Alan Wake 2 called out for “copying” Resident Evil remakes

In one of Alan Wake 2’s more negative reviews, YouTuber GmanLives noticed that Alan Wake 2’s combat mechanics felt closer to Resident Evil’s recent remakes than the original game, to the point where it felt like the game was “copying” many of its mechanics.

It’s hard to deny that Resident Evil is the grandfather of modern survival horror games. Though there’s a case to be made for Silent Hill to have a great deal of its own influence within the genre as a pioneer, Resident Evil’s cultural hold over the genre and gaming as a whole is undeniable.

The series has also had a bit of a renaissance as of late, as the Resident Evil 2 and 4 remakes were incredibly well-received by both critics and fans as pinnacles of the genre.

Alan Wake 2 looks to be much the same for many critics, albeit for different reasons. However, YouTuber GmanLives noticed that the combat systems for Alan Wake 2 and the Resident Evil remakes were eerily similar.

Alan Wake 2’s combat “almost identical” to Resident Evil’s

With video games being an ever-evolving medium, it’s fairly common for devs to take influence from successful games and translate them into their own titles. At one point, every FPS was being called a “DOOM clone” when the genre was young. The modern third-person shooter was, in many ways, defined by the way Resident Evil 4 (the original, not the remake) handled over-the-shoulder shooting.

For a game to truly feel like it copied another title’s gameplay mechanics, you’d really have to go the extra mile in carrying over several game mechanics that define the title that your inspiration comes from.

However, GmanLives noticed and pointed out many of the ways in which Alan Wake 2 takes direct influence from the recent Resident Evil remakes, to the point where it feels as if parts have been “completely copied” over.

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“They’ve more or less completely copied across interface from the recent Resident Evil games, even down to the health bar and the way you can equip items and weapons into quick slots. If you’re ever grabbed by an enemy, you can use a flare to break their hold. Which is almost identical to the way sub-weapons worked in the recent RE games.” Gman claimed as he showed side-by-side comparisons of the games.

He didn’t cite this as an immediate negative, but did feel like some ways in which the game took inspiration from Resident Evil’s recent successes didn’t fit too well into Alan Wake 2’s overall tone.

“The gore’s been greatly increased, to the point where it almost seems out of place. You can now shoot entire chunks out of enemies, but, again, kind of similar to those recent Resident Evil titles.”

Additionally, he felt that this change in direction made Alan Wake 2’s combat feel much less “visceral” than the first game despite the first Alan Wake game being over a decade old. Though Alan Wake 2 can be a real looker, that didn’t keep Gman from feeling like something was lost between this game and its predecessor.

Ultimately, GmanLives is one of the only reviewers who was mixed on this title, with him not even being sure if he liked the experience or not. He criticized it for lacking action and being an experience you spend a lot more time watching than playing.

That said, many of his fans in the comments are even more excited for the game after having seen his review despite Gman ultimately having mixed feelings.

“Some of the negatives described here sound exactly like what I am looking for, which is mood setting and atmosphere that’s perfect for Halloween. I didn’t love the heavy emphasis on combat in the tail end of the original Alan Wake,” claimed one commenter, with many feeling like the game may not have been up Gman’s alley rather than it being a bad title.

Alan Wake 2

Either way, having a different perspective from someone who didn’t enjoy the game as much as other reviewers is a valuable to have for those who are on the fence about buying it. That said, we didn’t share his sentiment and found it to be everything we wanted and more.