There definitely weren’t many flaws to shine a shaky flashlight beam on in Alan Wake II, however one factor I did lament in 2023’s wonderful survival horror sequel was the entire absence of Night Springs episodes on the in-game televisions. These quirky, Twilight Zone-inspired tales had been a constant pleasure to find in Alan Wake’s unique 2010 journey, so to search out them seemingly off the air as if they had been the casualties of some kind of in-game writers’ strike was a contact disappointing. The excellent news is that the sequence has returned in a now fully-playable kind due to the Alan Wake II: Night Springs DLC, which serves up three standalone tales that take us again to the small city of Bright Falls and past. They’re admittedly a bit of on the brief facet since I used to be capable of knock all three episodes over in a single two-hour sitting, however I definitely had a blast with these twisted new nightmares whereas they lasted.
Night Springs’ first episode, Number One Fan, is unquestionably each the goofiest and goriest within the assortment, permitting us to play as obsessive Alan Wake fan Rose Marigold as she waits tables in Bright Falls’ Oh Deer Diner. This action-heavy installment begins with Rose topping up espresso cups and clearing away pie crumb-covered plates, however she’s quickly compelled to blaze a path by way of a bloodthirsty mob after she’s despatched an SOS from Alan Wake himself, who’s apparently been kidnapped. How does she obtain this request for assist? Via an surprising transmission by way of the puckered maw of a kind of wall-mounted Big Mouth Billy Bass singing fishes that hundreds of upset dads unwrapped on Fathers Day within the yr 2000. Yep, issues in Night Springs are enjoyably off-kilter virtually from the very outset.
Number One Fan utterly strips the survival element out of Alan Wake II by strapping a completely automated shotgun to Rose’s shoulder and lining the pockets of her apron with an virtually limitless provide of shells. The complete episode takes place in the course of the magic hour shortly earlier than sundown so not one of the enemies are cloaked in shadowy shields, and due to this fact there’s no must burn the darkness away with a battery-hungry flashlight earlier than you may dispatch them. Instead, the fight in Number One Fan swaps the sequence’ signature light-based fights for extra excessive tempo operating and gunning. Although its crunchy gunplay could also be extra simple, it nonetheless manages to be an extremely violent delight due to the campy ‘50s rock music that propels it and the cutesy quips that Rose spouts with every axe-wielding maniac she mulches – like she’s a pump-action-toting Princess Peach. Night Springs’ first episode kicks the gathering off with a concussive sequence of skull-shattering bangs in Rose’s relentlessly entertaining and revved up rescue mission.
Guest Side Story
The second episode, North Star, slows the tempo down significantly as you plunge into the inkiest depths of darkness you’d anticipate from an Alan Wake journey. I used to be initially thrilled to step again into the sneakers of Jesse Faden from Control right here, nevertheless my enthusiasm took a little bit of a success after I realised that she hadn’t introduced her wonderful shape-shifting gun and spectacular suite of superpowers from the 2019 motion epic alongside along with her. Still, this midnight stalk by way of the creepy Coffee World theme park featured in Alan Wake II’s primary marketing campaign efficiently ratchets up the strain after the comparatively carefree homicide spree of the earlier episode, arming Jesse with a flashlight and common, non-transforming pistol as she is pit towards the identical spooky silhouettes that had me nervously capturing at shadows in final yr’s recreation.
North Star can also be the extra puzzle-oriented of the episodes featured right here, and I loved cracking keypad codes and manipulating the mechanical controls of a ferris wheel throughout this transient investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Jesse’s brother. Still, I can’t assist however really feel that of the three episodes included in Night Springs, this second one is the least exceptional. It fails to leverage the jaw-dropping ability set of its visitor star, and lots of what transpires in it looks like well-made however pretty commonplace survival horror fare. This complete second episode successfully went down like a scorching beverage from the Coffee World concession stand – stimulating sufficient, however it additionally left me with a barely bitter style in my mouth.
Serling Silver
Thankfully, Night Springs’ third and closing episode, Time Breaker, is the very best and boldest of the bunch and rounds out this assortment in probably the most mind-bendingly meta manner doable. Here we’re solid because the real-world actor Shawn Ashmore, who we discover reprising his position as Sheriff Breaker from Alan Wake II in a model new recreation being directed by developer Remedy Entertainment’s inventive director, Sam Lake. During a break in manufacturing and after a hilarious second with Lake giving an especially self-aware and exhaustingly acronym-heavy clarification of his new recreation’s plot, Ashmore is blinked into one other time and house by Night Springs’ Rod Serling stand-in and multiversal maestro, Mr. Door.
What follows is a surreal string of sequences by way of ominous forest paths and disorientating resort hall loops, psychedelically shifting from the monochrome presentation of early tv to the vivid colors of comedian e book paneling that appear to deliberately mirror Remedy’s previous work on the Max Payne sequence. To say something extra could be to spoil an excessive amount of, however there are some wonderful story surprises and left-turn stage designs to be discovered right here that rival probably the most outside-of-the-box moments from the primary Alan Wake II marketing campaign, and it meant that Night Springs completed on a totally hypnotic excessive notice that left me wanting extra.
