Summary
Readers should please be advised this article contains spoilers for Alan Wake 2.Alan Wake 2is a full survival-horror title, and with that switch, the sequel delves much more deeply into many of the elements often found in the genre. Previously, the story was a pulpy supernatural adventure, focusing on extradimensional beings and alternate realities. WhileAlan Wake 2keeps these aspects intact, it also leans into more grounded fare like a gruesome murder mystery in a small town. Intertwined with that thread is another component that is common to stories of this nature; a cult composed of local townsfolk acting behind the scenes in accordance with their own unknown agenda.
The horror genre is no stranger to includingterrifying cults in video gamesthat serve either as main antagonists or secondary ones; in that case, usually in league with the overarching villain. The inclusion of a cult in most titles almost automatically registers it as a nefarious force set against the heroes. Expectations are clearly set, and savvy fans may even be able to guess which characters are members of it and what they’re trying to accomplish before the plot reveals the answers.
Alan Wake 2throws a wrinkle into how it handles its cult, subverting conventional portrayals and avoiding formulaic storytelling in the process.
How Alan Wake 2 Distinguishes Depicting Its Cult
The Cult Of The Tree In Alan Wake 2
Early on in her investigation into the Cauldron Lake killing,Alan Wake 2protagonist agent Saga Andersondiscovers a lead pointing to an organization known as the Cult of the Tree. Saga initially concludes that the cult is aiding the otherworldly being called the Dark Presence, possibly helping it turn more townsfolk into the creatures known as Taken using bizarre rituals. Discovering the body of one of these Taken is the catalyst for Saga’s interest in finding out its members' identities and goals. As she explores more of the town, Saga notes numerous signs and symbols of the cult throughout, indicating it has a highly coordinated M.O.
A short while later, Saga meets the Koskela brothers—lImo and Jaakko. They appear goofy and harmless at first glance, another pair of quirky residents in the vein ofAlan Wake 2’sTwin Peaks influences. Saga plays along with their antics, but her keen detective skills immediately warn her that the brothers are clearly hiding something. As she pursues further leads, Saga will eventually realize her instincts are correct, though not in the way she originally suspected.
Alan Wake 2 Subverts The Cliche Of The Cult
Following her encounter with the Koskelas, Saga will explore theirKalevala Knights motorcycle club workshopas part of the main plot. There, she will uncover a major piece of the puzzle: the club is a front and the workshop is the base of the Cult of the Tree, with the brothers as its head organizers. This fact likely does not come as the biggest revelation, as it was set up earlier in terms of audience expectations. The two offbeat characters were obviously part of it, and being its leaders also isn’t really a surprise.
It’s when Saga regroups with her partner,Agent Alex Casey, and confronts the brothers that the actual twist occurs. As she questions them in jail, Taken assault the police station, and Jaakko is killed. Afterward, IImo comes clean, admitting he and Jaakko instigated forming the Cult of the Tree. He explains they did so to scare other residents and would-be visitors away from the haunted woods, in the hopes of preventing them from encountering the Dark Presence and turning into Taken; their rituals were a way to combat this process. The Cult of the Tree was created and envisioned as a protective measure, and its aims were always aligned with the heroes' of keeping the true evil at bay.Alan Wake 2depicts its cult as a kind of undercover neighborhood watch, devised to shield the surrounding community from the terrors that threaten it, upending the usual representation of such a group in the survival horror space.
Alan Wake 2
WHERE TO PLAY
A string of ritualistic murders threatens Bright Falls, a small-town community surrounded by Pacific Northwest wilderness. Saga Anderson, an accomplished FBI agent with a reputation for solving impossible cases arrives to investigate the murders. Anderson’s case spirals into a nightmare when she discovers pages of a horror story that starts to come true around her.Alan Wake, a lost writer trapped in a nightmare beyond our world, writes a dark story in an attempt to shape the reality around him and escape his prison. With a dark horror hunting him, Wake is trying to retain his sanity and beat the devil at his own game.Anderson and Wake are two heroes on two desperate journeys in two separate realities, connected at heart in ways neither of them can understand: reflecting each other, echoing each other, and affecting the worlds around them.Fueled by the horror story, supernatural darkness invades Bright Falls, corrupting the locals and threatening the loved ones of both Anderson and Wake. Light is their weapon—and their safe haven — against the darkness they face. Trapped in a sinister horror story where there are only victims and monsters, can they break out to be the heroes they need to be?
