Alan Wake 2 difficulty settings explained: All settings & how to change

Aryan Singh
Combat in Alan Wake 2

Alan Wake 2 has plenty of challenging enemies and scenarios in store for players. This makes picking the right difficulty setting for you essential. So here are all the difficulty settings in Alan Wake 2 explained.



Alan Wake 2 is the long-awaited sequel to the cult-classic 2010 title. Remedy’s signature blend of mind-bending plotlines and hair-rising horror shines brightly throughout Alan Wake 2. The game has no shortage of frightening enemies to take on while offering little in terms of resources.

Fortunately, it also offers different difficulty settings that increase or decrease the challenge. On that note, here are the difficult settings in Alan Wake 2 explained.

How many difficulty settings are in Alan Wake 2?

Alan Wake 2 features three difficulty settings at launch. A fourth ‘Nightmare’ difficulty setting is confirmed to be arriving with a New Game Plus mode in the future. You can pick your preferred setting before starting the story or change it later by going into the pause menu and selecting the ‘Difficulty’ option.

The three difficulty settings are:

  • Story
  • Normal
  • Hard

Story difficulty setting in Alan Wake 2 explained

The Story difficulty setting in Alan Wake 2 is the easiest way to experience the game. The combat in Story mode is relatively easy as your weapons deal a ton of damage while enemy hits are pretty weak.

You can also pick up all the upgrades for Alan Wake and Saga to enhance your damage and survivability even further. Resources come by frequently in this difficulty setting, so you can afford to be wasteful to a certain degree.

The Story difficulty setting is recommended for players who are new to Alan Wake or similar survival horror games. It lets players enjoy the story without worrying too much about dying.

Normal difficulty setting in Alan Wake 2 explained

Alan Wake 2 combat
Alan Wake 2’s combat is more challenging on the Normal difficulty setting.

The Normal difficulty setting in Alan Wake 2 strikes the perfect balance between exploration and challenge. Enemies in this mode will be more difficult to take down as they will deal more damage.

Players will have to rely on resources to survive but the game won’t provide a ton of them. Instead, it’ll be on the players to use them wisely.

The Normal difficulty setting is recommended for players who are well-versed with survival horror titles. It can also be a decent starting point for beginners if they want a dose of challenge.

Hard difficulty setting in Alan Wake 2 explained

As the name suggests, the Hard difficulty setting in Alan Wake 2 amps up the difficulty by quite a bit. Enemies get noticeably tankier and deal more damage while resources are even harder to come by.

To survive, players must have a sound idea of the game’s mechanics. Using the flashlight to expose weak points becomes essential, and so does finding Words of Power for Alan and Charms for Saga.

The Hard difficult setting is recommended for players looking for the ultimate survival horror experience and willing to take some punishment.

Those were all the difficulty settings in Alan Wake 2 explained. For more on the biggest survival horror games, check out our other guides:

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About The Author

Aryan is a Games Writer at CharlieIntel who specializes in sports and racing games, including EA Sports FC, NBA 2K, and Forza. He's also a big fan of massive RPGs such as Starfield, Elden Ring, and Cyberpunk. Aryan has a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and previously wrote for sports websites Pride of London, Sportsmanor, LWOF, and Thick Accent. You can contact him at [email protected].