9 best games like Alan Wake 2 to play in 2024, from Control to Senua's Saga
If you’ve polished off Alan Wake 2 and are hunting for some more games like it to dive into, there are lots out there - ranging from Remedy’s Control to the incomparable Deadly Premonition.
Alan Wake 2 embraces its survival horror blueprints, so finding similar games will get you in the perfect mood for a spooky gaming session while diving into intricate narratives similar to what the game has to offer.
How we chose the best games
For this list, I've selected games that hit the core foundations of Alan Wake 2’s gameplay, narrative and genre elements. The game is a survival horror at its core and our list reflects that, however, it also contains elements of a Lynchian brand of horror that has it stand out among its peers.
Click to enlargeSome of the elements that you’ll find in these games are a small-town setting, a haunted protagonist, a penchant for the macabre, and strange and uncanny powers to ward off forces that may seek to do you harm.
Best games like Alan Wake
9 - Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2
Click to enlarge- Developer: Ninja Theory
- Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 2024
- Subscription service: Xbox Game Pass
- Key features:
- Engaging narrative
- Photorealistic visuals
- Brilliant acting
As a sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed games of the last generation, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 had a lot riding on it. While it may not hit all the right notes all the way through, one thing that can't be denied is just how visually spectacular the game looks. With photorealistic graphics that even rival that of Alan Wake 2, its surreal tale becomes all the more enthralling.
Moreover, alongside its impressive visuals, Senua's Saga also boasts some incredible acting from its leads, who deliver a heart-wrenching performance into the darkest recesses of the soul. If ever there was a time to grab Xbox Game Pass, Senua's Saga is worth it.
8 - Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Click to enlarge- Developer: Simogo
- Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch
- Release date: 2024
- Subscription Service: n/a
- Key features:
- Packed full of puzzles
- Non-linear progression
- Surreal story
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a puzzle game with style, a gorgeous black-and-white film noir that's full to bursting with the most intriguing puzzles you'll see this year. As an unnamed woman, you're summoned to an eerie hotel by an enigmatic man to help him complete his mysterious project. Along the way, you'll have to solve numerous puzzles that will help you advance your cause and help him on his way.
The aforementioned puzzles can be completed in any order. If you're struggling in one area, you can return to it later without worrying about missing out on anything. Alongside it, the bursts of colour that permeate the black-and-white on occasion are to die for and help make its surreal story all the more visually pleasing.
7 - SIGNALIS
Click to enlarge- Developer: rose-engine
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
- Release date: 2022
- Subscription service: n/a
- Key features:
- Hardcore mechanics
- Twisting narrative
- Detailed world-building and lore
SIGNALIS has a lot in common with Alan Wake 2, though its top-down 2.5D perspective and science fiction setting don't make that immediately obvious. The game is set in the far future, where humanity has colonised the stars and uses synthetic humans for the majority of its workforce.
You play as one of these androids as they try to find their lost memories in a government facility that has fallen to chaos as the other androids have gone rogue. Its hardcore survival horror mechanics can make it a difficult experience to master, but it's well worth exploring its world and highly conceptual narrative.
6 – Ghostwire: Tokyo
Click to enlarge- Developer: Tango Gameworks
- Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 2022
- Subscription service: Xbox Game Pass
- Key features:
- Haptic feedback
- Gorgeous graphics
- Huge open-world replicating Tokyo
Ghostwire: Tokyo, in my opinion, is an underrated gem of a game that shows off just what the PS5 is capable of. With gorgeous graphics that replicate a rain-soaked Tokyo and some haunting haptics from the DualSense controller, you’ll be fighting the most frightening creatures and feel every hit.
With directional input from horror legends, Ikumi Nakamura and Shinji Mikami, Ghostwire: Tokyo has you playing as Akito, who is trying to save his sister from some sinister forces. By merging the spirit world with the real world, Ghostwire: Tokyo establishes its town as an uncanny horror game in the same vein as Alan Wake.
5 - The Evil Within 2
Click to enlarge- Developer: Tango Gameworks
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 2017
- Subscription service: Xbox Game Pass
- Key features:
- Sequel to a divisive horror game
- Developed by Shinji Mikami
- Open-world horror
Following on from its divisive first entry, The Evil Within 2 sends you back into the nightmare world of S.T.E.M. as detective Sebastian Castellanos goes in search of the daughter, he long thought dead.
The Evil Within 2 is pure psychological horror, brought frighteningly to life once again by the master of horror himself, Shinji Mikami. While the series has certainly divided its fans, one thing can be certain, there is no game more like Alan Wake than one with a sad dude looking for a missing family member.
4 – Dead Space
Click to enlarge- Developer: Motive Studio
- Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 2023
- Subscription service: Xbox Game Pass
- Key features:
- Haptic feedback
- Remake of a classic horror game
- Terrifying enemy encounters
As remakes go, Dead Space has stood out as one of the most frightful in the best possible way. As Isaac Clarke, you go in search of your wife (like Alan Wake in the first game) and attempt to escape the Necromorphs that have slaughtered the crew of the USG Ishimura.
It's common knowledge by now that you can’t just blindly shoot at a Necromorph to kill it. You have to cut off its limbs. Conditions like these are an uncanny reminder of shining a flashlight on the enemies of Alan Wake to remove their shadowy barriers and deliver a round of killing shots.
3 - Silent Hill 2
Click to enlarge- Developer: Team Silent
- Platforms: PlayStation 2
- Release date: 2001
- Subscription service: n/a
- Key features:
- Iconic retro horror
- Complex story
- One of the greatest games of all time
If ever there was a reason to dig out the PS2 (or even hop on eBay to purchase one second-hand), then playing Silent Hill 2 is perhaps the most valid. While it may be the most retro game on this list, and with a remake pending, Silent Hill 2 is the pinnacle of horror games and establishes a lot of the foundations that games like Alan Wake are built upon.
While certainly not for the faint of heart, Silent Hill 2 is most certainly one of the best games like Alan Wake to play because of its use of the dark world that bleeds into the real.
2 - Deadly Premonition: Origins
Click to enlarge- Developer: Access Games
- Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
- Release date: 2019
- Subscription service: n/a
- Key features:
- As funny as it is scary
- Small town setting
- Bizarre but beguiling protagonist
Have you ever imagined a Twin Peaks video game? Well, Dead Premonition is probably the closest you’ll get, next to Alan Wake. By taking up the mantle of FBI agent, Francis York Morgan, you have to solve the ritualistic murder of a young girl in a small town. Sound familiar?
Deadly Premonition: Origins is the Switch port of the game that allows you to not only take it on the go but also provide you with a chance to play it before its rather unexpected sequel that also bears a similar resemblance to Alan Wake. Only time will tell if Alan Wake 2 will have you looking into your coffee for some clues to help find the killer.
Wouldn’t you agree, Zach?
What is the best game like Alan Wake 2?
1 – Control
Click to enlarge- Developer: Remedy Entertainment
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
- Release date: 2019
- Subscription service: Xbox Game Pass
- Key features:
- Crossover universe with Alan Wake
- Unique paranormal powers
- Made by Remedy
If there is one game you should play like Alan Wake, it's Remedy Entertainment’s Control. By allowing you to embrace unique paranormal abilities with fluid combat, it takes the lessons learned from the original Alan Wake title and perfects them.
What makes Control the best game like Alan Wake is the interconnected universe between the two games with Control’s AWE DLC. With the Bureau in Control having influence over Alan Wake’s narrative to some degree, it is certainly a title to pick up and play if you’re looking to completely immerse yourself in the Alan Wake universe along with Alan Wake 2.
Check out our lists homepage for more guides like this. We've also covered the best Resident Evil games, the best games like Alone in the Dark, the best games like Dead Island 2, and the best Xbox Game Pass games.
