Alan Wake 2’s slow opening hour is like a perfect first episode of TV

Alan Wake isn’t exactly subtle when it comes to its television inspirations. Anyone that played the first game could clearly tell that lead writer Sam Lake was a big fan of Twin Peaks, even if you’re just looking at the love of coffee the two games share. Plus, there’s the fact that the original also had TV style recaps at the end of each part, a charming decision that added to the game’s surreal atmosphere. But where Alan Wake is the 2000s era of schlocky thrillers, Alan Wake 2 is the early 2010s era of ‘elevated’ TV, like, say, True Detective, a more recent inspiration for the sequel. Of course, when you aim for the heights of widely critically-acclaimed TV like True Detective, you better make sure you don’t miss. It’s a good thing then, that Alan Wake 2’s first hour is pretty much the perfect first episode of television.

Looking back to Twin Peaks, of course all of the quirky, odd elements were things that garnered it cult classic status, but at the time it was the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer that had everyone hooked. When you’re telling a mystery story, you really need to make sure you have all the right elements to compel people to watch the next episode. Alan Wake 2 achieves this right within the first 10 minutes, and it’s all thanks to one naked, afraid man. Spoilers ahead for the first hour of the game.

You would think, given the name, that the first character you might play as would be none other than the titular Alan Wake himself. Though, as marketing for the game had also demonstrated, it was always going to be possible that you’d kick things off as newcomer Saga Anderson. Alan Wake 2 doesn’t care though; instead, you’re greeted with the nude, wet body of Robert Nightingale, a man who’s clearly been having a worse night than all of us. We see him slowly clamber out of a lake with nothing to his name in the middle of the night, before he begins to trudge through the dark woods looking for any kind of help.