This news comes as a very welcome surprise for the upcoming game, especially since before the IGN interview, Lake had confirmed that Alan Wake 2 would be Remedy’s first survival-horror game. While there’s absolutely a place for T-rated horror, if Alan Wake 2 wants to truly lean into the themes set up for it in both the ending of the original Alan Wake and the Control AWE DLC, then the game will likely be benefiting from its newfound M-rating.
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The original Alan Wake’s T-rating makes sense for the story and game that Remedy made back in 2010. Because the title wasn’t going for outright horror, instead leaning into the psychological thriller elements of Alan and Bright Falls, making things darker, more violent, and overall more mature likely wouldn’t have benefitted the game in any major way. Sure, allowing Alan and company to use much stronger language might have made the game feel a little bit more realistic, but its PG-13 tone fit with the made-for-TV-series vibe that the entire game was going for.
If Alan Wake 2 is leaning more into the horror aspect of things, then it will absolutely benefit from a more mature rating. The monsters seen in Control’s AWE DLC seem like they might be making appearances in Alan Wake 2, and if they are, then a lot of their impact might be lost if players who are caught by them face a mild, bloodless death. By giving the game an M-rating, Remedy won’t need to pull any punches when it comes to how far can take certain elements of its content, allowing the studio to get as scary as it wants to without needing to worry about crossing the line.
Hopefully, an M-rating will also allow Alan Wake 2 to dive into the darker parts of Alan Wake as a character instead of having to tip-toe around some of the issues presented in the original. It’s referenced during flashbacks that Alan has a “partying problem” but doesn’t ever really go into what means in detail, whether that’s issues with drugs and alcohol or other problems. A more mature game could make that a prominent part of its story without needing to worry about content restrictions. If the sequel is falling in line with aspects of the original, then Alan’s mental state will be an important narrative point, and this time Remedy can actually dig into some of his less enviable traits with real depth and nuance.
There are still a lot of unknowns about Alan Wake 2, but the fact that Remedy is leaning into its horror elements and creating it with an M-rating in mind means that the sequel will be able to have its own identity apart from the original and, hopefully, expand on the world in ways that would be unachievable with a T-rating. With so little to go on, it’s hard to know what to expect, but it seems as if Remedy is already taking steps in the right direction.
Alan Wake 2 is in development.
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