Alan Wake 2 Isn't A Horror Game, It's A Twin Peaks Game

08.11.2023 - 21:01 / screenrant.com / Alan Wake

wears its influences on its sleeve, and might be the one it's proudest of., which began airing in 1990, is part gentle soap opera satire, and part surreal murder mystery. But where the first was based on the first two seasons of, has more in common with the third season,. As a result, it has a somewhat different tone and narrative focus, but one thing that hasn't changed is just how much it ties back to the seminal series.

Strangely enough, and even followed a similar release strategy. was abruptly canceled after its explosive second season finale in 1991, at which point it went on a 26-year hiatus, only to return in 2017. Similarly, flew under the radar after its initial 2010 release, with only the 2012 spin-off and some heavy references in 's DLC. Now, 13 years later, there's a true sequel to the original in — and both the game and the show have taken advantage of their long periods of silence to craft strange, terrifying stories.

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Both and are set in small Washington towns, where everyone knows everyone and news travels fast. That makes it all the more devastating when terrible, inexplicable events plague these peaceful hamlets — Laura Palmer's death in, and Alan's disappearance in. Everyone finds out immediately, and the tragedy touches everyone's life in one way or another. Also, in both season one of and, FBI agents arrive in these small towns, causing the rumor mill to churn as daily small-town life is disrupted by big-government watchfulness.

's Bright Falls even shares some geographical and infrastructural features with the titular town of . Each is set against a backdrop of mountain ranges and evergreen forests, and each has a robust logging and fishing industry — although that's hardly a surprise for Washington state. Both towns have their social hubs in coffee shops with repetitive initials in their names: in Twin Peaks, the Double R Diner, and in Bright Falls, Triple D's Oh Deer Diner. Both diners pride themselves on their desserts and coffee, with the Oh Deer dishing out cupcakes while the Double R draws crowds for its cherry pie.

The similarities extend to plot, too: and both prominently feature dark, alternate dimensions that their protagonists enter willingly but cannot leave. In, that's the Dark Place. Alan's wife Alice is drawn into it at the beginning of the first game. Although he soon realizes he can literally write her way out, Alan's self-doubt causes him to plunge into the Dark Place after her, where he remains for 13 years trying to invent a satisfactory resolution to his novel.

Similarly, at the end of ' second season, Cooper finds a way into the Black Lodge, and enters in pursuit of answers about Laura Palmer's death and his