A small film in 2008 would go on to spawn a franchise that’s changed the modern cinematic landscape forever.Iron Manwas quickly followed by the rest of the origin movies beforeculminating withThe Avengers, impacting cinema in a monumental way by bringing together characters from across the canon and rewarding viewers who took the time to watch every piece of media in the series. This concept of shared universes has now bled into just about every medium, with other film companies attempting to capture the same magic as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and even game developers getting in on the phenomenon. Remedy Entertainment, and its upcomingAlan Wake 2, is just one example of this.
Beginning as simple background references and Easter eggs in the firstAlan Wake, Remedy Entertainment has now confirmed that some of its games actually share a universe, potentially opening the door for future team-ups, and shared plot lines. While the potential is certainly there, Remedy hasn’t confirmed just how prominent its Connected Universe will be in future titles, such as its highly anticipated next release,Alan Wake 2.
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The History of Remedy’s Connected Universe
Though Remedy has always enjoyed throwing in Easter eggs and references into its games,Alan Waketook it to another level. Released in 2010,Alan Wakefeatured some pretty overt references toMax Payne. One of the most obvious references toMax Payneis Alan Wake’s most popular fictional creation, Alex Casey, a man who’s lost his wife and child and who has a serious painkiller addiction. To top it off, Alex Casey is briefly voiced by James McCaffrey, whovoiced Max Payne in Remedy’s original games.
However, these references don’t mean that Max Payne is a character intheAlan Wakeuniverse, in fact it almost suggests the opposite, that Max Payne is just a fictional creation. ButAlan Wakedoes make some pretty big references to some characters and organizations that wouldn’t appear again until 2019’sControl. DuringAlan Wake, players can hear mention of the Federal Bureau of Control, as well as the town of Ordinary, which both play major roles inControl’s story. This is the real start of the Remedy Connected Universe.
In 2020,Controlreceived itsExpansion 2: AWEDLC, in which Alan Wake plays a pretty important role. This DLC wasthe first major crossover for Remedy’s titles, and soon after its release Remedy’s creative director confirmed that the Remedy Connected Universe was an official project, and that future titles would be kept within the same shared universe.
How The Remedy Connected Universe Could Impact Alan Wake 2
After Remedy announced its Connected Universe, it also confirmed thatAlan Wake 2would definitely exist within it. Right now, there’s no official word on exactly what this means, or to what extentAlan Wake 2will bring in external plot points, settings or characters. With this being the first full title set officially within the Remedy Connected Universe, it may make sense for the developer to start off pretty slow, only bringing in elements that have already crossed over inControl’s second expansion.
Apparently,Alan Wake 2is ditching its predecessor’s action-focused gameplay, and is instead trading it for full-on survival horror mechanics. While this doesn’t immediately fit the tone ofControl, the characters, settings, and enemies could definitely make the transition to the horror genre. WithQuantum Breakbeing an Xbox-owned IP, it seems pretty unlikely that any of that game’s characters or plot lines will show up inAlan Wake 2, and thoughMax Payneisn’t technically owned by Remedy anymore, the developer is currently working on aremake of the first twoMax Paynetitles, which could retroactively tie those games to Remedy’s Connected Universe and thus end up inAlan Wake 2in some capacity.
Regardless of any crossover characters or settings, it seems pretty likely thatAlan Wake 2will still remain very much a standalone title with its own story. According to recent tweets, thedeveloper has stated thatAlan Wake 2features the most ambitious storyit’s worked on thus far, with a monumentally large script. It seems as thoughAlan Wake 2will be anAlan Wakesequel first and foremost, and an entry in a shared universe second.
Alan Wake 2is scheduled to release in 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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