The long-awaited sequel to Alan Wake launched on October 27, over 13 years since the first game launched on Xbox 360. Although the original was something of a cult classic, the hype for the sequel has been massive, undoubtedly driven by developer Remedy’s increasingly strong reputation. Remedy has typically struggled to achieve big sales numbers, and I’m waiting with bated breath to see if they will finally be able to see the sales they so richly deserve.

One thing is for sure, the critical reception to Alan Wake 2 has been strong. Looking at review aggregator site Opencritic, Alan Wake 2 has launched as the 16th best game of the year. That might seem low to some, but it’s actually a testament to how crazy 2023 has been for high-quality releases, as Alan Wake 2 holds an aggregated score of 89 from 62 reviews. Of course, that score may yet rise or drop as more reviews go live from smaller outlets who couldn’t secure code (like myself) or reviewers who wanted to take their time.

On the higher end, Tristan Ogilvie of IGN gave Alan Wake 2 a score of 9 out of 10, saying that: “Alan Wake II is a superb survival-horror sequel that makes the cult-classic original seem like little more than a rough first draft by comparison.”

And Mark Delaney of Gamespot awarded the game the full 10 out of 10. He had this to say: “Remedy delivers its greatest game to date by turning a long-awaited sequel into a uniquely meta multimedia masterpiece.”

Both reviews really praised the game’s stunning visuals and atmosphere, along with its story structure which features two protagonists: Alan Wake himself and FBI Agent Saga Anderson. At certain points in the game you can opt to swap characters or just keep playing as one or the other.

But not everyone is impressed with the game. Over at GameRant, Dalton Cooper awarded it just 2.5 stars out of 5, writing: “Alan Wake 2 deserves recognition for what it has accomplished with its graphics and audio design, but many will be let down by the gameplay and story. Even if the game’s rather frustrating technical problems didn’t exist, Alan Wake 2 would still be a disappointment because of its shortcomings in those departments. That being said, Alan Wake 2 is home to some of the best moments in any game this year,”

The GameRant review takes aim at quite a few aspects, such as the gameplay being boring due to too much walking, talking and puzzles. Dalton also noted a heavy reliance on jump scares and a lot of technical issues on PC. Overall, it seems like Dalton was looking for Alan Wake 2 to be a little more focused on action rather than the slow burn it seems to be.

GameCentral wasn’t overly impressed either in their review where Alan Wake 2 picked up a middling 6 out of 10. The review reads: “A peculiar sequel that at times seems to be purposefully undermining the best elements of the original, but it still gets just enough right to please both existing fans and potential newcomers.”

GameCentral was impressed with the graphics and thought the use of live-action footage was well done. Under Cons the unnamed writer found Alan Wake 2 lacked any actual horror, and that everything felt slow and fiddly. Both of these criticisms are something I would certainly have levelled at the first game.

Jumping back up the review scale, Aaron Bayne of Push Square adored the game. He gave it 10 out of 10 in a surprisingly short review. He concludes his review by saying: “With stunning visuals, pitch-perfect tone and atmosphere, brilliant pacing, and a fascinating mystery to sink your teeth into, there are no twists or turns about it: Alan Wake 2 is an all-timer.“

So, there are certainly some differing opinions about whether Alan Wake 2 lives up to the hype. Overall, however, the critical consensus is strong. Reading through the reviews, I get the feeling that the technology has finally caught up to what Remedy has been trying to do for years with the likes of Alan Wake, Quantum Break and Control.

Remedy’s last game Control sits at an 82 on Opencritic, so in that regard they’ve improved, although I would argue that Control’s score is far too low. But hey, my love of Control is well-documented.