Alan Wake

For a couple of years now, Remedy Games has been working on what they call a "psychological action thriller" titled Alan Wake (you can view the trailer here). It's been featured at the last three E3 Expos, each time giving fans a glimpse of what the game will look like when it actually comes out; there's no set date as to when it will be released, Remedy claiming only that it will be out "when it's done".

There are a number of things I find fascinating about this game. I'm always a sucker for a game with a well developed plot, and Alan Wake promises to deliver an intriguing story (after over three years in development, I would certainly hope it has one.) Remedy claims the game will be far more character-driven than their other well-known titles--namely, Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto. Considering my interest in those titles is set firmly below 0%, my expectations are high.

Light is supposed to play an integral part in the game, which is fairly unique. Remedy has already said one of the greatest weapons in Alan's arsenal will be a flashlight. This brings a special meaning to the traditional "light vs. dark" war.

Supposedly everything in the game has meaning. Even Alan's name ties in with the game's theme: the tagline is "I Am Awake", from which the developers came up with "A. Wake" (or Alan Wake.)

The funny part is, depending on how violent the game turns out, I may not actually even play it. I'm more of an adventure and puzzle-solving fan, and have always preferred the experience of progressing through a storyline over the gameplay itself. I'm not even really a fan of the survivor-horror genre, I'm just intrigued by the stories behind a few of the games. As a result, I'll sometimes trawl YouTube to look for cutscenes and endings of games I deem too graphic or violent to actually play; that way I can satisfy my curiosity of the plotline while avoiding the resulting nightmares. (Hey, it worked for me with Silent Hill.)

Then again, this may all be a moot point if they keep putting off the release date. Right now it's set for Spring 2008, but as they've already told us: it'll be ready "when it's done".