Leading up to Alan Wake 2’s first anniversary, Remedy has revealed a lot of goodies for fans of the franchise. Last week, we got a new look and more details regarding Alan Wake 2’s second expansion, The Lake House, which is set to release tomorrow. Today, Remedy has provided more details about the additions coming to the PlayStation 5 Pro version of the game. Remedy has also announced The Anniversary Update, a free update also coming out tomorrow that features the changes and improvements that the community has asked for.
Both the Quality and Performance modes in Alan Wake II will be upgraded on PS5 Pro. The PS5 Quality mode features ray tracing which is not available on the base PS5 version of the game. The Performance mode features significantly higher output resolution an has more visual detail compared to the base PS5. The Pro Performance mode will also use approximately the same image quality (render) settings as the base PS5’s Quality mode.
Quality Mode
- 30fps with ray tracing
- Ray traced reflections (opaque and transparent)
- Output resolution 3840 x 2160 (4K)
- Render resolution 2176 x 1224
Performance Mode
- 60fps
- Using approximately the same render (image quality) settings as the base PS5 Quality mode.
- Base PS5 Performance mode version runs at lower render (image quality) settings
- Render resolution 1536 x 864
- Output resolution 3840 x 2160 (4K)
- Base PS5 version outputs 1440p.
Talking about its approach for the PlayStation Pro and what improvements it decided to make, Remedy said:
“We shipped Alan Wake 2 on October 27th, 2023. The PlayStation 5 and Series X versions offer players the choice between a Quality mode at 30fps and a Performance mode targeting 60fps. We wanted to retain and improve these modes when considering upgrading Alan Wake 2 for the Pro.
When it comes to Alan Wake 2, it seemed a better idea to improve the signal that we feed into the denoising network rather than trying just to add more data. This led us to improve the rendering quality settings of the Pro Performance mode which is closer to what the base PlayStation 5 version’s Quality mode uses.
These upgraded settings provide the Pro version of Alan Wake 2 with a fast response rate combined with a sharper and better-quality image than was previously possible.
Alan Wake 2 is visually incredibly detailed and rich, which are qualities that make it a tough fit for ray tracing, especially compared to our previous game, Control. Still, we do like a challenge here at Remedy. If you have a high-end PC with the right graphics card, ray tracing on Alan Wake 2 looks great, and we are happy that we can now bring ray tracing to the Pro thanks to its upgraded hardware.”
In addition to detailing the improvements for the PlayStation 5 Pro, Remedy has also announced The Anniversary Update.
The Anniversary Update is a kind of thank you to the fans since the game’s launch this time last year. Since then, Remedy has been gathering the feedback from the community and has been working on changes and improvements to the game based on the feedback they have received. The Anniversary Update brings all of the changes and adds them to the game.
The Anniversary Update contains Remedy’s biggest addition to quality of life and accessibility options to the game to date and includes the ability to invert the X (horizontal) axis on mouse and controller, Gyro aiming (motion controls) support, Haptics will also work with healing items and throwables.
The Anniversary Update also adds the Gameplay Assist menu which contains the following toggles:
- Quick turn
- Auto complete QTE
- Button tapping to single tap
- Weapon charging with taps
- Healing items with taps
- Lightshifter with taps
- Player invulnerability
- Player immortality
- One shot kill
- Infinite ammo
- Infinite flashlight batteries
The Anniversary Update will be free for all players and will be released tomorrow alongside The Lake House which is exclusive to the Deluxe Edition of Alan Wake 2.