Alan Wake - What it is and why you should be excited about it.

[Jason]

Official Site (http://www.alanwake.com/)

It's been rumoured to have been delayed, cancelled and just about everything else in the past 24 months, but now it finally looks like Alan Wake is starting to take shape.

The game is a "psychological action thriller", where the titular Alan Wake is a writer who hasn't been able to write anything for over two years. His wife takes him to the remote and beautiful town of Bright Falls in a bid to help him regain his mojo. Predictably, she does a David Copperfield and vanishes without trace. From there, things take a decidedly odd turn, with events in reality matching word for word events in Wake's new book - which he doesn't remember writing.

Featuring a proper day/night cycle where different paths will be open according to what time of day you stumble across them, as well as enemies that are highly sensitive to light, you'll know what to expect here -a tense, psychological affair with guns more valuable than gold dust, and more Darkness than you can shake a very large stick at.
The game cites Twin Peaks, Lost and even the works of Stephen King as influences. The game is apparently laid out in a televisual style, with an 'episodic' format. Exactly what this means is unclear, but with the developers already confirming that Alan Wake is only "the first season of a bigger story", a sequel seems inevitable already.

The game was originally planned for release on PC as well as the 360, but plans for that appear to have been indefinitely shelved, although developers Remedy are refusing to rule out a future release on PC.

It's certainly been far too long since we had a decent Survival Horror game (Dead Space excluded), and it looks like Alan Wake could very well be the one to break that wait. The game's expected sometime around May, although don't be surprised if that gets changed.

E3 2009 Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-xaiMaru64

'Walking Nightmare' Gameplay video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDk_77waU-c

[MyNameDidntFit]

Some games are more suited for the intimacy of the PC, and others are best played from the couch in front of a larger TV screen. We ultimately realised that the most compelling way to experience "Alan Wake" was on the Xbox 360 platform, so we focused on making it an Xbox 360 exclusive. Both Microsoft and Remedy have long histories in PC game development. This decision was about matching this specific game to the right platform.
Source (http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/6978/microsoft-alan-wake-will-no-longer-be-coming-to-the-pc)

Looks like there wont be a PC version after all.

[Jason]

Shame, but I'd rather they cancelled it than threw out a sloppy console port. Nothing worse than that.

[Rob]

Nice find Jason this game looks awesome. It looks like a version of Silent Hill that I could actually get into. I hope the entire game plays out near the pace and style of that gameplay video because that's perfect.

Alan Wake has a youtube channel with 9 videos to check out if the above wasn't enough to wet your appetite.

Alan Wake Youtube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/show?p=rLtGeZuuHM8&feature=fvsp)

Shame, but I'd rather they cancelled it than threw out a sloppy console port. Nothing worse than that.
Wait I thought the console is their best attempt at the game and the PC version would have been "sloppy". I think a game like this would play very well with a controller.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Basically, that's it. They think the game would be best suited to the console medium and, surprisingly, don't want to mar that with a shoddy PC release for the sake of a few sales.

I'd respect that, but I'm a PC gamer, so instead I'm just disappointed :(

[Jason]

Wait I thought the console is their best attempt at the game and the PC version would have been "sloppy". I think a game like this would play very well with a controller.

Yeah, that was what I meant. I meant I'd rather they cancelled the PC version than just thrown out a low-quality port straight from the console version. To be honest, I think you're right - it looks like it was built with consoles in mind, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's just a shame, as there are so few good survival horror games on PC. Even fewer now it looks like Dead Space 2 won't be making the leap either.

[Rob]

Controls were revealed, but who knows if they will stay this way.

RT - Shooting
RB - Throw
X - reload weapon
Y - flashlight charge
B - Use
A - Jump
R-rotate Stick - Camera
Select Control Pad - weapon
L-Stick - Move
LB - Sprint / Fraud
LT - Boost Flashlight

Looks like it will control well enough to keep me focused on the story instead of fumbling about.

Link (http://translate.google.de/translate?u=http://www.videogameszone.de/aid,704785/X10-Alan-Wake-Neuer-Trailer-zum-Psycho-Thriller-fuer-Xbox-360-Update-Tastenbelegung-enthuellt/Video/&sl=de&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8) (using google translate)

[Jason]

Finally got my hands on this last night, and from playing the first 'Episode', I have to say I'm very impressed - gameplay-wise it's a fairly standard third-person explore-em-up, but the atmosphere and tension provided by the setting and the intelligent use of the torch really set a beautiful scene.

Pre-launch everyone was comparing this to Heavy Rain, which is completely unfair. Alan Wake is good (or has been so far!), but it's not genre-defining in the way HR is, it's simply a very good game with some novel touches.

So far, I'd have to say this is a game well worth playing.

[JustaBitOutside]

I'm just about done with this one. Ok, I like the episodic format like you're playing a TV show. That was neat. I like the lighting effects and the atmosphere. There is absolutely NO variation in what can happen. It's either taken or poltergeist objects and that's it. It is exciting to use the lights and various explosives to keep hordes of taken away, but honestly it's never very hard at all. It seems like I'm playing a really old game with a few neat touches added on. Overall not a terrible experience, but certainly not the survival horror session I was hoping for. I will finish it and trade it in.

[Jason]

Interesting. I've not got that far into it yet, but if you're right, that would indeed be frustrating. Even the best games need some kind of variation eventually.

[dimples]

I don't like the game at all. It's too strange. I never know what to do, and then those takens come and no bullet hits them and grrrr. Bad bad game. With the expectations I had, I was more than disapointed.

[Jason]

Are you making sure you're lowering their defence with the torch first? Because if you've not weakened them with the torch, your bullets never hit. :)

[dimples]

Yeah I'm sure, but still they hardly hit :D And I'm not a bad shooter, it's just a bad game :P It's too bizarre for me

[Jack]

Yeah I'm sure, but still they hardly hit :D And I'm not a bad shooter, it's just a bad game :P It's too bizarre for me

I'm sorry, I may be a bit of a fan boy when it comes to Alan Wake, as i'm a sucker for stories, but I never had this problem. Are you sure you're doing everything right?

[dimples]

Yeah I'm sure I was doing everything right :D That game just wasn't for me :) And I've been watching my boyfriend play it and I'm glad I gave up.

[JustaBitOutside]

I stuck with this one til the end, thought it was pretty good, I already mentioned my complaints. I decided to give the new DLC a try, and I think it's really good. It's more challenging than some of the other sequences in the game. If you like the game and haven't made the plunge for the signal, I'd recommend it.

[Jack]

I stuck with this one til the end, thought it was pretty good, I already mentioned my complaints. I decided to give the new DLC a try, and I think it's really good. It's more challenging than some of the other sequences in the game. If you like the game and haven't made the plunge for the signal, I'd recommend it.

The signal was very entertaining, but I have to say I was a little bit disappointed that the story didn't really go anywhere with it.

[JustaBitOutside]

I guess we have to wait until part 2 comes out, to be honest I really think that the writers have NO idea where the story is going anyway.

[Jack]

I guess we have to wait until part 2 comes out, to be honest I really think that the writers have NO idea where the story is going anyway.

I don't know about that, I have faith in Remedy, Fahrenheit was well done to every degree.

I'm just worried that the DLC isn't going to further the story at all and just add gameplay for £££/$$$.

Possible spoiler from DLC below:
However, I think it's fair to say that those televisions aren't broadcasting Alan Wake himself, at least not in a concious minded state. Maybe there's a Darkness copy of him?

[Jason]

Farenheit was by Quantic Dream, I think. The same guys who did Heavy Rain.

[Jack]

Farenheit was by Quantic Dream, I think. The same guys who did Heavy Rain.

Ah yeah, I got confused. Remedy did Max Payne, also a very strong game driven by narrative.

[Jason]

Yeah, that's the one. Interestingly, the one gripe I did have with the otherwise brilliant Farenheit (apart from those damn flashback missions) was the ending, which just came out of nowhere.