Alan Wake Preview page 2

18 Feb 2010 at 19:14:17 by

Enter the enemies, and it all becomes a lot more intense. These enemies, the beings trying to stop you from getting anywhere, are shadow-enveloped zombies which have been overtaken by the "darkness", the force you have to reckon with. Their movements are quick and extremely threatening, and because they move around as shadows within the shadows, it's very difficult to feel at ease. Especially when you know their only fear is light, and you're running out of batteries on your torch and the nearest alternative light source is too far to run to. It's here things get interesting, and you realise why it was so important to have an "everyman" play this role. His fear of the unknown, his own unknown if you like, is what sends chills down your spine as you play. It's the movements and fluidity of the AI, and it's knowing they're flanking you without you even being aware of their presence. But when you're confronted with an enemy that is intelligent enough to run away rather than run at you, you know you're in trouble. The only way for Wake to fight these beings is to shine a light on them and then shoot them.

Because Wake is an ordinary man, he's not used to firing a gun so don't expect a huge selection of weapons available throughout the game world. This is no bad thing but, on the contrary, an excellent design choice by Remedy. There is no way you'll have an armoury at your fingertips in the sleepy town of Bright Falls, but you will have revolvers and shotguns, as well as flare guns. You'll also have access to fireworks and flash-bangs - the flash-bangs are perhaps unexpected in a rural town, but certainly worth including in the game. But Wake isn't a hot shot, and he'll only get better with weapons as the game progresses, becoming more confident and more of a bad-ass throughout. Expect him to miss some of his targets when you first play with him, and expect him to spend some time reloading as it's unfamiliar to him too, all of which adds to that aforementioned intensity and fear which Remedy has so brilliantly captured. And because he's Wake and stuck in a world he doesn't know or understand, you can expect to also find yourself running out of ammo very, very quickly giving you no other option than to just make a run for it.

Engaging the shadowy bastards is simple enough, you need to shine your light on them (that can be any light source, but more often than not it'll be an Energiser powered torch) increasing the intensity of the light source. Doing this destroys the "darkness" which envelopes the zombie, and it's then you can start emptying the barrel of your gun. You must clear the darkness from around them first, otherwise you might as well throw your bullets away.

Wake isn't a complete idiot though, and he does have some pretty spectacular dodge moves. Tied in with the cinematic feel of the game, this is a great opportunity to get a good look at your enemy, as the game slows down (if you time it right) in much the same way as bullet-time did in Max Payne. Again, this is testament to the attention to detail when it comes to the camera's fluidity, and it looks awesome too. It really does, but it doesn't go into its slow-mo sequence every time, which is a relief. This applies to the death sequences too, and you don't have to watch cutscene time and time again because you can't skip it.

Although the game has been in development for over five years, there's a very good reason for its delay. OK, it may not be the most cutting edge game in terms of visuals, but the engine is solid, and it delivers an excellent gaming world. It's Remedy's propriety engine too, so it's all been built from the ground up. Attention to detail is incredible, and more to the point, there are only 40 odd staff working on the title, so of course it's going to take a little longer than a 400 man team.

From our time with the preview build, it's clear a lot of thought and effort has gone into Alan Wake. The story is solid, the characters are engaging and the gameplay offers something a little different. There are no gimmicks, it's just a man with a torch and a gun searching for his wife in a story he can't remember writing. 

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