​Alan Wake 2 review: Wake up to the joys of Bright Falls – a small town with big secrets, writes PETER HOSKIN

Alan Wake 2 (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £49.99)

Verdict: Mystery masterpiece

Rating:

It’s starting to get silly. In a year of some of the greatest games of all time, Alan Wake 2 comes along and manages to be one of the best of them all.  

Just when will this hot streak end?

What makes it more astonishing is the fact that the original Alan Wake, which was released in 2010 and remastered a couple of years ago, was simply good rather than outstanding.

Its titular lead character, a Stephen King-esque horror writer going through the most angsty midlife crisis in history, was sometimes a bit annoying. 

Its gameplay lurched awkwardly between slow-paced mystery-solvin’ and frantic gunfights against horrible dream-monsters.

PETER HOSKIN: It’s starting to get silly. In a year of some of the greatest games of all time, Alan Wake 2 comes along and manages to be one of the best of them all

Alan Wake 2 follows the titular lead character who is a Stephen King-esque horror writer

It also follows a new character, the relatively likeable FBI agent Saga Anderson

PETER HOSKIN: I don’t normally get hung up on how a game looks, but few, if any, look as brilliant as this

Anderson also takes over in investigating some nasty deaths in Wake’s old stomping grounds

Perhaps it helps, then, that, to some extent, Alan takes a backseat in this sequel. At the start, he’s still trapped in a weird limbo called The Dark Place, meaning that you — as the player — spend more time as a new character, the relatively likeable FBI agent Saga Anderson, investigating some nasty deaths in Wake’s old stomping grounds.

But it’s not just the change of perspective. In terms of its gameplay, Alan Wake 2 is much the same as its predecessor — only perfected.

The gunfights are more deliberate now, and more impactful for it. The ‘mind palace’ sequences in which you sift through evidence to solve mysteries are still kind of ridiculous, but the mysteries themselves are so compelling that you come to love that ridiculousness. 

And, gosh, the graphics! I don’t normally get hung up on how a game looks, but few, if any, look as brilliant as this. It helps make the small town of Bright Falls — its forests, lakes, louring skies and terrible secrets — utterly believable. I’ve finally woken up to Mr Wake.

The Lord Of The Rings: Return To Moria (PC, £31.69)

Verdict: Dwarfed by others

Rating:

Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! It’s off to work we go… Sorry, wrong franchise.  

This one’s set among the dwarves of Tolkien’s Middle-earth, rather than the dwarfs of Disney’s Snow White. And yet there are more similarities than you initially might expect.

Not only are the Return to Moria dwarves a little more cartoon-looking than their equivalents in, say, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies, but in their actual return to Moria, the underground dwarven kingdom that was lost to orcs and demons, they do actually do a lot of mining and pickaxing and… yes… singing.

Which is to say, this is a crafting game in the spirit of, say, Minecraft or Valheim. 

You, as one of Tolkien’s dwarves after the fall of the dark lord Sauron, have to delve into the dark and gather resources and patch things up and build little bases, all with the goal of reclaiming your former kingdom — or at least getting out alive.

PETER HOSKIN: Not only are the Return to Moria dwarves a little more cartoon-looking than their equivalents in, say, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies, but in their actual return to Moria they do actually do a lot of mining and pickaxing and… yes… singing

You play as one of Tolkien’s dwarves after the fall of the dark lord Sauron delving into the dark and gather resources and patch things up and build little bases

The dwarves are taksed with the goal of reclaiming their former kingdom — or at least getting out alive — that was lost to orcs and demons

For as cheery as Return To Moria is, it’s not bloodless. There are still beasties lurking in the dark, which you’re required to fight. 

You’ll literally need to maintain a stock of sharp axes, as well as scavenge food and keep well rested, if you hope to survive. 

There are some ways in which this game distinguishes itself from its crafting counterparts, among them its clear and deep affection for the source material — there are little references to The Lord Of The Rings and Tolkien’s broader mythology throughout, which are delightful whenever you stumble across them.

But, otherwise, it’s like a rougher hewn version of those counterparts. Its performance on my gaming PC was noticeably choppy, with numerous instances of slowdown. 

While much of the actual gameplay — from the building mechanics to the combat — feels like a first draft, lacking the polish, variety and complexity to keep you wanting more. 

That said, I haven’t yet played Return to Moria in what could be its most promising form — the multiplayer mode, which allows you to go underground with others. Anyone up for a return to this return?

PETER HOSKIN: For as cheery as Return To Moria is, it’s not bloodless. There are still beasties lurking in the dark, which you’re required to fight

The game also features character customisation features including changing the colour of the dwarves’ beard, hair and skin

PETER HOSKIN: While much of the actual gameplay — from the building mechanics to the combat — feels like a first draft, lacking the polish, variety and complexity to keep you wanting more

WarioWare: Move It! (Nintendo Switch, £39.99)

Verdict: Madcap fun — until it’s maddening

Rating:

It’s a me… no, not Mario, but Wario! The bizarro, leering, yellow-and-purple clad alternate version of everyone’s favourite Italian plumber. Back with another collection of madcap, quick-fire microgames.

If you’ve played a WarioWare release before, then you’ll already know the drill: a loose story involving Wario and his compadres is really just an excuse to serve up game after game after game, some of which only last seconds. 

Hurry! Figure out what’s happening! Then try to win!  You can go through this routine solo or — generally better — with friends gathered around a console.

WarioWare: Move It! — the second game in the series made specifically for Nintendo’s Switch, after 2021’s Get It Together! — is different, though.

WarioWare: Move It! — is the second game in the series made specifically for Nintendo’s Switch, after 2021’s Get It Together!

Instead of gripping the Switch in your hands, you’ll be detaching its JoyCon controllers and waving them about to control the action on the screen

PETER HOSKIN: It still serves up funny little games that show off Nintendo’s designers’ imaginations

It still serves up funny little games that show off Nintendo’s designers’ imaginations. 

You’re a robo-frog guarding a cake from ants! Now you’re a little digi-person pulling hairs from someone’s nose! Now an undersea strand of kelp! There are over 200 of these things.

But where Move It! differs is in its emphasis on — as the name suggests — motion. 

Instead of gripping the Switch in your hands, you’ll be detaching its JoyCon controllers and waving and waggling and swishing them (and yourself) about, all to control the action on the screen.

It’s a fun twist at first, but, after a while, it starts to feel restrictive. The JoyCons are impressive bits of tech, but not sufficiently precise for some of the microgames here — particularly as you’re often dropped into those games with nary a sense of what to do. Mistakes happen. It can be frustrating.

Which is a shame, because Move It! also does some interesting things with its multiplayer options. 

Alongside the usual — play alongside someone, play against someone — there are suitably goofy variations, such as one in which someone simply pretends to play and others have to figure out who’s pretending and who’s not.

But then, whichever variation you choose, you’ll eventually want to hurl a JoyCon out the window. I’m as mad — sorry, wad — as hell and I’m not gonna take this anymore.

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