Alan Wake 2: Night Springs Reviews
Alan Wake II: Night Springs veers from ultra violence to tense survival horror, before settling into the multiversal madness of the series at its best.
The universe of Alan Wake 2 grows with a small collection of original and fun ideas, which play with the unexpected, humor and "the impossible". A little genius that will not taste like much, and that has its biggest flaw in the reuse of the base game's scenarios.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Where some teams would stay safe in their additional downloadable offerings, building on the foundation laid by the full game, Remedy has gone wild. This is exactly the kind of episodic content I'm looking for. While I'm sure the upcoming Lake House DLC will further our connections to Control, I'm glad Remedy took the time to make something wholly unique, which is what that studio is.
With its three entertaining scenarios showcasing Remedy Entertainment's narrative and visual design prowess, the Alan Wake 2: Night Springs expansion is a more than worthy DLC for all fans of the base game and the Finnish developer, provided they can keep their expectations in check. The expansion's short length, a little over two and a half hours, and its stripped-down gameplay will inevitably disappoint those looking for something more substantial.
Three new stories set in the Alan Wake multiverse, starring alternative versions of familiar faces. Survival horror, unlikely love stories, caffeinated zombie-cultists and meta-humour condensed into three hours of multiverse gameplay, a condensed distillation of Remedy's signature madness.
Review in Italian | Read full review
All in all, Night Springs is a short excuse to revel in the oddities of Alan Wake 2 and Remedy. Whether it's comedic, horror-tinged, or genre-hopping, the developer is just having loads of fun with this DLC. We'd love it to be a little longer, or perhaps even include another episode or two, but what's here is a reminder that Remedy is one of the most original and unique developers in the game right now.
Alan Wake II: Night Springs is a terrifically twisted, episodic DLC collection for one of 2023's best video games.
Night Springs is the rare DLC that both retains a bit of everything from its base game and improves upon it. Alan Wake 2 already has a lot going for it, but its first DLC has its characteristic cheesiness, creepiness, and cosmic-ness across three chapters. It runs a bit short, but it's a great supernatural sampler of Alan Wake at its best.
Perhaps these attempts distorted reality enough that Alan could build on them and eventually escape, and perhaps these attempts reflect Remedy’s own struggle in crafting what would become Alan Wake II. I wrote that “North Star” could have been a Control prototype— and maybe it was. It still exists as a part of the story, and Remedy showing that to us feels special. It feels incredibly novel that a game’s DLC exists to thematically bolster itself, rather than solely provide additional entertainment. Night Springs does both, and furthers the metanarrative spiral of the base game. In the end, I shut up and trusted Remedy, and I’m ready to do it all over again whenever the second expansion, The Lake House, arrives.
Though not an essential part of the Alan Wake 2 experience, the Night Springs DLC is a fun, quirky side adventure that's worth looking into for fans of the base game.
"Night Springs" is a great expansion to Alan Wake II that gives players a few hours of entertaining content with the kind of writing and style that Remedy excels at. It shows off the creativity of the studio, and how committed they are to doing things no other studio is doing. Some people may be disappointed that it doesn't explain the main game's confusing story, though.
Night Springs takes another step towards Sam Lake's goal of exploring the meaning of storytelling, offering a bizarre yet perfect continuation for Alan Wake 2.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Night Springs is an attempt to fit several characters into a criminally short period of time, which is why the add-on simply did not have time to tell full-fledged stories. Combined with the seriously simplified gameplay, the DLC looks more like a draft than a finished work.
Review in Russian | Read full review
An enjoyable first expansion that provides some fun what if? scenarios and continues the game's meta-commentary.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Late last year, Alan Wake 2 surprised us by how different a take it was from the first Alan Wake, and Remedy's venture into the true unknowns of the universe is carried on here with Night Springs. You'll have to wade through some of the team's weird multiverse stuff, which isn't always the easiest to understand, but that hasn't hampered our enjoyment of recent Remedy titles - and it doesn't here, either.Buckle up Alan Wake 2 fans, you're in for yet another wild wide with Expansion 1: Night Springs.
The Night Springs DLC expands on the rich and interwoven storyline of Alan Wake 2 in a truly unexpected way. The trio of different stories bring their own protagonists and their own approach to gameplay. In some places it's more of a classic approach, in others it's a novel mix. It's a must for fans, but don't expect any definitive answers to your questions.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Night Springs is a fantastic anthology that makes use of Remedy's eclectic collection of characters and locations to create some truly absurd Twilight Zone-esque stories that are good fun for any fan of the studio.
If Night Springs is indicative of the quality that can be expected for Alan Wake 2's future DLC expansions, then the future is undoubtedly bright. While the DLC is a bit short, running for approximately three hours, each episode of the TV show-themed DLC is unique and feels like an entirely separate game. The effort put into Night Springs alone makes it more than worth purchasing Alan Wake 2's twenty-dollar season pass.
Alan Wake II: Night Springs isn't very substantial or long-lasting unless you're a huge fan of Alan Wake II. And the DLC ends with so many unanswered questions. Perhaps the second DLC will answer all these, but for now, unless you're a huge fan of Alan Wake, you won't find it satisfying. So far, I would recommend holding off till the second DLC drops unless you are an absolute Remedy fanatic.
For any fan of Alan Wake 2 and especially those that are invested in the greater Remedy storylines this expansion is a no-brainer. It’s $20 for this and the second release, Lake House, which should hit around October 2024. Do yourself a favor and play this ASAP and with as little info going in as possible. It looks and runs great and adds exciting new branches to the ever-expanding storyline of Remedy’s future titles.