Find out what difficulty you should probably play Alan Wake 2 on to ensure you have the best experience
Start playing Alan Wake 2 and you’ll quickly find yourself tasked with choosing a difficulty to play it on. It’s nothing new, but your choice can have grave repercussions. Get it right and you might have one of the most enjoyable experiences of the year. Get it wrong and you might end up unfulfilled or simply frustrated. So, what difficulty should you play Alan Wake 2 on?
There are three difficulties to choose from when playing Alan Wake 2 – Story, Normal and Hard. At least for now, anyway; a free update for the game will be released in the future, not only adding New Game Plus but also an additional Nightmare difficulty.
Those wanting to simply enjoy the story of Alan Wake 2, and immerse themselves in its world without fear of being beaten down by enemies, might want to choose Story difficulty. On this difficulty, your enemies – the Taken – don’t take too many bullets to put down. When they hit you, you’ll also find that you don’t take all that much damage from their attacks. Alan Wake 2 is rather easy on this difficulty then, but it does mean that encounters aren’t very tense, ruining the atmosphere somewhat.
It’s for that reason that we recommend most players jump in on Normal difficulty. This makes Alan Wake 2 much harder. Your enemies are more aggressive, doing more damage when they hit you and taking more bullets to put down. You’ll probably find yourself dying quite a bit, at least until you’ve got more familiar with the game’s mechanics. Ultimately though, it works in the game’s favour, making it more tense and atmospheric. You’ll also see more benefit from engaging in the game’s side content, as you’ll appreciate the perks provided by the charms you can equip, and other upgrades you can acquire.
When it comes to Hard difficulty, we can’t really recommend if for first time players. Playing on Hard is genuinely tough. You’ll have to be truly skilled at combat and have mastered all the mechanics. You’ll also have to go out of your way to secure all the resources you can find, and effectively use them. Try Hard difficulty if you want, but it’s perhaps better off saved for a second playthrough.
What’s important to note is that there are no difficulty-related achievements or trophies in Alan Wake 2. You’re also free to change the difficulty whenever you like by going into the game’s options menu. So, if you find the game too easy or too hard, try changing the difficulty to see if it improves your experience. That’s what’s important after all; you having fun with your purchase.
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