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Alan Wake

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Alan Wake
File:Alan-wake-0.jpg
Current cover for Alan Wake
Developer(s)Remedy Entertainment
Publisher(s)Microsoft Game Studios
Designer(s)Mikael Kasurinen
Writer(s)Sam Lake (lead writer)
Composer(s)Petri Alanko[3]
EngineAlan Wake-engine, Havok (physics)
Platform(s)Xbox 360
Genre(s)Psychological thriller, Psychological horror, Survival horror, Action
Mode(s)Single-player

Alan Wake is a psychological thriller action-adventure video game developed by the Finnish Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Game Studios that was released in Europe on May 14, 2010 and in North America on May 18, 2010 exclusively for Xbox 360.[4][5] The plot follows suspense-thriller writer Alan Wake in uncovering the mystery behind the disappearance of his wife while on vacation in idyllic small-town Bright Falls, and having to deal with blackouts and visions of characters and ideas from his latest novel, which he can't remember writing, coming to life.[6]

Gameplay

The story plays out in an episodic format, with a television show-style presentation where each episode/chapter brings another piece to the puzzle of the main plot. Remedy has confirmed that Alan Wake is only the first season of a bigger story, opening the door for future sequels.[7]

Light plays a significant role in gameplay. The enemies, called "the Taken" in the game, are sensitive to light, encouraging the player to take advantage of environmental light sources and placing significant emphasis on the flashlight as a primary weapon.

A major element of gameplay is the discovery and collection of manuscript pages, which describe scenes that have yet to occur and act as warning and instructions for proceeding through the episodes.

Originally, Remedy promised a free-roam, sandbox-style city, similar to those seen in the Grand Theft Auto series. However, in an interview with Finnish magazine Pelaaja and British magazine Edge, this feature is stated to have been removed, with Remedy opting to focus on a compelling storyline over sandbox-style gameplay. "That being said, this path that the player is on is quite wide at times and all through the game there is a lot for the player to explore, but it's not a free-roaming sandbox," said Sam Lake of Remedy.[8][9]

Story

Alan Wake, a bestselling crime fiction author who hasn't managed to write anything in over two years, and his wife, Alice, go to the idyllic small town of Bright Falls to recover his creative flow. They are greeted by the friendly townsfolk before driving to the local diner to pick up their cabin key from Mr. Stucky. However, Alan accepts a key from a veiled woman dressed all in black, mistakenly thinking it to be the correct key. After he and Alice leave, Mr. Stucky steps out of the diner, wondering why Alan didn't get the key to the actual cabin they rented. Alice and Alan drive to the house in the middle of Cauldron Lake. After an altercation with Alice, Alan leaves the house, knowing that she will not follow him as she has a fear of the dark. Upon hearing screaming, Alan runs back into the house only to find that Alice has fallen into the lake. He dives in after her. Blacking out, Alan wakes up in a car, his head bleeding. He heads towards the nearest gas station after being attacked by the Taken, people from Bright Falls that have been possessed by the Dark Presence. When he arrives, by seeing a festival advertisement he realizes it's been a week since he jumped in the lake after Alice. He calls for the police, and when he says that his wife is missing and they lived in the house on Cauldron Lake, Sheriff Sarah Breaker informs him that there is no house in Cauldron Lake, not since the 1970s. They drive past it and, much to Alan's horror, she's right.

After being interrogated by the Sheriff and meeting his agent Barry, who arrived after not receiving any response from Alan's phone, Alan receives a call from a kidnapper who shows he has Alice by leaving her driving license in an old truck outside the police station, saying to meet him at Lover's Peak in Elderwood National Park. On the way through the park Alan finds park Ranger Rusty, badly wounded after being attacked by the Taken. He gives Alan a page of a manuscript to a story with his name on it that he cannot remember writing. After being forced to kill the possessed Rusty, he continues down the Lover's Peak and finds the kidnapper, and Alan falls into the lake in an ensuing fight. The kidnapper demands Alan turn over the remainder of the manuscript, and Alan stalls claiming he has to write an ending. He and Barry decide to investigate the town the following day. Barry, while in town, gets a call from Rose Marigold, a waitress who is a die-hard fan of Alan's books. She has been possessed by the Dark Presence.

Both Alan and Barry go to Rose's trailer, who spikes their coffee, knocking them out. Alan wakes and fights the police outside, and is fired on by an FBI agent named Robert Nightingale, and Alan flees into the woods. Alan heads to the local radio station for help, but Nightingale turns up and opens fire without provocation yet again. He finds a car by sunrise and heads towards the coal mine to meet the kidnapper, eventually ending up at Mirror Peak, just above Cauldron Lake. When Alan gets there, the kidnapper reveals that he has never had his wife before being engulfed by a tornado of the Dark Presence. Grabbing a flare before the Dark Presence can finish him off, Alan falls off the cliff and is saved by an unknown person.

He wakes up in the Cauldron Lake Lodge, which was a hotel and is now run as a mental institute for "artists", led by Dr. Emil Hartman. Doctor Hartman says that his wife died and all of the events that have transpired were figments of Alan's imagination. Alan refuses to believe him, and as night began to fall two other patients, the Andersons (former rock stars of the 1970s) begin to wreak havoc in the institute. Amidst the chaos, Alan manages to get the keys to the Staff Room. Along with Barry, who came to find him, he finds most of the manuscript. Dr. Hartman finds him and asks to work together on 'this', saying they can make something beautiful. The Dark Presence begins to engulf the Lodge, and Alan leaves Dr. Hartman to die. He begins to realize that the Andersons understand what is going on, and so heads to their farm along with Barry to listen to a "message" they have left there.

When they arrive at the farm, they find an old record that includes the lyrics: "Find the Lady of the Light". Alan recognizes this as the "message." They then remember a woman, Cynthia Weaver, who was clutching a lantern in the diner Alan visited upon arriving in Bright Falls, and who knew Thomas Zane and Barbara Jagger. In the morning they agree to head into town to find her. After he and Barry drink some moonshine made with Cauldron Lake water, Alan has a vision of the cabin, showing that he agreed to write a story for the Dark Presence in exchange for Alice's life. The Presence planned to use the story to escape the lake, where it is currently trapped. Alan realized what was occurring and managed to write in an escape for himself through the appearance of Thomas Zane, the last writer to be seduced by the Dark Presence.

Alan wakes up and is greeted by Agent Nightingale at gunpoint, who takes him and Barry to their cells. When there is a sudden power outage, both the Sheriff and Nightingale come to watch over them, but as Nightingale reaches into his pocket to check a manuscript page that describes how he reached into his pocket to check a manuscript page, the Dark Presence takes him away. Alan, Barry and the Sheriff commandeer a helicopter and fly to the power station, crashing along the way. Cynthia Weaver directs Alan to "The Well-Lit Room" and there the four find Thomas Zane's last possessions: a page written by Tom that describes an important scene from Alan's childhood, and the 'clicker', a snapped-off light switch that Alan's mother gave him and that he in return gave to Alice. The clicker belonged to Alan's father and can summon a "magical light that gets rid of all the darkness."

Alan drives and battles his way to cauldron lake. After defeating many enemies and diving into the Lake, he enters a quasi-realm of the "idea," which is created by the concepts in his story, including the bridge and the cabin. Working his way to the cabin at the bottom of the lake, he hears Thomas Zane talking to the possessed Barbara Jagger. Barbara died in an accident, and under the influence of Emil Hartman and the Dark Presence, Zane "wrote her back." What returned, however, was not truly Barbara Jagger but the Dark Presence in her form. In the scene, he cuts out its heart, which is filled with darkness, and then dives with the feebly moving, possessed body to the bottom of the lake (a scene which is also recounted in a manuscript page).

When Alan finally reaches the house, he sees the Dark Presence in front of him in Barbara's form, with a darkness-filled hole in her chest. He grabs her, puts his hand in her chest and clicks the clicker. The light fills her body, coming out of her eyes and mouth before the house is engulfed by the light as well. Alan then walks to the typewriter in the study and starts writing, saying that he knows how to write the ending and that there needs to be balance; everything has a price.

A flashback of Alan jumping into the lake to save Alice occurs, after which a time lapse happens in which fourteen days pass, bringing the action to the day of Deerfest, the yearly celebration of the town of Bright Falls. Alice is then shown swimming out of the lake and crawling onto the dock, coughing and calling out, "Alan?" The cabin is still gone and Alan is nowhere in sight. Bright Falls is shown prospering in the middle of Deerfest. Rose appears clutching the same lantern Cynthia Weaver, the "Lady of the Light" held, with Agent Nightingale staring out ominously from a window behind her. Alan is then seen at his typewriter again, in darkness. He says "It's not a lake... It's an ocean..." Alice is heard saying "Alan, wake up." A final image of an ellipses is shown, implying that the manuscript has yet to be finished.

At the end of the credit sequence, a message appears stating that "Alan Wake's journey through the night will continue".

Soundtrack

The game's score is composed by Petri Alanko. The soundtrack features the song "War" by Poets of the Fall, from the band's fourth studio album, Twilight Theater. Sam Lake said that the song "...is a prominent part of the Alan Wake soundtrack and the theme also links strongly to the game's storyline." [10]. Poets of the Fall also perform two original songs, "Children of the Elder God" and "The Poet and the Muse", under the name Old Gods of Asgard. The band also wrote the ending theme to Remedy's previous game, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, called "Late Goodbye", which is based on a poem written by Lake. "War", however, was not written specifically for Alan Wake. Space Oddity by David Bowie plays over the end credits. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have a track entitled "Up Jumped the Devil" at the end of the third episode.

Development

Alan Wake was announced at E3 2005 (However, it had been in the planning stages as early as 2001).

"Alan Wake is a concept that we've been working with for over a year now. Once Max Payne 2 shipped we spent a little while recovering from the crunch, and then started working on different concepts trying to find the concept that would excite us and that we could be passionate about. And after several drafts we found something that we really liked... and that concept was Alan Wake."[11] - Petri Järvilehto, Game Developer

Originally announced as a Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC title, in 2006, Microsoft partnered with Remedy to release the game for the Xbox 360 and as a DirectX 10-only title for Windows Vista. The first screenshots depicted the character of Alan Wake in a very much different attire, as well as a different layout for the town of Bright Falls.[12] After the 2006 annoucement, nothing was heard for the next two years until an unveling at the E3 2008, where a new trailer was released. The game uses a custom built engine, incorporating the Havok physics engine.[11]

Alan Wake is modelled after Finnish actor Ilkka Villi.[13] He is voiced by Matthew Porretta.

On February 12, 2010, Microsoft announced the game would not be available on the Windows platform, stating that playing on the 360 would be "more compelling".[14]

The game was announced as "done" and undergoing final polishing in August 2009.[15] The game eventually went gold on April 7, 2010. The release date for Europe was slated for May 21, but on April 7, 2010, the release date was pushed forward to May 14

The final trailer was released on May 17, 2010.[16]

Downloadable content

The game's first add-on episode, titled "The Signal", will be released July 27, 2010, on Xbox Live.[17] The second episode, titled "The Writer", was revealed by Remedy through the in-game downloadable content menu, the episode is priced at 800 MP with release date listed as TBA.[18] Developer Oskari Hakkinen has announced that there will be multiple downloadable episodes in 2010, bridging the gap between the games ending, and a possible sequel.[19] On June 18, Remedy updated their information stating that each episode will only be 560 Microsoft Points ($7) and the previous price displayed was merely a placeholder.[20]

Marketing

Bright Falls

A promotional live-action short movie titled Bright Falls was released a few weeks before the game on Xbox Live and YouTube. It serves as a prequel to the game, set in the titular town before Alan Wake arrives there, in which Jake Fischer, a newspaper reporter played by actor Christopher Forsyth,[21] visits the town on business. It is divided into six episodes.

Jake Fischer arrives in Bright Falls to interview Dr. Hartman on his new book, an assignment from his publication agency. After a series of encounters with local townspeople and finding a place to stay, Jake soon finds himself the victim of long periods of lost time and black outs. He finds himself waking up in the middle of a forest and other locations where he had not been previously. He also develops an aversion towards lights and daytime. The longer he stays in Bright Falls, the more violent his behavior becomes. When he realizes this, he tries to duct-tape himself to a refrigerator and recording videotape himself in his sleep to see what might be causing the behavior. It is implied that he is being completely taken over by the Dark Presence to the point of murdering several people. He then vanishes, just before the arrival of Alan and Alice Wake.

Limited Collector's Edition

The limited collector's edition of Alan Wake, packaged in a case resembling a hardcover book, consists of the game, a 144-page book titled The Alan Wake Files, a soundtrack CD, a code redeemable for the game's first add-on episode, an Avatar coat and scarf and 2 Themes.[22] The limited edition also includes a number of making-of videos, an unreleased trailer from 2006, and developer commentary that is installed to the hard drive or memory unit and enabled in-game.[23]

Other

A novelization of the game written by Rick Burroughs was released.[24] As well as the artbook entitled Alan Wake: Illuminated.[25]

Reception

Critical response

Michael Plant from The Independent gave the game a perfect score of 5/5. He praised Alan Wake for its "flawless pacing", which "ensures a compulsive experience". The editing and plot were also received very positively, making the game "the kind of experience the current console generation was made for."[38]

The Daily Telegraph rated the game 9/10 with editor Nick Cowen being impressed by its "stunning" look, stating the town of Bright Falls and its surrounding environment to be "authentic" in terms of architecture, vegetation, weather and lighting. He described the atmosphere as being able to "...turn on a dime from feeling safe and serene to one of choking menace and foreboding...". Combat mechanics and plot were also praised with the first making "the player feel constantly under threat." and the latter being "...one of its [the game's] strongest assets." Criticism included facial animation and the shorter length of the game.[39]

Dirk Lammers said the game kept "players on the edge of their seats", giving a final score of 4 out of 4 in his review for the San Francisco Chronicle.[40]

Matt Greenop from The New Zealand Herald rated the game 5/5 and praised the game's "excellent pace" due to its episodic format. He also praised the "chilling" storyline, "brilliant environments" and concluded the game to be "one of the most innovative and entertaining titles so far this year."[41]

William Vitka from The New York Post graded it B+, praising the game for its "scary atmosphere", music, graphics and "surprising level of complexity" in combat, but commented negatively on the game's animation and storyline.[42]

Brian Crecente, editor-in-chief of Kotaku.com, praised the general use of light as a gameplay-mechanic. He commented on the episodic structure, saying it made the player feel satisfied even after short gameplay sessions. He also praised the overall storyline, having played the final episode thrice in a row, saying:"For the first time in my life, I have experienced something that plays like a game but has the impact of a movie...Alan Wake is a powerful ride, an experience bound to leave you thinking about it and wanting more for days after its completion." He however criticized the game for not providing enough information about Wake and his wife, despite being "packed with memorable people". In conclusion, he stated: "I am open to the potential of the year's games, but I still can't imagine that Alan Wake will be topped in 2010. It tells a story that is engaging, and yes, emotional. It makes you care, it delivers scares. But most importantly it redefines interactive storytelling. More aptly put, Alan Wake finally delivers on a phrase so overused that it has become a joke."[43]

Tom McShea criticized the game for lacking "surprising, memorable gameplay moments" in his review for Gamespot.com, but hailed it for its "fresh" story-telling, great original as well as licensed music, "subtle" lighting effects, which, along with the soundtrack, "create a disturbing atmosphere", "satisfying" combat system and clever inclusion of collectibles, giving a final score of 8.5/10.[34]

IGN's Charles Onyett scored the game 9/10, providing it with the "Editors' Choice Award". He described it as "...hard to put down once you have started", and appreciated the game for its episodic structure, "interesting" story-telling mechanic, lighting effects, soundtrack and combat system, which he described as "fast and responsive", but criticized the writing as "uneven". The game received high marks for its "Strong Atmosphere", "Fun Gameplay", and "Great Visuals", but lost some due to its "Weak Ending".[36]

Tom Orry from VideoGamer.com also awarded a score of 9/10, praising the game for its "clever narrative", "incredible atmosphere" and soundtrack which he described as "...being one of the best and most memorable I've ever heard in a video game", concluding Alan Wake to be "...an escapade I'm going to remember for a very long time. It's a stunning action game, a superbly scripted adventure and a technical showcase for the now-ageing Xbox 360 hardware."[44]

GameTrailers gave the game an 8.6/10. The review praised the game’s presentation saying that “Alan Wake's presentation fires on all cylinders, selling you completely on its twisted nightmare.” They also stated that “the feedback is brilliant, and the encounters are accompanied by a genuine sense of dread.”[35]

Eurogamer's Ellie Gibson awarded a score of 7 / 10, stating, "All the same, there's a weekend's worth of fun here for action-adventure fans who aren't too bothered about innovative concepts and varied gameplay, and don't mind a lot of repetition. Alan Wake is an accessible, undemanding game with a neat combat mechanic and decent visuals. It's just not a very original game, it's certainly not an exceptional one, and it's a shame it wasn't ready a few years ago." [31]

Sales

Alan Wake debuted at #2 on the charts in the United Kingdom.[45]

References

  1. ^ Davey, Jamie (2010-02-12). "Microsoft releases Alan Wake early in Europe". Strategy Informer. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  2. ^ "Official Release Dates". IGN. 2010-02-20. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  3. ^ "Alan Wake FAQ". Alan Wake Community Forums. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
  4. ^ "Official site". Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  5. ^ "Release Dates". 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  6. ^ Alan Wake FINALLY Gets Release Date ... And They REALLY Mean It This Time!
  7. ^ Remedy: Alan Wake is only the first season
  8. ^ Alan Wake No Longer Open World
  9. ^ Alan Wake No Longer a Sandbox
  10. ^ "Official Website - Poets of the Fall in Alan Wake". Poets of the Fall. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
  11. ^ a b Alan Wake FAQ - Alan Wake Community Forums
  12. ^ Eurogamer - Alan Wake Development Page
  13. ^ Davey, Jamie (2008-06-28). "Being Alan Wake Is Kinda Like Hollywood!". Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  14. ^ Davey, Jamie (2010-02-12). "Microsoft: Alan Wake will no longer be coming to the PC [[Strategy Informer]]". Retrieved 2010-02-12. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ "Alan Wake Community Forums - View Single Post - Alan Wake DLC "The Signal" releasing July 27th". Gametrailers.com. 2010-05-17. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  17. ^ "Alan Wake Community Forums - View Single Post - Alan Wake DLC "The Signal" releasing July 27th". Forum.alanwake.com. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  18. ^ "2nd Alan Wake DLC Called "The Writer"". Hells Descent. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  19. ^ Joystiq - Interview with Oskari Hakkinen on Alan Wake Retrieved June 16, 2010
  20. ^ Joystiq - Alan Wake DLC Episodes Priced at $7 each Retrieved June 18, 2010
  21. ^ http://www.brightfalls.com/html/credits_en-US.html
  22. ^ "Alan Wake Limited Collector's Edition spotted [[Joystiq]]". 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-03-07. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  23. ^ "Alan Wake: Limited Collector's Edition Unboxing". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  24. ^ Amazon - Alan Wake (Paperback) Retrieved June 18, 2010
  25. ^ Amazon - Alan Wake: Illuminated Retrieved June 18, 2010
  26. ^ "Alan Wake for Xbox 360 - GameRankings". Gamerankings.com. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  27. ^ "Alan Wake xbox 360 reviews at Metacritic.com". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  28. ^ Thierry Nguyen (2010-05-05). "Alan Wake Review for the Xbox 360 from 1UP.com". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  29. ^ Stephanie Palermo (2010-05-15). "Spawn Kill Review -- Alan Wake - SpawnKill.com". Retrieved 2010-05-15.
  30. ^ Andy Robinson (2010-05-05). "Review Alan Wake Review - ComputerAndVideoGames.com". Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  31. ^ a b Ellie Gibson (2010-05-05). "Eurogamer : Alan Wake Review eurogamer.net". Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  32. ^ Andrew Reiner (2010-05-05). "Redefining Video Game Storytelling - Alan Wake - Xbox 360 - GameInformer.com X-play 4/5". Game Informer. Retrieved 2010-05-07. {{cite web}}: Text "Game Informer" ignored (help)
  33. ^ Xav de Matos (2010-05-04). "Review Alan Wake Review - GamePro". Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  34. ^ a b Tom Mc Shea (2010-05-07). "Alan Wake Review for Xbox360 - Gamespot". Gamespot.com. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  35. ^ a b GameTrailers.com (2010-05-05). "Alan Wake Video Game Review HD". Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  36. ^ a b c Charles Onyett. "Alan Wake Review - Xbox 360 review at IGN". Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  37. ^ Francesca Reyes (2010-05-05). "Alan Wake Review". oxmonline.com. Retrieved 2010-05-06. {{cite web}}: Text "OXM ONLINE" ignored (help)
  38. ^ Michael Plant (2010-05-07). "Games Reviews: Alan Wake - Gaming, Gadgets & Tech - The Independent". Retrieved 2010-05-08.
  39. ^ Nick Cowen (May 6, 2010). "Alan Wake video game review - Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  40. ^ Dirk Lammers (May 19, 2010). "Review: `Alan Wake' offers tons of creepy thrills". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  41. ^ Matt Greenop (May 13, 2010). "Game review: Alan Wake - Games - NZ Herald News". NZ Herald. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
  42. ^ William Vitka (May 6, 2010). "Alan Wake:Stephen King, The Game". NYpost.com. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
  43. ^ Brian Crecente. "VAlan Wake Review - Transcending Its Medium - Alan Wake - Kotaku". MSNBC.com. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  44. ^ Tom Orry. "Alan Wake Review for Xbox 360". Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  45. ^ http://www.chart-track.co.uk/?i=856&s=1111
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