MP1st got the opportunity to sit down with the team at Remedy for a full 40-minute hands-off demo for one of this year’s highly anticipated sequels, Alan Wake 2.

Our hands-off gameplay demo begins with the man himself, Alan Wake, roaming the streets of what appears to be New York City. It is revealed that the sequel takes place thirteen years after the original events, with Wake having been trapped in this nightmarish version of New York City the entire time.

He’s a different person than when we last saw him, surviving through the horrors of this alternative version of New York City. It is a brooding sight, as the streets lack signs of humanity outside Wake’s own. An eerie sense follows you around, pressing against you as if it were a constant feeling of claustrophobia, and no matter how far you tried to get away, it always seemed to have you trapped. This was an atmosphere that Capcom’s own Resident Evil 2 perfectly captured, and it seems that Remedy has taken note of the successful remake and channeled that into Alan Wake 2. Of course, it has that Remedy “magic” that we’ve seen in past games, adding a layer of creepiness and mystery amongst the gore and horror. It feels and looks like the closest thing we’d get to a Silent Hill game without being Silent Hill.

• Related Reading: Alan Wake 2 Has Less Combat, Pacing Is “Slow Down” Compared to First Game According to Remedy

On a graphical scale, Alan Wake 2 is proving very early on to be one of this gen’s best, not just in realism but in overall art direction, as the environments ooze with creativity from the minds of the people who brought us the original Alan Wake, Quantum Break, and Control. If you pay close attention to the details in the environments, you might come across various Easter eggs and nods to the game itself and Control, as this is a connected universe, after all.

The gameplay seems to be more in line with the original game that being a third-person shooter with a flashlight is Wake’s best weapon. While players can go in and expect light sources to be the best countermeasure against The Taken (people possessed by the mysterious dark presence), it also plays a pivotal role in how players will traverse levels. The Angel Lamp is a new tool that allows you to absorb nearby light sources for protection, as well as change the environment itself by moving light sources from one spot to another. We saw this mechanic in action as Wake made his way to the subway, with his path blocked by trash and other debris. Transferring the light from the lamp to a light post illuminated the area, warping reality and shifting a new one into it, revealing a path Wake could take. It was a glimpse of how the studio was taking advantage of the speeds from an NVMe SSD.

Elsewhere, Alan has his own “Mind Place” that the other Protagonist, Saga, has called the Writer Room. Here, players can lean into the detective side of the game, piecing clues together and using the plot board to visit different parts of the story to progress. Long-time fans will recognize this writer’s room as the same room that Alan used in the cabin in the first game for his writing. Perhaps a subtle hint into Alan’s mind, though from the very start of the demo, we assumed something was off with Alan, as he seemingly tries to battle his insanity, not knowing what is real and what is a hallucination.

This was portrayed at the start of the demo, where Wake wakes up in what appears to be a waiting room, with a talk show being played (in live action) on an old ’90s colored tubed TV.  Interacting with the television set suddenly transported Alan into the talk show, blending and transitioning from in-game gameplay to live action. With him being confused about how he arrived here. Wake appears confused, wondering how he got there and looking around as if he almost realizes the live-action shift himself. He then walks on stage and is greeted by the host, Mr. Door, a mysterious figure that ties the Alan Wake series with Remedy’s Control.

Mr. Door then begins interviewing a dazed and confused Wake, asking him how it feels to publish a new book, which Wake assumes is Departure, his book from the first game. Things get even more puzzling for Wake as it is revealed that Mr. Door is talking about the sequel, Initiation. Confusion and fear engulf Wake’s face as he realizes that things aren’t as they seem.

The demo ends on a rather shocking note, though that’ll be something you’ll have to wait to experience yourself this October.

Alan Wake 2 releases digitally October 27 for the PS5, Xbox Series, and PC.