Alan Wake 2 "overdid it a little bit" with its jump scares, admits game director Kyle Rowley

[Conkerkid11]

Agreed. It was a complaint I had with the game since launch, and they felt especially out of place considering I felt the game pretty much nailed the tense atmosphere otherwise. Jump scares are cheap and they ruined the creepy vibes for me for absolutely no reason. The solution was to not do them at all.

When you're trying to scare someone, there's nothing less stupid that simply jumping out of the shadows and going "Boo!".

 

[Garcia el Gringo]

I was happy that settings were updated to reduce them for players that didn't want to - or couldn't - deal with the screen flashes, but the startles and disorientation I experienced during the prologue and then especially the first flash when tracking Nightingale to the Overlap are some of the most memorable tense, heart-racing moments I've had with a controller in my hand.

Game made me feel something, and for me it didn't find it as creatively cheap. The intersection of psychological horror and thrills.

I'll be bummed if the flourish isn't made a part of their house style following AWII (particularly for an AWIII), but I get it.

 

[Re-Tails]

Huh, it wasn't a problem for me at all tbh, enjoyed them even. Appreciate them adding options for people who can't handle it though.

For me, those jumpscares were fitting, memorable and fantastically done.

 

[zombiejames]

I didn't have a problem with it but it's easy to see how it could turn people off.

 

[Λntonio]

They definitely went overboard in the nursing home area but man the game is SO good.

10 out of 10 for me.

 

[Flexo]

Growing pains. I'm glad they reached that conclusion. If you are going to have jump scares, there's better ways to do them than have something randomly scream at your face.

 

[DaleCooper]

The fact that the game got intensity sliders for the jump scare is too funny.

 

[giancarlo123x]

The first time scared the shit out of me. The 50th time It was fucking annoying. I stopped playing for months because of it. You can be scary as shit like sh2 without the cheap stuff.

 

[internet rabbit]

Yeah they were a bit much, especially the retirement home jump scare. Didn't diminish my enjoyment of the game but every time it happened I was just like... oh, brother

 

[Messofanego]

I liked how they are meant to startle Saga's supernatural powers, like they said it is a mental assault so she doesn't feel too safe with her telepathy and premonitions. I wasn't bothered by the jump scares and they were effective, but can see it was overdone for other people.

 

[Odinsmana]

They weren't scary and pulled me out of the otherwise good atmosphere. The only ones that felt fitting where the Cynthia ones. Otherwise it felt like Remedy was scared the player was getting bored and basically just tried to rattle your chair every.once in a while to wake you up. It just made the game feel like it was insecure about itself.

 

[Ikarus]

It's why I can't finish the game I bought. I had to stop playing for this reason. /sadness.

 

[GJ]

For me personally this is quite a bummer, since Alan Wake II was the first game in many, many years that had jump scares that were actually effective for me. They rarely, if ever get me in games and movies since they're usually super predictable and/or badly implemented, but AWII had a couple that absolutely came out of nowhere and gave me some fun scares. I do think adding the option to turn them down or maybe even off for the people who want was the right move, but hearing that they're backing away a bit in the DLC from something that finally had an effect on me is a bit of a disappointment.

 

[J75]

Shame, I'll likely won't play this due to this element even with the toggle. Super sensitive to shit like this.

 

[Necron]

Cheapens an otherwise good game, in my opinion. They're too frequent.

 

[Angie]

Didn't played the game. But now I have to watch youtube reactions to that supposed jump scare that everyone is talking here.

 

[No Depth]

Not played yet, but is it like the equivalent of dogs jumping through -every- window in RE1?

 

[DNAbro]

They were fun! Especially in the nursing home.

 

[SofNascimento]

Alan Wake 2 overdid nothing and was, in fact, perfect.

 

[dodo]

I thought they were awesome. Jump scares are fun and AW2 used them in some very novel ways. People like to be a little reductive about them "just" being flashing faces and loud noises, but there are some other ones that are really excellent like Ahti stopping you from opening the writer's room door and overall I really enjoyed the tension they created. After a certain jump scare, I started getting apprehensive about approaching any characters--the intended effect, I think. There are also some humorous moments where Alan and Saga react to the jump scares, even getting exasperated by their frequency. idk! They were great fun, imo.

 

[AmAsuT]

For me the biggest problem was that they were just cheap. Most of them were unrelated to what was actually happening in the game.

Seeing a flash of someone screaming isn't the same as when a scary enemy suddenly jumps on you in other games or stuff like that. In those instances the jump scares play directly into the game but in AW2's case most of them were just copy pasted flashes throughout the game.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

When it gets to the point where you know exactly when they are about to come, yeah, it was a bit much lol.