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Alan Wake II
Accessibility
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29 Accessibility Features

We've documented 29 accessibility features for Alan Wake II, including Fully Voiced (Or No Speech), Control Assists, Select Difficulty, No Button Combos and Remap Buttons. Its accessibility is strongest in Controls and Reading but it also has features in Navigation, Visual, Difficulty, Getting Started and Audio to reduce unintended barriers.

This report is created with input from accessibility experts and the player community to help people find games that have the accessibility features they require. Once you have found potential games on the database, there are excellent specialist accessibility sites that offer in-depth reviews to guide your purchasing decisions.

Alan Wake II is a survival-horror shooting game where you play two intertwining lives in a dark psychedelic story. Across two worlds, one real and one nightmarish, you use your flashlight to stun hideous monsters, then kill them with your limited ammunition to discern the supernatural mystery. The first game stood out for bringing Stephen King novels to life in game form, the sequel pairs detective and horror genres similar to films like David Fincher's Seven.

Our accessibility examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Alan Wake II accessibility 5 weeks ago.

Accessibility Notes

On PC, you can remap both mouse and keyboard as well as controller inputs, but on consoles, there is no remapping available. You need to hold down buttons to perform some actions, such as healing, and rapid pressing is sometimes required when facing enemies. Although there is (optional) aim assist when using a controller, you still need to be relatively precise, and fast reactions are also essential when fighting enemies at close quarters. Precision in this game is more critical than in other similar games because of the severely limited ammo, so if you miss even a couple of shots you end up at a severe disadvantage.

There are several difficulty settings in the game, which can be switched between at any time, which affect the amount of health enemies have, but not how many there are.

The game automatically saves your progress, but it's still possible to lose some if you die. You can also manually save by going to a Break Room, but this means that you can't save at any time/location you want.

There's a significant amount of text throughout the game, and although you can change its size, some remain under 1/20^th of screen height. Text is generally high in contrast, and subtitles can be enabled and modified with speaker names, text backgrounds, and even subtitles for critical signs throughout the world. Much of the game world is very dark and often low in contrast, and some items and enemies can blend in very well with their surroundings. There are frequent flashes, screen shakes, and jumpscares throughout the game.

Some interactive objects, such as areas you can unlock with your light as Alan Wake, have visual guidance to them in the form of an icon with an arrow that points in its direction, although this is quite small and only applies to some things, so if you want to ensure you have a good supply of ammunition and health packs you still need to explore extensively with little guidance. You can turn off the HUD, enable a permanent crosshair, censor nudity (but not blood and gore), and, on PC, choose between PlayStation and Xbox controller icons for the limited button prompts shown on-screen.

You can view your current objectives and what you need to do to complete them, but in some cases, this can be vague and require you to figure out what exactly to do by yourself.

There is extensive audio customisation available; you can adjust the different audio types (SFX, Music, Dialogue) individually, reduce the bass, switch between stereo/surround sound and mono audio, and enable a hyperacusis filter and select its intensity.

Although you can disable motion blur, there are extensive post-processing effects that cannot be disabled, such as severe chromatic aberration around some objects, and disorienting camera movements in cutscenes that could induce motion sickness.

Game Details

Release Date: 27/10/2023

Out Now: PC, PS5 and Xbox X|S

Content Rating: PEGI 18

Skill Rating: 14+ year-olds

Players: 1

Genres: Adventure, Narrative, Shooting (Action, Puzzle and Traversal)

Accessibility: 29 features

Components: 3D Third-Person and Filmed

Developer: Remedy Games (@RemedyGames)

Costs: Purchase cost, In-Game Purchases and In-Game Pass

Controls

We've documented 11 accessibility features for Controls in Alan Wake II which deal with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.

Gamepad

Can play with the following:

Multiple Buttons & Two Sticks: Can play with multiple buttons and two sticks.

Mouse And Keyboard

Can play with the following:

Mouse and Keys: Can play with mouse and multiple keys.

Remap Controls

Can customise the controls for the game as follows:

Remap Buttons: Can re-map all buttons so that you can use alternatives that better suit your play.

Remap Mouse and Keyboard: Can remap mouse and keyboard key bindings, on systems that support these controls.

Remap Extra Mouse Buttons: Can remap additional buttons on mice that provide more than the two standard buttons, on systems that support these controls.

Remap Mouse Wheel: Can remap the mouse wheel to control aspects of the game when you move it up/down, on systems that support these controls.

Invert X/Y Axis: Can invert the direction required to control looking and aiming. This enables you to match your instinctive orientation when looking.

Button Combinations

Specific button operation required to play

No Simultaneous Buttons: Only one button or key required at a time, in addition to direction stick(s).

Controller Vibration

Vibration Optional: Controller vibration not used in the game or you can disable it.

Informative Vibration: Controller vibration indicates events or interactions in the game, echoing visual and audio cues. This can provide additional information about progress, approaching enemies or hitting a target.

Sensitivity

You can adjust

Adjust Mouse/Stick/Touch Sensitivity: Adjust how sensitive touch/mouse/stick controls are.

Difficulty

We've documented 2 accessibility features for Difficulty in Alan Wake II which deal with how you can adjust the challenge of play, and whether this is locked once chosen or can be adjusted as you play.

Difficulty Options

Select Difficulty: Select the level of difficulty from a range of presets. This not only offers a way to adjust the challenge of a game but enables you to do so without dealing with individual criteria.

Adjust After Setting

Adjustable Anytime: You can adjust the difficulty while playing, without having to restart the level you are on. This enables you to quickly adjust the game to suit your needs and see the difference immediately.

Getting Started

We've documented 2 accessibility features for Getting Started in Alan Wake II which deal with what support is offered to get started with the game. This includes customising the experience when you first open the game via any onboarding processes it provides as well as tutorials and other assistance when you first start playing.

Assistance Getting Starting

These features aid your play of the game in terms of cognitive load on learning controls, dealing with pressure and coping with the environment and challenges.

Tutorials: There are helpful tutorials and instructions on how to play. Information is provided in a timely manner, with appropriate level of detail.

Assistance With Controls: The game can automatically assist with aiming, steering, reloading, jumping, running etc. This reduces the challenge of certain aspects of play to remove barriers and make control of characters more accessible.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Getting Started

If you want to play Alan Wake II, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:

Quake II (7 Getting Started Features)
Control (5 Getting Started Features)
Resident Evil 4 (4 Getting Started Features)
A Plague Tale: Requiem (3 Getting Started Features)

Reading

We've documented 5 accessibility features for Reading in Alan Wake II which deal with how much reading or listening comprehension is required, how well the game provides visual and audible access to the text and whether subtitles and captions are a good fit for purpose.

Reading Level

How much reading is required to play the game's main path or story and how complex the language is. The presence of voiced characters doesn't reduce this requirement, as it's recorded as a separate datapoint.

Moderate Reading: Moderate reading required. The quantity and complexity of reading are at a level that a high school student (14-year-old) would appreciate.

Text Visibility

High Contrast Text: Text colour contrasts to the background or can be adjusted to be. The text in menus, instructions and other information is presented in high contrast with a solid background.

Subtitles

All Speech Subtitled (Or No Speech In Game): All spoken content has subtitles, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to hear spoken dialogue or narrative to play the game.

Captions

Speaker Indicator: Textual captions indicate who is speaking (or there is only ever one person speaking). This can also be indicated visually in the game with character icons or placing text in speech bubbles next to the person speaking.

Voice Acted

All Dialogue is Voice Acted (Or No Speech In Game): All of the game dialogue and narrative can be voiced, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to read the dialogue and narrative text to play the game.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading

If you want to play Alan Wake II, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:

Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach (7 Reading Features)
Resident Evil 4 (6 Reading Features)
Dead Space (6 Reading Features)
Dead by Daylight (6 Reading Features)

Navigation

We've documented 5 accessibility features for Navigation in Alan Wake II which deal with how the game provides guidance and assistance to navigate its worlds. These are only for games that have traversal and exploration in 2D and 3D spaces.

Clarity

Clear Mission Objectives: The game provides clear, structured missions with directional guidance and advice on which can be attempted next. This also indicates (ideally on maps where they are provided) which missions can't be attempted because you do not have the appropriate items yet.

Visual Directional Cues: Additional in-game visual cues that signpost where to go next and how close you are to arriving. This can be with camera movement to focus on your destination or important items. It can use light, breadcrumb trails, in-world pointers to identify your mission's target location.

Head-Up Display

Adjust Head-Up Display: Resize and adjust the content of the head-up display. This enables it to be made more visible. It can also enable the removal of too much information that can be distracting or confusing.

Game Map: View a map of the game world during play, with the landscape, points of interest and missions highlighted throughout the entire game. This enables the orientation of the player and the world, confirming a direction of movement and the location of destinations or points of exploration.

Menu Navigation

Digital Menu Navigation: Menu choices with Gamepad can be made without using an analogue stick to guide a cursor to a selection. For example, using D-Pad, buttons or the Stick to change menu selection in a single action.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Navigation

If you want to play Alan Wake II, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Navigation accessibility:

Dead Space (6 Navigation Features)

Visual

We've documented 3 accessibility features for Visual in Alan Wake II which deal with how you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.

Audio Cues for Visual Events

Audio Cues for Visual Events: Audio is provided to indicate visual events. Game events or progress highlighted by visual icons, effects or animations are also accompanied by audio to signify that progress. This is useful for blind players.

Audio Depiction of Event Location: Indication with positional/stereo audio of where directional events are on the screen for things like damage, footsteps, environmental elements. This is useful for blind players.

Colour Options

Colour Blind Friendly: Game doesn’t rely on colour or can switch to colour blind friendly mode with double coding or similar way to avoid colour dependance.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Visual

If you want to play Alan Wake II, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:

Dead Space (7 Visual Features)
Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach (4 Visual Features)
A Plague Tale: Requiem (4 Visual Features)
A Plague Tale: Innocence (4 Visual Features)

Audio

We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Audio in Alan Wake II which deals with how you can adjust the audio of the game and whether audio cues compensate for aspects of the game that are hard to see.

Adjustable Audio

Balance Audio Levels: Set music and game sound effects separately. This enables you to select your preference as well as ensure critical game sounds aren't obscured by other audio.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Audio

If you want to play Alan Wake II, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Audio accessibility:

Resident Evil 4 (3 Audio Features)
A Plague Tale: Requiem (3 Audio Features)
Dead by Daylight (3 Audio Features)
Quake II (2 Audio Features)

System Accessibility Settings

In addition to the accessibility features provided in the game, you can also use system-wide accessibility settings:

PC
Windows has extensive accessibility features. Some, like colour correction, work with games. Lots of accessibility software can be used with PC games, from voice recognition to input device emulators.

PlayStation 5
PlayStation 5 has a range of system-wide accessibility settings.

Xbox Series X|S
Xbox One has a system features, the excellent co-pilot share controls mode and adaptive controller support for all games.

Read more about system accessibility settings.

Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Ben Kendall

Written by parents for parents, the database complements the in-depth discussion about video game addiction, violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. We are an editorially independent, free resource without adverts that is supported by partnerships.