Alan Wake, Hands-On Preview Impressions

June 3, 2009 - Oh Alan Wake, “I won’t believe this game really exists until I pop it into my Xbox 360″ is a sentiment many of us felt regarding the title prior to E3.

After spending some time today with Remedy’s Jay Ranki and Sam Lake who are the game’s producer and lead writer respectively, I cannot help but be extremely excited for this title.

Even in the brief 20 minute demo which consisted of the E3 demo and a few minutes beyond, the game was able to give the player an easy understanding of the intense, suspense-filled psychological thriller they are engaging in.

The story and title role of the game is regarding best selling author Alan Wake who hasn’t been able to write anything for two years. In an effort to get his creative writing juices flowing he and his wife Alice moved to aptly named Bright Falls, Washington in hopes that the Northwest will be able to help him recover his inspiration.

Instead, Alice is abducted and the pages of a super natural manuscript Wake cannot even recall writing seem to be terribly coming to life.

The demo opened with Alan speaking to his friend Barry regarding his situation and his belief that the pages of his missing work have the key to finding Alice. Barry was inserted into Alan Wake for comedic relief but he can be used to portray the constant theme throughout the game of the importance of light.

In a move that becomes even more comedic well after the fact as you discover Alan Wake’s combat design, shining your flash light on Barry causes him to begin to sneeze. Ranki also was able to scare Barry by turning the lights completely off and then shining his flash light at him. While subtle at first, this very mechanic is the core of Alan Wake.

A dark presence has been unleashed and it consumes people, animals, and objects around Wake that all turn against him. In the dark, this invisible force seems invincible. However, the dark presence is very susceptible in light. While traditionally firearms are the corner of video game force, in Alan Wake while they do remain important the flash light is considerably more important.

Using the flash light the dark presence can be destroyed from living beings or inanimate objects. Alan will also need to find creative ways to keep himself safe by generating large amounts of light in tight situations. This as shown in the demo includes attempting and starting a massive generator on a construction site to provide light.

Alan Wake’s mission structure is extremely creative. Modeled after an episodic television show by design, each new page found leads Wake to the next clue in hopes of finding his missing wife. As each new page is found and their horrifying contents are read to the player by Wake, that specific page comes to life not long after.

In one sequence we were told to follow Rusty and when you came upon him he would be coughing blood. Moments later we approached a downed policeman who was named Rusty who had been attacked by the dark presence and was coughing blood.

The game is all about atmosphere and it delivers in a few ways. The game’s control over the day/night cycle is done purposefully to add the element of dark and fear to the player. The next component is the feeling that at any moment any object can come hurling at you due to the dark presence. As Alan walked through a part of a dimly lit street, a car which appeared nothing more than a stationary object suddenly hurled itself at Alan.

Moments like this in combination with the music of Alan Wake really give it a survival horror feel. In certain key moments the game also enhances the cinematic feeling by imploring bullet time as Alan is about to strike a critical blow or be attacked by surprise.

Even in a room full of people I genuinely felt fear for my character in Alan Wake. The game is extremely story driven and delivers a deep, engaging, thriller experience to the player. It was very exciting to see a game we had heard very little from over the past few years show up and turn out to be in such wonderful shape.

I cannot wait to try Alan Wake for myself in the coming months ahead of its Spring 2010 release.

Related Articles
Alan Wake Building the Thriller Trailer
To celebrate Alan Wake going Gold earlier today, Remedy have released a narrated video trailer presenting the fine things which can be found throughout the..

Remedy: Alan Wake is Gold and Passes Certification
After 5 hard years slogging away Remedy is delighted to announce that Alan Wake has gone Gold and passed certification. "On successful completion of the game..

Alan Wake Screenshots Released
The embargo has lifted on the Alan Wake media assets from last months preview event, first up we have five new screens which look stunning. Secondly..

Alan Wake, UK Limited Collector’s Edition Revealed
UK retailer GAME has just released the details of the Limited Collector's Edition for Alan Wake which releases on the 21st of May in Europe...

Alan Wake to Release Across Europe from 14th May
Microsoft is delighted to announce that Alan Wake will be hitting stores across Europe on Friday 14th May, a full week ahead of its original..