As discussed in TheGamer's review of Alan Wake 2 by Jade King, the sequel from Remedy has reached new heights for survival horror and set a new bar that Silent Hill 2 previously established. Since Remedy Entertainment is connecting its game universes, many Easter eggs and references from 2019's Control bleed into the story of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Alan Wake 2.

In addition to Control, you also have plenty of hidden details referencing movies, voice actors, and elements from the original 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Alan Wake. While you didn't need to play the developer's past games, some will appear more obvious if you have.

Updated on December 28, 2023, by Dennis Moiseyev: The amount of hidden detail and Easter eggs Remedy managed to throw in for Alan Wake 2's characters and environments is astounding. There were too many to include the first and second time around, but now we've more than scratched the surface, and every little detail and Easter egg has been found and added.

24 Nazareno's Pizzeria

Whether traversing the Dark Place as Alan Wake or Bright Falls and Watery as Saga, you may have noticed some pizza boxes lying around everywhere (They do say "Any place!"). Plus, Sheriff Tim Breaker has to eat something while trapped in the Dark Place, and his favorite seems to be Nazareno's Pizzeria. You can even spot the sign for the establishment in the alley where you go to pick up Alex Casey's revolver.

The name 'Nazareno' is no coincidence. The pizza boxes are an homage to Remedy's lead environment artist, Nazareno Urbano, who not only designed all the captivating, chilling, Game Award-winning art for environments in Alan Wake 2 but was also a senior environment artist on Quantum Break and Control.

23 Alan Wake 2's Norman Honors Comedian Norm Macdonald

Quirky and eccentric characters that can sometimes feel too funny for the horror premise being established are the charm of the Alan Wake series, especially in the sequel. One of those funny personalities comes through in a senior named Norman MacDonald, whos𓄧e character is designed to always appear in a modesty towel.

His name is a direct reference to honor the late comedian Norman "Norm" Macdonald (spelled lowercase 'd'), who passed away in 2021. Norm Macdonald's memorable voice was heard throughout the comedy film and television world in projects like SNL, Family Guy, The Orville, Doctor Dolittle, Billy Madison, and, of course, his very own sitcom – The Norm Show.

22 The Harry Garrett Show Sign In Mr. Door's Studio

Alan Wake 2 features a live-action talk show segment with Alan in the interview chair beside Alex Casey (portrayed by Sam Lake) chatting with the host, a new character named Mr. Door. 168🐽澳洲幸运5开🎃奖网:To those familiar with the original Alan Wake, the talk show element may feel like a nod to The Harry Garrett Show flashback, a meta interview where host Harry Garrett interviews Alan Wake about his Casey novel 'The Sudden Stop' and Sam Lake as himself.

In the basement area of Mr. Door's studio, you can see the removed sign for The Harry Garrett Show lying in storage. Sam Lake's character also makes a strained Max Payne expression during one of the interviews in Alan Wake 2, which he likewise did during the closing of The Harry Garrett Show.

21 James McCaffrey Once Again Voices Sam Lake's Model

Here's a bit of a meta Easter egg with a side of Remedy Entertainment history. The very first major action title the studio developed was 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Max Payne in 2001. What was notable about the protagonist was that Remedy's creative director and writer, Sam Lake, provided his likeness for the character model, and actor James McCaffrey did the voice performance.

Fast forward to 2023, and Alan Wake 2 brings back Sam Lake as an in-game character, Alan Wake's seemingly fictional FBI agent Alex Casey from the novels, and voicing the hard-boi🌞led de♉tective yet again is James McCaffrey, who's now also heartbreakingly not with us anymore.

20 Dark Place Alex Casey Wears Max Payne's Suit And Tie

An even bigger nod to Max Payne is Dark Place Alex Casey, as he's not the same one you know partnered with Saga in Bright Falls. Not only does he feel scarier and more like the fictional detective created by Alan, interrogating witnesses in echoes and even monologuing in Max Payne's noir style, but his clothing changes too.

Dark Place Casey wears the iconic leather jacket, white dress shirt, and psychedelic-patterned beige tie that Max Payne used as his wardrobe in The Fall of Max Payne and Rockstar's Max Payne 3. This is probably a further tease to Remedy's anticipated remakes of the first two Max Payne games.

19 Quantum Break's Shawn Ashmore Returns As Sheriff Tim Breaker

After the first Alan Wake game in 2010, Remedy's next big triple-a title that proved even more thrilling and mind-bending was the Xbox One-exclusive 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Quantum Break. It's a third-person shooter where protagonist Jack Joyce gets caught up in an unimaginable time-splitting conflict with unique powers of his own. And playing the main character is actor Shawn Ashmore.

Shawn Ashmore is no stranger to being in games, as you may have also seen him in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan, in addition to being in tons of ༒films and shows like X-Men, The Boys, and The Rookie. In Alan Wake 2, he reunites with the creative team of Remedy to be the new mysterious she🌺riff of Bright Falls, Tim Breaker.

18 Saga Anderson And Alex Casey's Coffee Sip Is Recreated From Quantum Break

Sheriff Tim Breaker's character isn't the only callback to Quantum Break. If you recall, there was a live-action teaser trailer for the Alan Wake story 'Return' in the 2016 game. Return is a manuscript being written by Alan in the Dark Place, which is now altering reality. It's also the name of Saga's chapters in the game.

At the start of the trailer, FBI agents Alex Casey and Sa𝔍ga Anderson are drinking a mug of coffee in perfect sync with each other while staring at an evidence board. This precise moment is recreated with Oh Deer Diner mugs in Alan Wake 2 when Saga and Alex Casey review their evid👍ence board before interviewing Alan at the Elderwood Palace Lodge.

17 Old Gods Of Asgard ﷺ

The fiction𝄹ꦬal Norse mythology-inspired music group Old Gods of Asgard is back in live-action form in Alan Wake 2 as the live studio band for Mr. Door's talk show. In the first game, you heard their music and got to meet members Tor and Odin Anderson. Now, there's even a surreal musical sequence featuring them, where you get to hear a new track of theirs called 'Herald of Darkness.'

Old Gods of Asgard is actually a real Finnish band called Poets of the Fall, who've collaborated with Remedy Entertainment since Max Payne 2. They created the ending theme for Max Payne 2, the musical tracks for Alan Wake, songওs for Control, and now for Alan Wake 2♊, even appearing as themselves in live-action through fict♉ional characters.

One of the patches hidden among the others on Tor Anderson's black leather vest is a Poets of the Fall patch.

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You'll even receive some Old Gods of Asgard songs from the first Alan Wake and Control that you can listen to on your radio in Saga's Mind Place.

16 🔯 The Oceanview Hotel Room Symbols

In Control, protagonist Jesse Faden often visited a mysterious place called the Oceanview Motel, which had a series of doors marked with room numbers and others in♍scribed with strange symbols. The Dark Place in Alan Wake 2 will send you to the Oceanview Hotel, which has doors with very similar markings to those in Contr♎ol.

You'll run into symbols such as the inverted pyramid and the half-spiral with a 'c' and cross mark inside the center as you explore the eerie halls of the Oceanview Hotel. You'll 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:mainly want to be in Room 666, however.

15 Famil༒iar Characters From 🐭Control

Ahti

The Control Easter eggs don't stop with the Oceanview Hotel. There are also many characters popping up throughout the story. The first familiar face is, of course, the janitor Ahti, who's left the FBC building in New York to work in Mr. Door's talk show studio within the Dark Place, with the same charming personality.

But that's not the only place where you'll find Ahti. He'll also join Saga in Bright Falls, living alongside other residents in the Valhalla Nursing Home where he works. You can also find movie posters for 'Nightless Night' with his band Ahti and the Janitors credited for the music, and there are even posters just for his band in save rooms.

Along one of the walls on your way to Ahti's janitor closet in Mr. Door's studio, you can spot a picture frame of the live-action Ahti, portrayed by Martti Suosalo, posing with Mr. Door.

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In another callback to Max Payne, Ahti hums the Old Gods' 'Herald of Darkness' song after Initiation 4 and 'The Poet and the Muse' in Return 5. The second Max Payne game had a janitor in an orange suit singing and humming the tune of the game's theme 'Late Goodbye.'

Mr. Door

Mr. Door is someone Jesse's brother Dylan claimed to have visited him in his dreams in Control, but here he is in live-action, played by Supergirl and Homeland star David Harewood, interviewing author Alan Wake on a late-night talk show called 'In Between With Mr. Door.' And, in his studio dressing room, you'll find a book written by Dr. Casper Darling called 'My Interpretation of Many Worlds' next to a pack of cigarettes with the Inverted Black Pyramid logo​​​​​.

Dr. Casper Darling

Dr. Darling is the Head of Research for the FBC, explaining his scientific theories in a plethora of video presentations. His character authoring a book is an Easter egg in itself because Darling is portrayed by none other than Alan Wake's voice actor, Matthew Porretta. The title is also a little on the nose with the strange worlds of Control and Alan Wake crossing over.