Preview: Alan Wake

 

Every job has its negative side effects so it is in case of Alan Wake, a best-selling author who currently suffers from a writer's block. Therefore he and his wife temporarily settle down in a small town called Bright Falls. Certainly it wouldn't be entertaining (for us gamers) to watch writing his newest work. Therefore the developers from Remedy (Max Payne) use to play with shadows and the psyche of the gamer. Alan Wake is not a blockbuster packed with action, but a soul-destroying thriller.

Critics often conclude Max Payne as an excellent action movie. Alan Wake by contrast is like a TV series divided into episodes. Those episodes start with a flashback and end with the phrase 'to be continued'. Nevertheless the title has a satisfying end for the gamer, but leaves some questions and opens doors to something bigger, says scriptwriter Sam Lake.

One of the first epidodes leads us to a Diner in the town. There Alan, who just arrived with his wife, wants to take the keys for their holiday apartment. Neither blood-smeared zombies nor monster with fluttering await Alan there. The only thing you can call threatening is the waitress, who reveals herself as the greatest Alan Wake fan. Remedy consciously wants to bring some breathers after those horrors at night and signalize some security by the daylight. Despite all the harmony and tranquility, the fear that Alan's sunny hours are over arises not later than a woman warns Alan against the darkness. This suspicion will be confirmed later on.

While story details are mostly unknown, you get to know that Alan again and again finds some manuscripts, that allegedly are his own. The bloody events, that are described in those scripts come to pass immediatly. In addition to that his wife disappears without a trace. Accompanied by Sheriff Sarah and his agent Barry Alan finds himself in a forest. On their way to a dam the trio come upon some aggressive villagers, that are infested by a dark force. Different from all the other survival horror games Alan moves really neat and isn't an easy victim because of a two-stick-controlling and an over-shoulder-camera à la Resident Evil 4 and 5.

Armed with a flashlight the otherwise invincible enemies are now vulnerable for a short time and Alan can kill them by a shot of his gun. But Alan has to pay attention on the batteries for his flashlight, because they are his most valuable resource. Indeed they reload automatically after a certain time, but in struggle with several enemies it is very helpful to have some batteries in reserve, that you can find hidden everywhere in whole game.

Barry brings some humor to the game. Wrapped in holiday lights and with the reference to Lord of the Rings ('his headlamp looks like the eye of mordor') he gives the game some funny moments.

After you knocked all gloomy creatures lights out, Sarah and Barry move forward to brightly lit entrance, that suddenly is locked by industrial garbage as soon as Alan tries to enter. The burnt-out author quickly has to realize again, that there is no security in the night. The darkness has taken possession of tons, windings and other objects, that want to squash Alan. To top it all Alan founds him surrounded by a huge number of shady beings. Fortunately there's a big spotlight nearby.

At this point it should be mentioned, that especially the lighting effects of torches or flare guns coupled with slow motion in the combats looks pretty impressive.

Since Alan Wake has been announced at E3 in 2005, the expectations have grown every time the game was postponed. In may Alan seems to definitly step into the spotlight, cause the levels look pretty detailed and completed right now. The successfull soundtrack and the synch suits the threatening atmosphere perfectly, reinforced by great lighting and shadow effects.