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E3 may have finished a few months ago but that doesn’t mean new game announcements are finished for the year. Sony held a PlayStation Showcase where several games were announced and discussed, including two new remakes.
Alan, Wake Up
Alan Wake is an action-adventure title with horror and mystery thrown in for good measure. The game follows best-selling author Alan Wake as he searches for his missing wife. The game features exploration and an unfolding mystery set against satisfying 1-2 punch combat that combines firearms and flashlights. The wilderness and idyllic towns of the pacific west are as inviting as they are offputting. Despite the game’s flaws, it remains a good experience that helped influence games that came after. And yes, the product placement advertisements featuring Verizon, Energizer, Lincoln, and Ford will remain hidden in the shadows of the original release.
Remedy Entertainment has announced Alan Wake Remastered will include the original base game and both of the downloadable content packs that added to the game’s story. The Signal and The Writer were both originally available for 560 Microsoft Points, or seven bucks apiece, so some fans may have missed or skipped them back in the day. I remember playing through the content packs and being excited for the future of the series, which ultimately didn’t end up happening.
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is a fun, arcade-style action title that’s canon and added to the story, but it was pretty short. It was a $15 Xbox Live Arcade title and it was the most Microsoft ended up approving. Remedy had plans for Alan Wake 2 but they ultimately weren’t able to do it. Alan Wake Remastered could be the beginning of Alan Wake’s flashlight-lit future. Remedy acquired the rights to Alan Wake from Microsoft back in 2019 and this could be more than a celebration. Remedy might be testing the waters for an Alan Wake sequel. The remaster might also be Remedy’s way of officially introducing Alan Wake to everyone before he shows up in Control’s universe again.
Alan Wake Remastered is scheduled to release on October 5th, 2021. It will be available on PC via Epic Games Store, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. This marks the game’s first appearance on PlayStation platforms. The original 2010 release was only available on Xbox 360 as it was published by Microsoft. It was later ported to PC via Steam and Microsoft Windows. The original version is still playable on Xbox consoles via backward compatibility, as well as PC, so the 4K resolution and improved visuals of the remaster will be very clear.
A Star Wars remake was also announced for PlayStation platforms, and this one was a new announcement entirely. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic — Remake doesn’t have a release date yet and very little is known about the game, but what we do know sounds promising. It’s being developed by Aspyr Media, perhaps most well known for porting several classic Star Wars titles to modern platforms, and will be published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was originally released over eighteen years ago. It needs a remake. The story and characters have aged really well but the gameplay itself has aged some over the years. I’ve poured thousands of hours into Knights of the Old Republic and even more into the Obsidian-developed sequel. But those replays have slowed down over the years. I know I’m not the only one eager to explore the Star Wars universe in an RPG vehicle again, especially in a full remake.
Knights of the old republic indeed
The original games are both still available on PC, Xbox, and mobile platforms so a remake will only make the game available to more players. Both games are available for $9.99 on Xbox and playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Though I don’t anticipate newcomers finding a lot of joy in the forty-plus hour journeys. Without a heavy dose of nostalgia on hand, the originals may prove too difficult to enjoy. Aspyr has said the new game is a completely new game that’s being developed from the ground up. Today’s technology and all the improvements games have experienced since 2003 will allow the original game’s foundation to soar higher than the stars and the wars.
In a press release, Aspyr said Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic — Remake is “completely rebuilt from the ground up.” Aspyr has also said the team was freshly created but is composed of industry veterans.
Details remain in the shadows for now but maybe Alan Wake’s flashlight will shine some light on it all at a later date. Enough information has been provided for now to create some reasonably high expectations. Sony has proven itself quite capable in its publishing efforts, with games like Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Aspyr knows how to update old games. This time the company is just updating an old game a lot more than normal.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic — Remake currently has no release date but it will be on PlayStation 5 first. Specific platforms have not been outlined but it will have timed exclusivity on PlayStation 5 at release. The exact release window is not known but be prepared to pick a PS5 if you’d like to play it on release day. I can already feel the rules of Pazaak coming back to me.
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