Zane’s Film is the last lengthy chapter for Alan Wake before the endgame stretch. It will test you on everything you know. But our walkthrough for Alan Wake 2 – Initiation 8: Zane’s Film will guide you along so you don’t get lost.
In fact, you may just get lost without a bit of help. Zane’s Film contains a particularly troublesome section that left a few stumbling around in the light of a neon sign.
Initiation 8: Zane’s Film walkthrough and guide for Alan Wake 2
The chapter contains a handful of collectibles, running the gamut from Echoes to Words of Power. But there’s also a Final Draft change that’s possible to miss if you’re not paying attention.
Head to the theater – Final Draft change
Your first collectible is dropped into your greedy hands the moment the chapter begins. After the break, the last Writer’s Journey, ‘Drowning’, pays out, allowing you to soak in Alan Wake in all his unhinged glory. Once the discomfort subsides, leave the room via the door on the right of the screens.
Our goal for the chapter is to return to Parliament Tower. To do so, we need to find a murder scene. And Zane may be able to help. Back on the street, you’ll start by going back to Oceanview Hotel. Grab the Echo along the way by lining it up with the hotel.
Unlike in Initiation 5, you can enter the hotel through the front door. Go inside and take the elevator up. Enter Room 665 and use the projector once more. After the clip, go back down to the Entrance Hall where you’ll find the next Final Draft change.
FINAL DRAFT CHANGE: Go inside the Reception booth in the Entrance Hall to find a TV playing. It’s the second video starring our very own Dr. Casper Darling, but this time he has a special guest. Watching the video will unlock in the Writer’s Room. You’ll find it listed as ‘Collaboration’ under the ‘Dr. Darling’s Messages’ section.
Now, it’s time to head to the Poet’s Cinema. You’ll find it on the southeast part of the map, traveling south by way of Grant St. Head that way now, but watch for several Taken enemies who will attack you along the way.
If you haven’t acquired the Word of Action underneath the tracks above Grant St., now is the best time to do it.
At the south end of the street, the gated door leading to the cinema is locked. You need access the cinema via the carwash to the left by destroying the three dark orbs blocking the entrance. There is one Taken enemy within, so keep your guard up.
The door to the carwash backroom is locked, so leave by ducking under the shutter. Turn left from the shutter and go into the side alley. Look through the windows and you’ll see dark orbs you can destroy. Doing so unlocks the back room and office where Sheriff Tim Breaker is hanging out.
Grab Breaker’s map before you leave. It’ll show the location of a Word, a stash, and two more Echoes. Head directly south from Breaker to find a Word of Aid up against a tunnel wall.
Turn around and head up the ladder next to the tunnel entrance (it should be on your left if you turned around). Go up the stairs and take a couple of rights to find an Echo, acquired by lining it up with the Alex Casey billboard across the street.
Leave via the ladder and walk down the street a short way to find the next Echo. Line it up with the Alex Casey billboard east of the theater entrance. With that, it’s time to head into the theater proper.
From the Theater Hall to the Backlot
Use the movie ticket you received earlier in the chapter at the theater booth and head inside. Here, you get your first new scene: ‘Lobby’. The lobby area has a few worthwhile points of interest, such as collectibles. You also need to acquire an Echo to get a Plot Element needed for progress.
This is the optimal path you should take:
- Head left and enter the ladies’ room under the stairs to find a Word of Action in a storage room on the ceiling
- Leave and head up the stairs near the ladies’ room and get the Echo for the element: ‘The Cult of the Word’
- Turn left and walk down the corridor to the end where you’ll find a Word of Fix against the wall
- Go downstairs from there and enter the Safe Haven to your right, where there is a TV playing the next Writer’s Journey video: ‘ Stop Writing’
The key is, of course, to get the Plot Element needed to enter the theater. Once you have it, walk into the concession stand and enter the kitchen behind it. Don’t forget to grab the map on the wall! Open up the Plot Board and plug in the element, The Cult of the Word. The kitchen will change, allowing you to activate a nearby Echo and get the next Plot Element: ‘New York’s Finest’.
Use the New York’s Finest element in the Plot Board, leave the kitchen, and return to the lobby. The doors to the theater screen have opened, so head that way now.
You’ll enter the next scene, ‘Theater Hall’. Plug the New York’s Finest into the Theater Hall scene and walk onto the stage. Line up the Echo from the stage to acquire it.
Next, head upstairs to the Exit doors. Use the Angel Lamp in the room beyond the doors to take the light. You do get attacked by a Taken the moment the light is gone, so get ready for a quick scrap. Go back to the Plot Board and insert The Cult of the Word element. A new Echo will appear, and watching it gives you the next element: ‘Clip of the Lost Film’.
Add the new element to the Plot Board. The theater will change, showing a countdown on the screen leading to a short clip. Fight off the three Taken enemies and wait for the clip to conclude with Zane holding the Angel Lamp. Use your lamp to send light into Zane’s lamp, which illuminates an exit door that appears. Take the exit to get to the Backlot.
From the Backlot to the Rooftop – Out in the Night scene
The Backlot contains a new scene: ‘Out in the Night’. Some have gotten a bit confused as to what to do in the new area, so much so that we wrote out a detailed guide on how to progress. First, hang a right from the exit door and use the Safe Haven if you need it. Next, make your way to the Backlot area.
Plug the New York’s Finest element into Out in the Night. A police car will appear along with a new Echo.
Align the Echo to hear a conversation between two dirty cops.
Now, here comes the part that has tripped up a few folks. Alan needs to make his way to the Rooftop, but the staircase leading up is blocked by scaffolding. The lights of the police car are the key. They point toward the scaffolding, so head in that direction. Use the Lamp to take the light from the car, which removes the scaffolding. Walk into the area that opened up and use the Lamp again to return the light to the car to open the door leading to the stairs.
Go upstairs and look at the cards on the table nearby before going up the ladder next to the door. You’ll find yourself in the Rooftop area. First, go right and walk until you reach the ‘Spotlights’ section on the map. Stand with your back to the wall furthest north and shine your flashlight to the wall on the right for a Word of Stuff. There’s also a Breaker stash nearby if you need the supplies.
Make your way across the Rooftop, through the Central Area, and toward the Maintenance Rooms. Hang a left when you get to the locked door and another left to spot some yellow sheriff tape leading to a passageway you need to duck into.
Stop right as you get to the door to the Maintenance Room and shine your light toward the water tower for the final Word of Power in the game: A Word of Lamp. Congrats on getting them all!
Sheriff Breaker is through the door, offering more dialogue options and a map showing Words and stash locations. You should have all the former by this point, but it’s still worth picking up the map for the stashes.
Next, leave the Maintenance Room and take a sharp right. Follow the path down a ladder and stop when you’re at the sign overlooking the Backlot. Use the Plot Board again, this time plugging in The Cult of the Word Element. Line up the Echo that appears to get our next element: ‘The Grandmaster’.
The storage room maze
Make your way back to the theater, but watch for Taken enemies in the Backlot. Head up the stairs behind the police car to get back into the theater via a back entrance.
Keep heading toward the Theater Hall, but keep an eye out for more enemies. Open the Plot Board once you get to the Theater Hall scene and insert The Grandmaster. A door will appear on the screen. Approach it and walk inside.
You’ll find yourself in a film storage maze, but it’s thankfully not too hard to navigate. For the most part, the maze is fairly linear, requiring only some additional direction along the way. Walk forward and enter the storage room. Locate a door leading to the Projection Booth. Leave the booth via the exit door.
The exit door locks during the second pass. Turn around and go through the new door that’s appeared. On your next visit to the storage room, look for an exit door in the corner next to some file cabinets. Open it to find a TV playing the final Writer’s Journey video: ‘Initiation’.
Leave via the Projection Booth door once again. In the storage room, you’ll find a man in a mask tied to a chair. The man, who is absolutely not Sam Lake in any way, hints that you need to stab him with a knife you get from the room just beyond. But getting the knife only gives not-Sam time to escape and leave the room using the door behind him. Go into the door and progress until you once again reach the storage room, this time with an unnerving Echo to watch.
With the Echo finished, walk through the door against the wall to find the murder site. Activate the site to end the chapter.
With that, you have finished our walkthrough for Alan Wake 2 – Initiation 8: Zane’s Film. As mentioned, it’s also the last lengthy story chapter for Alan. Next, we have a quick stop to make at Parliament Tower before the game draws to a close.
Published: Dec 29, 2023 10:52 am