PETRI ALANKO

Weaving the dramatic and tension-stoking soundtrack to one of the most critically acclaimed games of the last year, Petri Alanko built a score for Alan Wake 2 that harnessed an arsenal of plugins with DIY instruments and a huge array of hardware and software synths. We spoke to Petri about his idiosyncratic approach and its exhilarating results

It's rare for any new video game to receive near-unanimous praise, but in the case of Alan Wake 2, Remedy Entertainment's followup to 2010's underrated action/horror thriller, the prevailing giddy response was justified. Centred around the titular Alan, a horror novelist, lost in a Twin Peaks-esque 'Dark Place' which reflects both his fears and the wider mechanics of storytelling in general, Alan Wake 2 perfects the original game's quirky premise. A large factor in the game's emotional depth is the centrality of its soundtrack, scored by the BAFTA-nominated Finnish composer and producer Petri Alanko.

From the delicate and emotive Return to the ominous and oppressive The Dark Place, Petri's score underlines the game's mind-bending narrative.

Alanko, who also scored the original game, was thrilled - but surprised - when Remedy's creative director Sam Lake informed him that a sequel was finally happening. "I had made my first compositions for the Alan Wake sequel back in 2011. I was so thrilled when I heard we were back. I knew exactly what they were going to do and I knew that they were going to have two protagonists this time. I had made so many plans [for a sequel] and luckily none of my plans had been for nothing - every one of my ideas got used, more or less."