How Alan Wake 2 Could Improve This Classic Survival Horror…

Summary

Backtracking has been a staple of the survival horror genre, but it runs the risk of feeling tired and uninspired in the modern era.
Alan Wake 2 should be cautious about relying too heavily on backtracking, as it could make the game feel dated or padded.
The game could innovate the concept of backtracking by incorporating distorted and visually interesting changes to previously visited areas or by exploring the effects of different characters on the same location.

The survival horror genre has a long history stretching back generations, containing a number of now familiar and expected elements. From limited resource and inventory management to key hunting for bizarre lock puzzles, players often have a good idea of what to expect from them mechanically. One of the other major survival horror design elements is backtracking through previously visited areas. For a while this was a fine feature, and when used well can still be effective. At the same time, it is now so ingrained that it often seems old hat, and runs the risk of feeling lazy or uninspired in the modern era.

Alan Wake 2 is going full survival horror, giving fans a lot to presume about how it'll be structured. For instance, Remedy's latest game is departing from the action-adventure genre, which adds the risk of falling into the trap of relying too heavily on backtracking. So much time has passed and so many games have been released since the genre's inception that developers hopefully have learned a valuable lesson from all these previous entries and their use of backtracking. Alan Wake 2 should take steps to avoid too much of it lest it feel dated and included only for the sake of padding or ticking obligatory genre boxes.

How Alan Wake 2 Can Iterate On the Survival Horror Cliche of Backtracking

The original Alan Wake did have sections of backtracking, but for the most part, they were brief and players moved along to new locations at a consistent rate, or were at least pushed forward briskly enough in larger ones. Remedy Entertainment has also revealed that in Alan Wake 2 players will split their time controlling both Alan and newcomer Saga Anderson, swapping between their perspectives. Given that, the potential for both characters to retread ground is high, and by extension, for the game to find itself falling into the pitfall of overindulging in excessive backtracking without adding anything meaningful or engaging to the gameplay or story.

Alan Wake's setting and lore give it some room to breathe and iterate upon the idea of backtracking though, if it is going to contain it. As the antagonist of Alan Wake is a reality-altering supernatural force, an angle that might work is something akin to what has been seen in the Silent Hill or Layers of Fear titles . Earlier areas' layouts could later become distorted and warped, so that while seemingly the same on the surface, are changed enough each time to keep them feeling fresh as players re-explore them. Alan Wake 2 may also have players visit locations as one character after the other previously had, experiencing the effects each has on them as the story progresses, which would mitigate dull repetition.

Saga Anderson's role in Alan Wake 2 is as an FBI profiler investigating Alan's disappearance. Her use of a "mind palace" evidence board in Alan Wake 2 has been touted as a major feature and story element, likely acting as a safe room a la Resident Evil, and giving players a space to breathe while preparing for heading out again to face whatever horrors may next await. These portions also open up opportunities for Alan Wake 2 to use backtracking in an outside-the-box manner, as over time the same location becomes noticeably different in visually interesting ways.

If implemented well, it would be acceptable for Alan Wake 2 to have sections of backtracking, provided they don't become annoying or overstay their welcome. As long as these segments don't end up feeling like a slog that breaks the immersion and pace of the story, they wouldn't be entirely unwelcome. Hopefully Remedy has a few tricks in store to pull off backtracking in the sequel in satisfying and relevant ways, and to keep the tradition of such a survival horror staple alive while advancing it for the future.