‘Alan Wake 2’ Update Lets Players Make The Game Less Scary
Remedy Entertainment has updated Alan Wake 2, allowing players to make the horror game less scary by tuning down the “horror flashes.”
In a blog post on the official website for the game, Remedy Entertainment detailed changes coming to update 1.15. Along with adding Chapter Select and fixing numerous issues, the post mentions almost in passing, “The update also includes the much-requested option to tune down the horror flashes.”
The post doesn’t elaborate much beyond that, later only stating, “Added option to choose between Low and Normal horror flash visual and audio intensity.”
It would seem that these “horror flashes” are jump scares. While the game features the suspense and ‘release’ you’d expect from horror media, some scares have the entire screen suddenly filled with black and white distorted faces. This effect is also used on the game over screen, featuring a dead Alan Wake slightly moving or twitching.
These jump scares seem to take advantage of the lack of build-up. Horror fans have discussed (ad nauseam) the difference between a well-crafted ‘scare,’ and merely being startled by something too sudden to process. The latter, feeling cheaper to many.
As seen in this compilation by Games Series Network on YouTube (which contains spoilers for Alan Wake 2), the jump scare at 1:05 comes as players are walking around a dark forest, in the middle of the character talking. While slightly tense, it’s a far cry from earlier scenes (0:38) where a bloated corpse begins to attack and talk while lights flicker.
It should be noted even the game’s announcement trailer back in 2021 included a jump scare almost at the end (0:47), just as Alan Wake is whispering.
The announcement didn’t seem to perturb most fans. Many were focused on the addition of the chapter select, allowing them to relive the best moments from the game — such as the “We Sing” chapter.
It should be noted the game has become Remedy Entertainment’s fastest selling game; with 1.3 million copies sold since launch (October 27th) to the start of February.
Despite being a horror game, Alan Wake 2 features no content warning on start-up or upon the start of a new save file. Yet Remedy Entertainment catered to the needs of some of the fan-base, without encroaching on the rest.
This is a far cry from the rest of the gaming industry, all too eager to display content warnings to prepare players for something anyone could deem “insensitive,” our outright censorship for all. Ironically, both examples were seen in the prior week with Tomb Raider I-III Remastered.
Only time will tell if Remedy Entertainment made the right choice for their audience, or wasted time and resources on pandering.
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