Alan Wake: A mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a game

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Release: May 18, 2010 (NA); May 21, 2010 (EU)

Ladies and gentlemen, Alan Wake has entered the building… Finally.

Very few games illicit the kind of anticipation created by the near-mythical title of Alan Wake. I say “near-mythical” because, after being introduced to many “oohs” and “ahhs” at E3 2005, it all but fell off the proverbial map and into the black hole of Duke Nukem Forever.

Developer Remedy Entertainment quieted the pessimists in 2008 with a trailer, shown with the debut of the Max Payne movie and the promise of a 2010 release. But even this “proof of life” made controversy because, rather than making a world-wide splash like most games, it was a near-private affair when it was only seen in Remedy’s home-nation of Finland. The rest of the world had to wait until the videos uploaded to gaming sites, and even then the cynics weren’t entirely convinced.

Factor all these oddities into the Alan Wake development experience, add in the recently announced cancellation of the title on the PC (thus making it a true Xbox 360 exclusive), and you have a lot of serious buzz about this game.

At last week’s X10 in San Francisco, lead writer Sam Lake gave us a demo for Alan Wake, and in many ways, it became clear that the mystery and intrigue surrounding it mirror the game itself: It’s an action-thriller that draws upon suspense and mystery to propel the story and the player forward.

“We’ve combined the mind of a psychological thriller in the body of an action game,” explained Lake.

Alan Wake is set in Bright Falls, the kind of remote, misty-mountain town that could just as easily be called Twin Peaks. There’s a dam. There’s a lake. There’s logging camps. There’s remote cabins that offer just the kind of seclusion that Wake’s wife, Alice, hopes will help the mystery-novelist Alan overcome a case of writer’s block.

But the quiet, peaceful setting of Bright Falls quickly becomes a nightmare for Wake. After meeting a few of Bright Falls residents he wakes up after a car accident. It’s dark, he doesn’t know where he is, and Alice is missing.

As he gropes his way for help, he finds the path strewn with pages of a manuscript — his manuscript of the book he’d intended to write at the cabin. But he has no recollection of penning it.

As he finds and reads the pages, the events of the book come to life. Shortly after discovering a page about being stalked by an axe murderer, he comes across a bloody scene of an axe-wielding man hovering over bodies.

In short order, he learns that there’s a mysterious evil living in Bright Falls and possessing people and objects, and this dark, supernatural force is hell-bent on killing Wake.
The significant game play element of Alan Wake is light. Evil lies in the shadows, and all those it darkness are vulnerable to possession. Your flashlight, therefore, is as important as your handgun. Batteries are as crucial as spare ammo. And a flare gun or a flood light is as effective at dispatching enemies as napalm. Unfortunately, there’s never seems to be enough batteries or flares, right?

The game is presented as a television series. Each “chapter” — or episode — opens with an announcer declaring, “Last time on Alan Wake,” followed by a montage of action climaxes from the prior chapter.

Lake explained that the game is meant to represent something of a “first season” of a TV show — much like Left 4 Dead was packaged in a way to represent B-movie zombie flicks. And yes, that means that a “second season” is in the works — or so Lake “said without saying.” Alan Wake takes the TV-show theme to an extreme with its cast of characters. At various points, you’ll run across a host of archetypes from just about every suspense/action/thriller/drama you can imagine: You’ve got your wise-cracking, slightly cowardly companion (Wake’s agent, Barry, who wraps himself in Christmas lights to ward off the creepy-crawlies). You’ve got your stoic female sheriff — straight out of Fargo. There’s the super-friendly waitress at the local diner and the crotchety old coot in the corner with nothing but boozy-cackling and vinegar comments for the “uppity city slicker.” I wouldn’t be at all surprised to eventually see the Lara Flynn Boyle vixen and a dancing midget come into the mix. The entire lot seems straight from central casting.

While that might be a weakness were Alan Wake a real TV show, it will probably play well as a game. We can appreciate it’s a wink-wink from Remedy and comes off as a collective inside joke — a nod, as it were, to every episode of X Files or Lost that ever sucked us in.

As each chapter progresses, so does the strength of this unnamed, disembodied evil. Early on, small objects fling at Wake — usually at just the right moment to get maximum fright from the player. Later chapters have entire vehicles and objects — like 10-foot high industrial cable spools — barreling down on you. Even animals get the poltergeist touch — flocks of birds, for example come out of nowhere and dive-bomb you (Alfred Hitchcock would be so proud).

The entire effect is, well, pretty damn scary. The environment is potentially out to kill you, and you’re never quite sure whether anything or anyone is about to jump out and take a whack.

Lake says the game will eke all the suspense it can with pacing. He explained that, rather than just slamming you with wave upon wave of action like most first-person action games, the player will frequently find long moments of quiet. Disquieting quiet. The kind of quiet that makes you convinced that something’s going to jump out from behind the next corner.

Daylight hours will be opportunities for safe investigation of the mystery of Bright Falls, your hunt for Alice, and the reason for this demonic presence. However, once the sun sets, the freaks come out and you’re plunged into survival mode. Hope you have lots of batteries!

Lake says that the investigation hours will keep players busy because nearly all items in the game are explorable — from artwork on the walls to the jukebox in the diner. Even the promotional cardboard stand-up of yourself hocking your last novel can be interacted with.

The daytime/nighttime cycles, the pacing, and the level of interactivity promised in Alan Wake will likely slow down the game considerably — but not in a bad way. Players don’t dare run head-long down a dark path, and they’ll have to maximize time efficiency when the sun’s up. I can only see this drawing out the suspense and the freak-out potential as the day ends. As we all dreaded each coming night while watching The Blair Witch Project, I can definitely see that same sickening apprehension as you play through Alan Wake.

One odd feature I did notice, however, is product placement. For example, all batteries in the game prominently feature the brand Duracell Energizer. Alan Wake drives a Lincoln Navigator. No overt mention is made of these little name drops during the game, but when asked, Lake said that the Remedy team was very careful to include the placements in very smart ways so as not to distract from the game play. However, simply because we as consumers are not used to seeing real brand names in our video games, I found them to be very distracting — at least when you first encounter them. I’m sure I’ll eventually get used to them.

And that’s what has me bothered, if only on principle.

Product placement aside, Alan Wake seems to be one new IP that has a bunch of potential for being the kind of gripping game you’ll want to play at night with all the lights off and the volume turned up. However, I’m hoping that it will be so scary, I’ll end up keeping them on.

Alan Wake is set to hit store shelves on May 18 in North America and May 21 in Europe.

Keep watching here on GamingAngels.com for my hands-on impressions of Alan Wake next week.