How does a developer follow up a game like 2023âs Alan Wake 2? How do you follow a survival horror game steeped in meta-textual commentary on art and its own troubled road to release, with incredibly bold themes and genre-bending moments that earned it several major game awards? If you are developer Remedy, then you do a complete 180, which is what Night Springs, a Twilight Zone parody of three anthology stories loosely tied to the base game and the first of two pieces of DLC for Alan Wake 2, is. And itâs an absolute joy. Even when a story falls flat, Night Springs is a great argument for studios to make shorter, but still high-quality, experiences at the AAA level.
I wasnât thrilled about the prospect of Night Springs when it was first announced. The three anthology episodes the DLC contains are essentially non-canon to the rest of the Remedy Connected Universe (which includes both Alan Wake games and 2019âs Control), and even though it stars familiar characters from the base game it doesnât really continue or elaborate on their stories. After the tour de force that was Alan Wake 2 (my favorite game of 2023) I wasnât thrilled at the idea of diving back into something that doesnât advance that story. And I wasnât entirely wrong. By and large Night Springs doesnât build on the base gameâs narrative threads (with one major exception that Iâll get to) but I was wrong in assuming that such an approach would be boring. Night Springs is a much-needed breather from the weighty base game, a perfect palette cleanser.
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That is best exemplified by the DLCâs first chapter âNumber One Fan,â which follows the Oh Deer Dinerâs waitress Rose. Of course, in the context of the in-game show Night Springs, this isnât exactly Rose, rather she is just The Waitress. After doing the rounds at her diner, during which she pours coffee, serves her award-winning pie, and offers tough but fair life advice to strangers, she makes contact with The Writer, with whom she is romantically involved. She needs to save him from his evil twin, The Writer informs her via talking fish wall decoration, so she picks up an automatic shotgun and sets out. The Waitressesâ attitude is filled with outlandish pep that you canât help but laugh at, and this absurdity extends to all corners of the DLCâeven its loading screens, which will change based on what episode you are playing. In âNumber One Fan,â the loading screens promise you that with the power of love, anything is possible! That, mixed with the literal rose-tinted hue of the world around you are a stark contrast to the dark and gritty base game. The fully automatic shotgun only adds to the absurdist vibes, as it makes all combat so trivial but also laughably gory. Remedy is telling you that this shouldnât be as hard or stressful as the base game. Have fun! Fight the guy who turns into a wolf and rides a motorcycle (that also turns into a wolf). Before you know it the 30-45 minute experience is over.
All of Night Springs episodes have a similarly short runtimeâthe entire thing can be beaten in one brisk evening if you want. They all still have the same high-production value as the base game but take a fraction of the time. Itâs another signal from Remedy that these are just supposed to be small, fun adventures to tackle at your leisure. It makes me wish more AAA games would make smaller experiences that looked and played this good.
While âNumber One Fanâ swings far away from Alan Wake 2 in its tone, the second episode hews closer to the base game, to its detriment. âNorth Starâ puts players in the shoes of Controlâs Jesse Faden, or rather a character called The Sibling who looks like her. Sheâs hunting down a coffee cult in the base gameâs Coffee World map. The Sibling lacks any of the powers her Control look-alike wields and instead uses an automatic pistol and a flashlight. The gameplay loop here is fairly similar to the base game, as is the horror-tinged tone. Because of this, âNorth Star ââ is pretty forgettable, but mercifully shortâI only had to play for about half an hour before credits rolled and the DLCâs sick theme song played.
The final episode of Night Springs is called âTime Breakerâ and it is some of Remedyâs best work. It follows the base gameâs Sheriff Tim Breaker, but as you might suspect by now it isnât really Tim Breaker. Though Time Breaker is even more complex than the first two episodes of Night Springs. This isnât a version of Tim Breaker, rather this is a version of Shawn Ashmore, the actor who portrays the character, aptly called The Actor in the episodeâs credits. The episode begins on a film set with The Actor discussing the concept of the multiverse with The Director (Remedyâs creative director Sam Lake hamming it up as a cartoonish version of himself). Before long, The Actor finds himself traveling through alternate dimensions just like the character heâs portraying on film.
âTime Breakerâ starts closer to Alan Wake 2 in visual presentation but soon, through that aforementioned dimension hopping, the episode turns into a shifting prism of game genres. While Alan Wake 2 isnât afraid to shift mediums and bend genres, it mostly played with the uncanny valley between reality and fiction by swapping between gameplay and live-action sequences. In âTime Breakerâ Remedy explores the multitude of forms games have taken over the years, turning the AAA third-person game into, at times, a retro 2D side-scroller, an interactive comic book, and even a text adventure. The best compliment I can give âTime Breakerâ is that it reminded me of Yoko Taroâs games (I say this as a massive Yoko Taro sicko, I played NieR: Reincarnation). But more than just a chance for Remedy to try something fresh, âTime Breakerâ gives lore hounds something to chew on. The entirety of Night Springs is hosted by the base gameâs mysterious Mr. Door, and the final episode digs deep into the character. While we canât quite tell what is or isnât true about what the episode reveals about him, it plays within the bigger RCU in ways the rest of the expansion doesnât to great success. âTime Breakerâ only leaves the audience wanting more.
Thankfully more is coming. Lake House will be the second piece of DLC coming to the game this October and looks to pick up the threads of Alan Wake 2 more directly while also likely leading into Control 2. Lake Houseâs more serious tone furthers the notion that Night Springs is meant to act as a break for the player, a chance to do something different and fun before getting back into the main event. Even with Lake House on the horizon, I think Iâm already itching to go back to Night Springs.
