It’s rare for any new video game to receive near-unanimous praise, but in the case of Alan Wake 2, Remedy Entertainment’s follow-up to 2010’s underrated action/horror thriller, the prevailing giddy response was justified. Centred around the titular Alan, a horror novelist, lost in a Twin Peaks-esque ‘Dark Place’ which reflects both his fears and the wider mechanics of storytelling in general, Alan Wake 2 perfects the original game’s quirky premise. A large factor in the game’s emotional depth is the centrality of its soundtrack, scored by the BAFTA-nominated Finnish composer and producer Petri Alanko. From the delicate and emotive Return to the ominous and oppressive The Dark Place, Petri’s score underlines the game’s mind-bending narrative.
Alanko, who also scored the original game, was thrilled – but surprised – when Remedy’s creative director Sam Lake informed him that a sequel was finally happening. “I had made my first compositions for the Alan Wake sequel back in 2011. I was so thrilled when I heard we were back. I knew exactly what they were going to do and I knew that they were going to have two protagonists this time. I had made so many plans [for a sequel] and luckily none of my plans had been for nothing – every one of my ideas got used, more or less.”
Petri’s process began with the creation of a unique library of sound resources that he then used to build up the sonic universe of the game, and weave into his scores. “It took me a good while to make the base library for the software instruments,” Petri says. “I always create a special library for let’s say pads or
