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| | Title:
Alan Wake
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System:
Xbox 360
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Genre:
Action/Horror
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Publisher:
Remedy
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Developer:
Remedy Entertainment
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Release:
TBA
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Online:
No
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ESRB:
RP
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Max Payne was a revelation of true brilliance when it was finally released with renowned success. Remedy showed that a plot-driven story—and insatiably cool action—could actually work together side-by-side. Remedy’s upcoming horror title has nightfall and nightmares walking hand-in-hand. Remedy’s Alan Wake is a haunting jolt of excitement for the over-done and worn-out horror genre. Very few titles capture a lucid depiction of horror; Alan Wake also brings a twist to the genre that features realtime lighting effects in a day/night cycle. Fans of the action/horror genre just might find their thirst for a nightmarish adventure quenched in this game. In the horror tale, Alan’s frightening experience visiting the eerily small town of Bright Falls just might be for the gaming history books.
Nightmares on a different street
The story, so far, depicts a writer of horror novels—Alan Wake—fleeing from his current home after his fiancé mysteriously disappears. The reason he leaves is that he can no longer sleep. He can no longer sleep because he can no longer dream, and he can no longer dream because he lost his fiancé. Alan’s fiancé inspired his writing by giving him the nightmares that fueled everything that was original about his writing; she was the impetus for his best-sellers.
Like any disheveled writer who’s lost their way in the art of words, Alan decides to venture out to a small town where he hopes to rekindle his writing spirit, and recapture his sanity. Although, as it so happens, Mr. Wake becomes entangled in matters with a woman that is very much like his missing fiancé. Soon after that, Alan begins having the nightmares again, and like before, he begins to write them down to start on his next novel. As his story evolves, Alan soon becomes the victim in the events of his own hellish nightmare. A story that he depicts with frightening realism becomes his reality, and Alan is trapped in a fight against darkness.
The game takes on the fascinating question whether or not all the events are occurring in a frighteningly real dream, if Alan is going crazy, or if some strange stuff is really taking place in Bright Falls. Fans of the horror genre will definitely find the themes to their liking. Much of the content in the game—not to mention the main protagonist—seems to come straight out of a novel written by Stephen King himself.
From whence darkness falls
Very few games will leave you with the feeling that you just experienced something truly harrowing. Still, the atmosphere depicted in the game is so breathtakingly real—along with Remedy’s dynamic lighting system—that every moment seems like it comes right out of a priceless oil painting. And for the moments that don’t, it feels like a horror novel. Remedy seriously captured the intense, hauntingly real scenario needed to make the game feel like the action fright-fest that it is.
Remedy is also using some fascinating new visual technology that coincides with the excellent graphics, and frightful story. The development studio, who is also self-funding the project, is unveiling this technology in Alan Wake, set against the backbone of extended draw-distances and next-to-real environments. The technology itself strikes tones of ingenuity in the lighting, visual glows, and graphical rendering, nearly unmatched by any other game on the market.
The lighting system itself doesn’t just work as a tool for selling the excellent visuals, but it’s actually an integral part of the gameplay experience. The same way that games like Silent Hill, Doom 3, or Nocturne (a game with a nearly blind protagonist called “The Stranger”), made waves with their dynamic lighting system, Alan Wake reaches towards the same feat. These games actually changed how players approached hostile situations—although the situations were based on lighting conditions. Here, the lighting conditions determine the danger that will be present in the game. As the game’s story progresses, nightfall continues to extend its veil for longer and longer amounts of time, primarily allowing the forces of evil to prolong their haunting presence around Alan.
Live action livelihood
The town of Bright Falls makes the experience of being in a film-noir style game even more frightening than the thought of being in a nightmare. The town of Bright Falls is a living, breathing, perfunctory atmosphere of characters and events that happen in the free-roaming environment. This feature of the game almost seems too big to be a reasonable addition in a game that already has an impressive array of graphics and haunting visuals.
The town is put in the midst of the idyllic charm for the old-school American-dream: white picket fences surrounding the large, but subtle beige painted houses; the single gas-station in town with the owner that everyone knows; the local diner that is the only restaurant in Bright Falls. The weather also affects the smaller things that occur within the game. Running in coalition with the Havok engine, the environment includes things such as leaves rustling, mostly based on the wind system. Alternatively, water ripples can turn into growing tides, or clouds can bring on a daunting weather-effective overcast. Remedy really put some serious thought into the hauntingly realistic environment and atmosphere that is the small town of Bright Falls.
Haunting decisions
Weather effects, evolving characters, and the unquestionably cool lighting system aren’t the only parts of the driving force in the game, though. A lot revolves heavily around the actions and interactions of the player. The free-roaming world is open for exploration, with some focus on mission-based structures. In this way, Alan Wake is almost the complete opposite of Remedy’s Max Payne series.
With the player being the deciding factor in much of the game’s content, the game really puts the player in the driver seat of the story’s direction. In this way, players can progress at faster or slower rates based on their unique playing style, which is a huge plus to the replay values. Players are put into a position that nearly makes them part of Alan’s nightmare. Added to the horror elements are robe wearing figures that haunt Alan, growing bolder as the nights last longer. It almost reminds me of those pale-faced zombie people from the movie The Omega Man.
For the faint of heart, there lies the great light
The neat aspect of “fending” oneself from the robe-wearing dudes becomes an interesting twist of originality. If anyone has seen the movie Pitch Black with Vin Diesel, you might remember that they did just about whatever they could to keep some sort of light in their possession. In Alan Wake it’s pretty much the same thing, except you aren’t playing a buff prison inmate who is more dangerous than flesh-eating aliens.
Instead, players will have at their disposal many “lighting” fixtures, options, and entities. Yeah, if you’re thinking about floodlights, car-lights, and light-houses (such as the one featured in the promo video), then you’re thinking on the right track. Alan Wake is the sort of game where keeping light in your possession is vital. Because the dark is always growing in presence—and with it comes the robe wearing people—players will be afforded unique and original ways of keeping the robe-people away. Putting motion sensors down that activate a light-trap is one way of keeping the robed men at bay. Placing flashlights on desks and other obstacles that face the doorways to defend a room, or block out the darkness, are just a few of the neat things you can do in the game. Remedy has concocted all sorts of original and cool ways for players to fend for themselves in an innovative and constructive way.
For more info on Alan Wake and his frightening reality that just might be a dream, stay tuned for more info as it comes in from Xbox Core.
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