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Remedy Entertainment are no strangers to making action packed third person shooters what with the classic Max Payne and its sequel under their belts. Well since Max Payne 2 a lot of time has passed and with the advent of new hardware being available means what have the team been working on for the past few years? Well if you didn’t know, Remedy are working on Alan Wake yes that’s right, another game title which features a game characters name. So, what do we know about Mr Alan Wake?
According to the script, Alan Wake is a successful best selling writer of suspense and obviously has a lot of imagination. Due to the recent mysterious disappearance of his fiancé, Alan decides to escape to the seemingly idyllic town of Bright Falls in Washington. However things aren’t what they seem in Bright Falls especially as night time brings a new menace into the fore. Is Alan going crazy and his world of suspense playing mind tricks on him or has he stumbled into a real living nightmare more akin to the stuff that he writes about rather than happening to himself? There are so many questions which lie unanswered and so using the classic writers’ investigative skills a la Jessica Fletcher in the annoyingly popular TV series Murder She Wrote; Alan begins his quest to unravel the truth. What in the hell is going on in Bright Falls?
Storyline aside, Alan Wake is a third person action game which puts the player into the shoes of Alan Wake, and with the whole town of Bright Falls to explore means that gamers will have a large free roaming environment filled with buildings,mountains and forests to play in. What we know so far is that game play wise Alan Wake will be mission based which means as missions are completed and more clues are uncovered more of the gripping story is presented and revealed. Through Alan’s travels he will come across various inhabitants of Bright Falls and with interaction with these characters will help him uncover the mystery of Bright Falls. I assume players will be able to free roam Bright Falls, find clues and interact with people before embarking on missions which are revealed by Alan’s sheer persistence. Alan Wake will feature an episodic presentation which will present the gamer with a TV Series type approach as the episodes progress, game play will evolve to introduce new elements and characters, escalating the level of threat and action in the game. It’s also probable that Alan will have to engage not only in problem solving but some fast paced combat. Looking at the trailers it looks like conventional weapons will be available such as pistols and possibly shotguns but I assume again that there will be a number of make shift weapons being available as well especially considering Alan’s foes have a problem with all things light. Alan Wake boasts an unprecedented level of cinematic quality with scenes that compliment the game play at every turn. With the power of the Xbox 360 hardware Alan Wake will present to gamers an impressive array of visual splendour with Bright Falls being rendered beautifully.
Alan Wake’s graphics have looked rather stunning if you look at the screenshots that have been released so far and the trailers. However Remedy is keen to stress that they are working to create a truly interactive cinematic experience for gamers, encompassing huge attention to detail. The game engine used allows the team to create real time scenes of high graphic fidelity. For example the environment uses a real time day and night cycle combined with a unique weather system. This means that players will see real time shadows being formed which will move and elongate realistically in accordance to the position of the sun. Whilst this is nothing new in games it certainly is a welcome feature especially as it’s the smaller touches that help create the realistic bigger picture.
Bright Falls is not all that it seems and lays host to some undesirables, it appears that the darkness (nightfall) presents a problem as the enemies Alan faces are nightmarish and predisposed to light which means that night time really does turn into a living nightmare for Alan as the night time makes the enemies appear. In this respect Alan with his imaginative mind will no doubt be able to construct some makeshift weapons, based around light.
There are few details surrounding Alan Wake at present but so far the premise seems to be an exciting prospect. If Remedy can create the compelling storyline and characters that players can relate to and care for then I believe they will be on to a winner. Prior to the Xbox 360 launch we were promised “Larger more realistic worlds” and it seems many developers are following this philosophy by providing us with free roaming environments without the huge loss of quality seen on previous consoles. I can’t wait for more details to appear on Alan Wake and hope that Remedy can be at the forefront of a new era in third person action games. If Alan Wake delivers all that is promised then gamers are in for a treat. For more Alan Wake screenshots simply click here. To view Alan Wake movies click here.
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