My recent gaming journey: Alan Wake 2 and Resident Evil
So, I’ve been digging into some survival horror lately. Had Alan Wake 2 on my list for ages, finally got around to starting it up. Man, what an atmosphere. It really pulls you into its weird, dark world. I spent the first few hours just soaking it all in, you know? The way the story unfolds, flipping between Saga and Alan, it’s quite something.
Playing through it, I kept getting these vibes, these little echoes of other games I love. That got me thinking, especially about the Resident Evil series. I’m a long-time fan of RE, played nearly all of them since the beginning. There’s a certain feel to Resident Evil, isn’t there? The resource management, the tight corridors, the jump scares combined with that action element.
After putting a good chunk of time into Alan Wake 2, I decided to jump back into some Resident Evil – specifically, I replayed a bit of the RE4 Remake just to compare the feeling directly. It was an interesting experiment, doing them close together.
Here’s what I noticed from my playtime:
- Atmosphere vs Action: Alan Wake 2 felt heavier on the psychological dread, the environmental storytelling. It’s scary, for sure, but in a different way. Resident Evil, especially RE4, leans more into tense action sequences and managing your ammo and health under pressure. Both get your heart pumping, but for different reasons.
- Combat Feel: Fighting the Taken in AW2, with the flashlight mechanic, feels unique. It’s deliberate. In RE4, the gunplay is just so satisfyingly chunky, kicking enemies, managing crowds. Very different rhythms.
- Puzzles and Exploration: AW2 has its case files and manuscript pages, guiding you through its narrative mystery. RE games often have more traditional environmental puzzles, finding keys, crests, that sort of thing, to progress.
It wasn’t like I was trying to say one is better than the other, not at all. It was more about experiencing how two giants of the horror genre approach similar concepts – survival, fear, combat – but come out with such distinct flavors. Playing them back-to-back really highlighted their individual strengths. Alan Wake 2 is this engrossing, narrative-heavy trip, while Resident Evil gives you that classic, intense survival action thrill. Both are great, just different tools for scratching that horror itch. Finished my session feeling pretty satisfied with both experiences, honestly.
