Alan Wake 2 Night Springs Review – An Episodic Trio Of Greatness

Night Springs has three short episodes, and even though these are short, they allow you to enjoy the gameplay mechanics of Alan Wake 2 without having to worry about resource management, as you’ll learn in my review. There are three new playable characters, and the overall tone differs in each episode, giving them a unique identity. It almost felt like I was playing three different games within the world of Alan Wake 2.

Story And Setting

Rose Marigold is the main character in the first episode, which spans the Diner she works at, the forest area, and the Valhalla Nursing Home. The second episode features Jesse Faden while she’s finding her brother at Coffee World. Tim Breaker is the playable character in the final episode, and his story showcases one of Remedy’s finest meta-narratives. Aside from the setting, each episode has a different story to tell and a different tone.

Each of Night Spring’s episodes uses three different locations from the already amazing world of Alan Wake 2.

Each of Night Spring’s episodes uses three different locations from the already amazing world of Alan Wake 2. Rose’s episode has to be the most action-heavy out of the three, with a hilarious narrative that had me laughing until the very end. Jesse’s section had me on the edge of my seat because it had a terrifying setting overall. Tim’s episode felt more or less like playing with Alan himself but with the added bonus of the multiverse.

Gameplay

Each episode focuses on a different gameplay mechanic, but all of them stay true to Alan Wake 2’s original gameplay system except for the survival aspect. In each episode, I ended up storing more than enough resources for a complete episodic run, and my inventory would always get filled quickly. Still, only the first episode provides an action-heavy adventure, whereas the other two focus more on puzzle-solving.

Still, only the first episode provides an action-heavy adventure, whereas the other two focus more on puzzle-solving.

The enemies in Rose’s episode are referred to as Haters, and you won’t even need a flashlight to beat them, whereas Jesse and Tim will need to depend on one in their episodes. As for the enemy variety, there was nothing new except for the boss battle in Rose’s episode. Aside from that, all of the enemies were from the base game and even the movesets were the same.

The Power Of Love

Rose Marigold needs to save her favorite writer, Alan Wake, from danger in the first episode. In doing so, we get access to her trusty shotgun and the rifle, plus the near-unlimited ammo to go berserk on the Haters. This episode really allowed me to appreciate the action-heavy aspect of Alan Wake 2, and this specific part of the DLC reminded me of the American Nightmare expansion for the first Alan Wake.

My entire focus during Rose’s episode was on dodging, followed by blasting off my enemy with a shotgun to the face. I also loved facing the boss fight near the end of the episode; it was a bit challenging but also very fun. After you save Alan Wake, this episode comes to an end.

Jesse’s Bizzare Adventures In Bright Falls

Jesse Faden is the main character of Control, another amazing Remedy game, and she is playable in the second episode of Night Springs in Alan Wake 2. If you’ve played Control, then you’ll be disappointed to know that she cannot use her powers in this episode, but there is a logical explanation for that, which I won’t spoil. Regardless, playing as Jesse felt the same as playing as Saga in the base game but in a more scary Coffee World.

Traveling Through The Multiverse

Tim Breaker’s episode is my favorite out of the three simply because it allows you to travel through different universes, which show us different versions of the same character. I also enjoyed both the narrative and the gameplay in this section. Tim has a similar gameplay mechanic that mimics Alan’s lamp from the base game, and it allows him to travel through different universes.

Another thing that I loved about this section was the visuals changing depending on the universe I was in.

This episode also discusses Door’s character and his main ties to Tim Breaker. Another thing that I loved about this section was the visuals changing depending on the universe I was in. There was this Noir universe with black-and-white colors, and then there was this comic book universe that looked like a reference to the original Max Payne games.

Visuals And Performance

The DLC looks visually similar to the base game, and that’s not a bad thing because Alan Wake 2 was already a perfect blend of fidelity and art direction. The atmosphere in this game is some of the best that I’ve seen, and the DLC retains that aspect. Tim’s episode, however, features distinct visuals that you won’t find even in the base game. As for the performance, there were some hiccups on the PlayStation 5.

Rose’s episode contains sections where multiple enemies attack at once, which leads to frame drops in the performance mode. Aside from that, my overall experience with the Night Springs DLC was smooth, and I did not encounter any kind of bugs or glitches.

Verdict

The Night Springs DLC lets you go all out with the gameplay of Alan Wake 2 while presenting short and stunning narratives. It further connects the already-established universe of their games. The 20$ expansion pass will give you access to two DLCs, one of which is Night Springs. In my opinion, 10$ is a fairly high price for something that has a play time of around 2-2.5 hours. Nevertheless, the three episodes were absolutely a blast to play through.

This has been our Alan Wake 2 Night Springs Review. While you’re here, consider checking out some of our other articles:

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