovers in general, but in particular for horror lovers who find more hardcore games too much, whether because of anxiety or frustration with resource management.
Personally, while the first game left me ambivalent but with a love for the lore, the second game drew me in from the first and did not let go until I had played through the whole of it. Definitely worth giving it a go.
Show me the Champion of Light! I'll show you the Herald of Darkness!