‘Alan Wake 2’ Reviews Are In, And They Are Scary Good

Ladies and gentlemen, this is 2023 in the video game industry. Just when you think there can’t be another critical smash hit and top quality game, there’s always another one around the corner. This time, after stellar scores from Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Spider-Man 2 last week, we have Alan Wake 2, which seems like it’s about to wrap up yet another 90+ score on Metacritic.

Alan Wake 2 reviews are rolling in as we speak and the game has a 92 on OpenCritic, an 89 for PS5 on Metacritic but a 92 for PC. That includes a number of 10/10s from places like GameSpot, VGC, GamesRadar, The Gamer, Dextero and others.

It has been 13 years since the original Alan Wake to the point where it seemed like this day would never come. Now that it has, it seems like it has been “worth every second” of that wait, according to Polygon, and it seems like most would agree.

Here’s what some of the highest scoring reviews are saying about the game:

• VGC (10/10) – “Massively confident, often groundbreaking, and full of surprises, Alan Wake 2 is Remedy at its very best. The shooting isn’t stellar, but Alan Wake 2 is otherwise a horror thriller that shouldn’t be missed.”
• TheSixthAxis (10/10) – “Just as it gives equal screen time to its two protagonists, Alan Wake 2 is a fine blend of equal parts narrative and survival horror. Both aspects are brought together in brilliant fashion to create a game that is going to mess with your head, scare the hell out of you and make you grin about it as you plunge forward once more, eager to see what’s next.”
• IGN (9/10) – “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.”

As for the year in general. With the arrival of Alan Wake 2, there are currently 25 games above a 90 on Metacritic this year. A few are repackages of old games like The Witcher 2, many are smaller but great games, but there are a huge number of AAA offerings on the list. For major releases we have Baldur’s Gate 3, Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Resident Evil 4, Street Fighter 6, Diablo 4, Cyberpunk: Phantom Liberty and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 all hitting above a 90. In a given year, anything above a 90 is heavily considered for GOTY, and now, we have so many games we couldn’t possibly fit them into a single nomination pool.

So, we add Alan Wake 2 to that list. The score keeps fluctuating a bit but it seems like it will probably settle at a 90 or above. Just another feather in 2023’s record-setting cap.

Follow me on Twitter, Threads, YouTube, and Instagram.

Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.