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Alan Wake 2 studio is rebooting its upcoming multiplayer project

Tomas Franzese
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Remedy Entertainment, the studio behind October’s critically acclaimed survival horror game Alan Wake 2, revealed that it is reworking what was previously a free-to-play multiplayer game into a premium cooperative title.

Saga fights off a Taken in Alan Wake 2.
Remedy Entertainment

While Remedy made a name for itself with trippy, narrative-focused single-player franchises like Max Payne, Alan Wake, and Control, a multiplayer project code-named Vanguard has been in the works at the Finnish studio since at least 2018. In 2021, Remedy announced that it partnered with Tencent to make and distribute the game, which was described as “a free-to-play, co-operative PvE shooter that combines Remedy’s narrative expertise and action gameplay into an immersive multiplayer experience.” As recently as a financial report last month, Remedy said that Vanguard was still in the “proof-of-concept stage” and that it was working with Tencent on “defining the next stages of the project.”

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Well, that next stage appears to be pivoting the game from a free-to-play title into a premium release, rebooting the project and changing the code name from Vanguard to Kestrel in the process. “Due to uncertainties in creating a successful game to the rapidly changing free-to-play market and associated risks, the parties have discussed a new direction for the game project, which will be given the new code name, ‘Kestrel.'” Remedy explained in a press release. “The reboot comes as the project has reached the end of its proof-of-concept phase, and after Remedy and Tencent had time to evaluate the project’s status and its next steps.”

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As a result of this decision, Remedy says that Kestrel is returning to the concept phase of development with a main goal now being to create “a premium game with a strong cooperative multiplayer component.” Remedy says this new direction for Kestrel will still use some of the work already done on Vanguard and will “lean more into Remedy’s core strengths.” That last point hits home as we’ve seen several lauded single-player developers struggle to make a compelling multiplayer experience in recent years.

Titles like BioWare’s Anthem and Arkane Studios’ Redfall come to mind, while a The Last of Us multiplayer game is reportedly having a tough development cycle at Naughty Dog. It appears that Alan Wake 2 has emboldened Remedy to lean into its strengths with this experimental multiplayer game more than it was before, and we can only hope that’s for the better.

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Tomas Franzese
Tomas Franzese
Gaming Staff Writer
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
I wish I loved Alan Wake 2’s most creative gameplay feature
Saga doing a deduction in the mind place.

Among all the marketing material and features shown off leading up to Alan Wake 2's release, nothing got me more excited to return to Bright Falls than The Mind Place. More than the focus on survival horror, the mix of live-action and in-game cinematics, or simply getting to conclude a story I began over a decade ago, the idea of a metaphorical space in which I -- or rather FBI agent Saga Anderson -- could visualize and construct the clues I was collecting to piece together the darkly magical mystery presented captivated my imagination most.

What we ended up getting wasn't quite what I hoped for. Created as a clever space where players could piece together the game's driving occult case, the space doesn't leave as much room for smart deduction as I'd hoped. For as much potential for this space had to elevate Alan Wake 2 on both a narrative and gameplay level, it felt like a missed opportunity during my playthrough that only slowed the sequel's strong momentum.
Not quite a True Detective
Creating a detective game where the player is an active participant in solving a mystery sounds like a nightmare to design. On one hand, the designers need to provide all the clues to reach the correct solution, while simultaneously making it neither too obvious nor obscure to solve. Lean too far in either direction and the player will either feel unsatisfied and potentially pandered to, or frustrated and betrayed. It is a task few games attempt, and even fewer manage to pull off.

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All nursery rhyme solutions in Alan Wake 2
Alan Wake sitting at a desk with a typewriter.

Alan Wake is a famous writer, but neither he nor the new protagonist Saga are known for being particularly fond of nursery rhymes. Whether or not you fall into that category as well won't matter because Alan Wake 2 hides some very valuable rewards behind puzzles disguised as these small children's poems. Solving them involves a little bit of exploration, deductive reasoning, and then putting all the right pieces in place. This is one of the many optional cases in the game, and these rhymes are hidden across all the major zones in and around Bright Falls. If you're stumped on any of these nursery rhyme puzzles, here are all the solutions in Alan Wake 2.
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There are 17 total nursery rhyme puzzles to find and solve in Alan Wake 2, broken up into all the different major locations. Whenever a puzzle involves placing dolls, make sure you pick up the dolls after solving it because they are needed for other puzzles in that area as well.
Cauldron Lake nursery rhymes

The first rhyme puzzle you will come across is in the campsite you can access after the flooding has been removed. Cross the bridge and look immediately to the left. The solution is to take the Crow doll off the table and place it on the drawing of the sun.

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Where to find all inventory upgrades in Alan Wake 2
Saga stands in front of an evidence board in Alan Wake 2.

While the first Alan Wake game certainly had plenty of scares and horror in it, the mechanics were not as strictly of the survival horror variety. Alan Wake 2 has gone fully in this direction, however, with a much darker tone, disturbing imagery, and restrictive combat mechanics that sustain the tension when The Taken attack.

Aside from limited ammo, low health, and tough enemies to bring down, a key aspect of survival horror games is an inventory system. The first game let you hold essentially as much ammo, batteries, and weapons as you wanted in each chapter, but the sequel introduces a grid system that will look familiar to Resident Evil fans. Just like Resident Evil, your inventory starts off quite small, but you can see there is plenty of space for it to grow. There are specific items hidden in and around Bright Falls that can let you expand your carrying capacity, but many are well hidden in dark corners. Here are the locations of every inventory upgrade in Alan Wake 2.
All inventory upgrades

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