Alan Wake 2 Falls Short of Ray Tracing Promises

Despite the anticipation built by Remedy and NVIDIA for Alan Wake 2’s full path tracing capabilities, the reality post-launch paints a different picture. Digital Foundry's recent video breakdown, delivered by Alex Battaglia, unveils the shortcomings of the game's ray tracing implementation.

Contrary to earlier advertisements of a complete ray-traced experience, Alan Wake 2 has demonstrated a hybrid approach mixing rasterization effects with path tracing. While this method facilitates smoother gameplay, it’s not without issues such as dynamically forming shadows that can be jarring for players. As players eagerly hoped for a seamless integration of next-gen graphics, it seems the shadows within Alan Wake 2's ray-traced world may need a bit more polish to truly shine.