Alan Wake 2 Echoes: How They Work + [Our Expert’s Opinion]

Learn how to line up an Echo in Alan Wake 2 to uncover hidden information that adds on to the story and helps you progress further.

Alan Wake 2 focuses on storytelling through its environment and piecing different parts together. In Alan Wake 2, dealing with an Echo becomes one of these vital environmental pieces that help shape the world and give insight into each mystery, especially during Alan Wake’s missions. 

Key Takeaways
  • Echoes are a form of collectible in Alan Wake 2 that help progress the story.
  • They can be activated by lining up the darker portions with the lighter portions.
  • You need to approach the Echo from different angles in order to line up the two portions.
  • Once activated, the Echo plays out a projection of a flashback that helps add on to the plot.
  • Echoes sometimes unlock plot points that are used to alter a scene and change the world around Alan in Alan Wake 2.
  • Only Alan has access to echoes.  

You can learn more about Echoes in Alan Wake 2 from eXputer’s video guide:

YouTube video

What Is An Echo?

alan wake 2 echo
Echo in Alan Wake 2 [image by eXputer]
Echoes are a type of collectible in Alan Wake 2 that reveal parts of the story when you line them up and, most times, are needed to further progress in each mission. 

The Echoes can only be found during Alan’s part of the story.

  • Each echo must be lined up to be activated.
  • Once lined up, they usually reveal something from the past, such as Alex Casey’s findings or something related to the cult.
  • Certain Echoes can also introduce plot points that are used to alter a scene, which ultimately reshapes the world around you.

These mechanics are mostly used during the puzzle-solving portions or the mystery-solving portions of Alan Wake 2. In fact, many of the starting sequences, as Alan, heavily rely on you finding new pieces of information through the echo in order to rewrite many of the scenes.

How To Activate An Echo?

portions
Two portions of the Echo [captured by eXputer]
When you first run into an echo, you might find it slightly confusing. To “collect” an echo, you need to line it up properly by approaching it from the right angle. To understand that, you first need to realize that each echo has two parts: a lighter portion and a darker portion.

  1. For proper alignment, you need to approach the echo in such a way that the darker portion perfectly covers the lighter portion.
  2. As you approach the echo from such an orientation, an eclipse-like figure will be formed.
  3. Once you get close enough, the echo will activate.
  4. If you have a look at the image above, you can notice the two different portions of an echo.

Although the echo in the image above is quite clear, many echoes that you’ll run into will be hard to spot. My advice is to always have the flashlight on in order to see each echo and line it up correctly properly. 

What Does Activating An Echo Do? 

activated echo in alan wake 2
An activated echo [photo by me]
When you activate an Alan Wake 2 Echo, a sort of live flashback that projects onto reality will play out. The image above shows such an instance.

  • These flashbacks depend on the plot and give a backstory or hidden information related to wherever you are.
  • Many of the Echoes tend to be flashbacks of Alex Casey as he tries to uncover the mystery of the Cult.
  • You’ll also find other side characters during these moments as well. 

My Thoughts On Echo Mechanic 

The first Echo that I ran into in Alan Wake 2 I activated it by accident. But, the more echoes that I activated, the easier it got to understand how it worked.

My advice is that whenever you activate an echo, try to remain in that area for it to play out fully. Otherwise, you might miss the key plot point that Alan needs to rewrite a scene. 

With that, you know all about Alan Wake 2 Echo. They’re collectible points, specifically for Alan, which tend to add further backstory to the plot. Although some are optional, many of the Echoes are necessary for making progress. And if you don’t want to lose your progress, check out my guide on how to do manual save in Alan Wake 2.

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Atik Younas is a Junior Guides Writer on eXputer with decent experience writing about games. He’s an avid 3D designer and a coding wizard who gets fascinated by the technical aspects of the latest games. He’s got a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and loves enjoying well-written stories and combat mechanics in games. Atik has been playing games for more than 10+ years now. Most notably he has spent 1,000+ hours on GTA V Online and Minecraft! Feel free to get in touch with Atik on his gaming profile at Xbox and PSN. Experience: 2+ Years || Education: Bachelor's in Computer Science || Written 200+ Guides || Mainly Covers Game Strategy Guides on eXputer

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