Summary
Always one to break conventions, Remedy has often featured live-action in its games. Sometimes it’s subtle, and other times, it’s entire scenes inAlan Wake 2that have the two mediums colliding. It’s never been an easy process, and over the years the studio has learned a lot about how to approach this element in its games.
Admittedly, not all of Remedy’s uses of live-action have been effective, but that’s the risk taken when experimenting. Night Springs, an upcoming DLC forAlan Wake 2may be the Finnish studio’s chance to show how it has evolved this feature in its games over the years for the better.
Mild spoilers for Alan Wake 2 ahead.
Quantum Break and Its Implementation of Live-Action
One of the more neglected Remedy titles isQuantum Break. Released in 2016,its protagonist Jack Joycegains the power to manipulate time and is then burdened with the task of attempting to prevent the End of Time. It’s a mind-bending game that tests one’s understanding of the time dimension and also has players making decisions to determine how the story plays out. Although it tends to be quite cerebral, it is also packed with action. Jack uses his powers against enemies such as Strikers and Juggernauts who wear equipment that allows them to move through time stutters and keep the bullets flying.
Tied to the game is a television series that lasted four episodes and expands on some of theconcepts ofQuantum Break. Overall, the game and show were well-received, but things didn’t feel quite right yet. It was as though the IP was struggling to decide what it wanted to be: a show or a game. The two halves ofQuantum Breaknever fully synergized, but this didn’t stop it from performing well, and in 2016 it was the best-selling new Microsoft Studios IP.
What Does Remedy Think of Quantum Break?
Remedy’s Sam Lake has spoken about the use of live-action inQuantum Break, highlighting the difficulty that comes with incorporating it.Remedy Entertainment’s creative directorreveals that “there were a lot of hard lessons learned withQuantum Break”, in part because live-action production and video game production tend to be quite different. Consequently, there can be problems blending the two. There’s also the fact that Remedy wasn’t in full control, which caused friction.
Remedy Continues Experimenting with Live-Action in Alan Wake and Control
Lake and his team didn’t give up on live-action afterQuantum Break. There’s plenty of it inControl, which is part of theRemedy Connected Universe. At times, live-action shots are superimposed onto the game’s world to look like visions, which has a very psychedelic feel to it. Other times, there are entire scenes shot in live-action. This is seen with The Threshold Kids, who explain some of the more esoteric aspects of the game’s world.
Then there’sAlan Wake. In the first game, live-action elements can be found in the various televisions littered throughout Bright Falls. Investigating them reveals episodes ofNight Springsplaying. This fictional show, strongly inspired by theTwilight Zone, is shot in live-action. The show seems trivial at first, perhaps just a way to pay homage to one of the game’s inspirations, butNight Springshas become an essential aspect of the Remedy Connected Universe.
InAlan Wake 2, Tim Breaker hums the theme song of the show, which leaves one wondering whether he’s just a fan or if there’s more going on. However,Night Springsisn’t at the center of Remedy’s use of live-action in theAlan Wakesequel. Instead, entire scenes are rendered in live-action, including both the beginning and the end of the game. The use of live-action is excellent, as it creates a sense of two worlds clashing with each other - the fictional and the real. This is a recurring theme in the franchise, which has Wake’s writing influencing real-world events.
The theme of televisions being connected to the live-action elements of the franchise continues, and when looking at a television, the writer finds himself sucked into a live-action talk show where a presenter namedWarlin Door discusses Alan Wake’s bookand events the writer does not remember. The host’s name raises questions regarding what doors are being opened to lead Wake into these live-action scenes.
Then, of course, there’sInitiation 4: We Singwhich features one of the most surreal moments a survival horror game can offer. Without warning, Wake is thrust into a live-action musical featuring Warlin Door and even Sam Lake showing off their best moves to the music of the Old Gods of Asgard (a fictional band). This seems to be the peak of Remedy’s use of live-action thus far. It excels by remaining an important part of the story, relaying important themes, while still keeping the fun coming.
How Can the Night Springs DLC Implement Lice-Action?
Until now, within the games,Night Springshas repeatedly been depicted in live-action, which brings to question just how much live-action should be expected. The DLC is episodic, and it will feature characters from the world ofAlan Wake. This is the perfect time for Remedy to go all-in with live-action and show the world what is possible when gaming and film intertwine.
With all the experience gained in the past, fans may see live-action elements superimposed onto the game’s world, live-action scenes that seamlessly transition from gameplay, and moreclever uses for televisions in Remedy Entertainment’s workserving as a threshold between the two mediums. Remedy will unveil its project in spring, and it will be followed by another DLC titled Lake House. Players who ordered the Deluxe Edition of the game have an Expansion Pass for both DLCs.
Alan Wake 2
WHERE TO PLAY
A string of ritualistic murders threatens Bright Falls, a small-town community surrounded by Pacific Northwest wilderness. Saga Anderson, an accomplished FBI agent with a reputation for solving impossible cases arrives to investigate the murders. Anderson’s case spirals into a nightmare when she discovers pages of a horror story that starts to come true around her.Alan Wake, a lost writer trapped in a nightmare beyond our world, writes a dark story in an attempt to shape the reality around him and escape his prison. With a dark horror hunting him, Wake is trying to retain his sanity and beat the devil at his own game.Anderson and Wake are two heroes on two desperate journeys in two separate realities, connected at heart in ways neither of them can understand: reflecting each other, echoing each other, and affecting the worlds around them.Fueled by the horror story, supernatural darkness invades Bright Falls, corrupting the locals and threatening the loved ones of both Anderson and Wake. Light is their weapon—and their safe haven — against the darkness they face. Trapped in a sinister horror story where there are only victims and monsters, can they break out to be the heroes they need to be?
