Alan Wake II is almost here. The upcoming sequel to Remedy‘s 2010 cult favorite is scheduled to come out on October 27 for most major platforms, and promises more of the mind-bending, postmodern horror the original is known for. Earlier this month former assistant games editor Jenn Frank returned to Paste with a preview of Alan Wake II, which everybody needs to go read. Like, stop whatever you’re doing right now—turn the TV off, put the baby down, pull over to the side of the road if you have to—and go read her excellent early look at the game.
Here’s a passage from her preview, quoted at length, because apparently these articles need to run at least 300 words to get the green light on our CMS’s little SEO widget:
Alan Wake II never hedges its bets. In what has become a much-hyped moment of theatricality, Alex Casey—that’s Alan Wake’s literary alter ego, voiced by James McCaffrey and physically portrayed by creative director Sam Lake himself—confronts Alan in a dark alley, to Alan’s utter horror. It’s delightful. It’s campy.
It’s also just one of many moments that are, for want of a better term, batshit insane.
“The thing about a game like this that is the most exciting,” says actor and videogame fan Janina Gavankar, “is that this studio… this studio does not fuck around, okay?”
Cool. We’re not here to just relink an article that came out a week ago, though. Jenn’s followed up that excellent piece with a fun and informative video showcasing almost a half-hour of the game in action, featuring footage of her own playthrough along with B-roll provided by Remedy. And she narrates it herself, which makes it way more entertaining than the typical video preview. Check it out above, and also, again, I implore you, go read her Alan Wake II preview if you haven’t done so yet.—Garrett Martin