Alan Wake 2 fan notices a sound cue gives the game away about its villain early on, Remedy sound dev gasps 'Finally someone noticed'

GamesHorrorAlan Wake 2Alan Wake 2 fan notices a sound cue gives the game away about its villain early on, Remedy sound dev gasps ‘Finally someone noticed’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Remedy Entertainment)

Alan Wake with a glowing bullet hole in his forehead in Alan Wake 2.

Surely the best kind of easter egg is one that gives the whole game away ahead of time, but which you’d never notice on your first time through.Baldur’s Gate 3 does itwith its music, BioShock did it with its revive system, and, hey, I guess Alan Wake 2 did it as well.Spoilers ahead for, you guessed it, Alan Wake 2.

Still here? Great. An enterprising Alan Wake 2 fan has realised that the game lets the cat out of the bag very early on with regards to Alan’s evil doppelganger Scratch. If you need a reminder, Scratch’s whole deal is that he’s a product of the evil Dark Presence who impersonates our Alan. Or, more accurately, hepossesseshim: It turns out over the course of AW2 that Scratch pretty much lives inside his head.

Ordinarily, finding that out is a big twist, but a player named WillieTPJ on Twitter noticed that if you hover over the prompts surrounding Alan’s photo in the Mind Place early on, the game will start to play eerie Dark Presence sounds, suggesting that ol’ Scratch’s source is right there in Alan’s head.

One of my favourite details in #AlanWake2 is how the sounds on the character profiles tell you something about them. The clue to Scratch’s whereabouts is in the Mind Place early on. When you hover over the prompts, the inside of Alan’s head sounds like the dark presence. pic.twitter.com/sQNBTzduEAAugust 4, 2024

So there you have it, Remedy was trying to tell us all along, but it took us this long to realise. It’s just one more reason Alan Wake 2 was one of the best games to come out last year, netting our covetedBest Story 2023spot and a score of 88% from Robin Valentine in ourAlan Wake 2 review, who said Remedy felt “more confident and more independent than ever.” Sneakier too, looks like.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

More about horror

Dead By Daylight: The Junji Ito Collection

The outlast trials personal pick

Sure, I’m scared of my own shadow, but that doesn’t stop me from forcing my friends to play The Outlast Trials with me

LatestToday’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10See more latest►

Latest

Today’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10

Today’s Wordle being played on a phone

Today’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10

See more latest►

Most PopularTrack down a missing person in this ‘Geoguessr-inspired detective game’ set on an alien planetOld meets new as classic MMO players worship a famous Vtuber via gifts of bones so she can max out the Prayer skillHyper Light Breaker will cost $30 and for a limited time come with a free copy of DrifterFallout season 2 filming delayed due to massive LA firesAssassin’s Creed Shadows is delayed again ‘to better incorporate player feedback gathered over the past three months’The Freewrite Wordrunner with a built-in word counter might be the keyboard to look out for if you want to improve your writing process’I created it, let me move on’: Ex-Cloud 9 player, the Overwatch team whose blunder inspired the infamous ‘C9’ slang, watches in horror as the term moves onto Marvel RivalsLenovo’s rollable laptop screen isn’t just a CES party trick—you’ll be able to pick one up yourself in JuneNvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang’s simple reminder that useful quantum computing is a long way off has somehow caused industry stocks to plummetAfter 15 years, Minecraft has finally added two new pig variations: The warm pig and the cold pig, meaning I can delete one mod off my listIf you love a big laptop without a big price tag, this RTX 4070 17.3-incher is an ideal pick at $1,300

Most Popular

Track down a missing person in this ‘Geoguessr-inspired detective game’ set on an alien planet

Old meets new as classic MMO players worship a famous Vtuber via gifts of bones so she can max out the Prayer skill

Hyper Light Breaker will cost $30 and for a limited time come with a free copy of Drifter

Fallout season 2 filming delayed due to massive LA fires

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is delayed again ‘to better incorporate player feedback gathered over the past three months’

The Freewrite Wordrunner with a built-in word counter might be the keyboard to look out for if you want to improve your writing process

‘I created it, let me move on’: Ex-Cloud 9 player, the Overwatch team whose blunder inspired the infamous ‘C9’ slang, watches in horror as the term moves onto Marvel Rivals

Lenovo’s rollable laptop screen isn’t just a CES party trick—you’ll be able to pick one up yourself in June

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang’s simple reminder that useful quantum computing is a long way off has somehow caused industry stocks to plummet

After 15 years, Minecraft has finally added two new pig variations: The warm pig and the cold pig, meaning I can delete one mod off my list

If you love a big laptop without a big price tag, this RTX 4070 17.3-incher is an ideal pick at $1,300

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals