After a year, Finnish studio Remedy Entertainment has opened the doors to a mysterious location in the 2023 third-person horror hit. Alan Wake 2known as The lake house. In this short DLC, released just in time for Halloween, players step into the shoes of Kiran Estevez, the long-suffering agent of the mysterious Federal Bureau of Control we meet in the main game, who teams up with Alan Wake 2 protagonists, Alan Wake and Saga Anderson. Set before the events of Alan Wake 2, The lake house sees Kiran recounting a horrible event in the titular Saga location, however the plot is almost firmly removed from the main game.
This is both a blessing and a curse, depending on what you're looking for. But as a bridge to the continuation of the grand narrative of Remedy's connected universe, which also includes the supernatural thriller. Control — is ideal. Instead of saying goodbye to Alan and Saga, Remedy extends a hand to take us on their next strange journey.
Kiran is investigating a research station, where FBC researchers Doctors Jules and Diana Marmont and their teams are investigating the effects of Lake Cauldron. In Remedy lore, there is a connection between the power to create “art” and the power of otherworldly forces to misuse such gifts.
The Marmonts are experimenting with a painter, Rudolf Lane, who some may remember from the main game. Lane's creativity tends to illustrate (and possibly create) the future, much as Alan's writings did. (God forbid those two make a comic together). I won't spoil what the Marmonts did, except to say that they were monsters long before otherworldly forces came into the picture. Anyway, Lake House is suddenly isolated and unresponsive to FBC headquarters, prompting Kiran to investigate with a small team.
Image: Remedy Entertainment
Remedy has been playing with a connected universe since Controland Lake House is a firm bridge back and forth to that history. Of course, being a Alan Wake DLC, players can expect the solid third-person survival horror of the main game.
The Lake House, as a setting, is as disconcerting as most of A's spaces.LAN Wake 2. However, there is more emphasis on the brutalist and office space aesthetics of Controlwithout the outdoor or natural environments that dominated about half of the main game. In the eerily quiet office spaces, there are visual wonders like circular hallways and rooms of endless typewriters, which have been programmed to “write” like Alan Wake.
That last quirk seems to be a clear jab by the Remedy writers at the ai trash, with a page from Alan's actual writings saying: “Art wasn't art. Simply content for the experiment.” In fact, the entire thesis of The lake house It is the misuse of art for the acquisition of some final product, instead of enjoying the beauty that art can create. This is even more obvious when you find out who the villain is and who has created the terrifying new humanoid paint beasts that slither out of the walls. Remedy is not subtle in its disdain for the corporatization of creativity, the reconfiguration of art into a harvest field of vapid capitalist fervor. There is no love lost and much hate gained in the lake houseThe story, which describes the interplay between artistic freedom and corporate control: a golden hand around the throat of the imagination.
Image: Remedy Entertainment
To say too much about this already short game would spoil it, so I won't go into detail about the clever set pieces that would feel at home in Control. Let's just say light switches and motels are welcome, as is a familiar and powerful character.
Unfortunately, Kiran mechanically demonstrates no prowess fighting otherworldly beings, despite his years as an FBC agent. She plays no differently than Saga or Alan Wake, once again using a flashlight to reduce enemies' shadow armor before unloading a satisfying amount of bullets into their bodies. There is also only one new type of enemy: the aforementioned long-limbed painter creatures that can only be destroyed with a new weapon that Kiran discovers at the end of the story.
I would have liked some new skills or mechanics that show off his years of experience dealing with the strange. Instead, this is relegated to his interactions with some foreign object/entity, being able to quickly control his fear and knowing how to deal with recurring “items.” Control Veterans like me know this very well.
Much of the joy of the Lake House is discovering what happened and experiencing the few floors for yourself. The DLC takes about two hours to complete. But in that short amount of time, it was not only a satisfying farewell to one of my favorite recent games, but also a bridge back to the world of Control.
All signs seem to indicate that Remedy will take the grand plot of this connected universe to an almost apocalyptic level. We can probably expect to see plenty of returning characters, including Kiran herself, as Remedy guides us through her creepy, strange lake of stories.
The lake house expansion for Alan Wake 2 is available now.
