A few weeks back, the GameXplain crew broke onto the scene at X10. While perusing the games on display at that event, I happened to notice a whole corner of the room dedicated to Alan Wake. I had been looking forward to trying this game out for myself for quite some time, so naturally I shoved Andre to the side and dove into the Alan Wake booth. I then immediately got booted to the back of a waiting list for the next hour or so, but let’s pretend for the sake of this article that I was able to jump right into playing.

Before being allowed to play, we had to sit and watch a presentation by the head of Remedy, Markus Maki. I was none too thrilled about this, but decided to sit still long enough to let him try and market this game before I got to form my own opinion. Markus warned us that X10 (with its bright flashing lights, thumping music, everflowing drinks, and roaming waiters adorned with mountains of hors d'oeuvres) wouldn’t exactly be the optimal place to show off a “psychological action thriller.” I’d be inclined to agree with him, if I didn’t find that moniker a little preposterous to begin with.

According to Mr. Maki, the game has been playable from start to finish since last E3. So what’s Remedy been doing this whole time? Apparently tweaking the “feel” of the game. The devs have been subtly altering things to help elicit “that thriller movie feel.” The only evidence that Markus could point to at the time was the dynamic camera that zooms and pans in different situations to heighten tension and make the game feel more cinematic. It’s hard to tell yet whether these efforts have really paid off, although the camera work in the game was pretty nice to behold.

If you haven’t been paying any attention to this game up till now, but still clicked on this article because you like being confused, then lucky you! I’m only vaguely going to explain the story of this game, as I just can’t be bothered to care too much about something that seems fairly trite at first glance. The titular Alan Wake is a writer. His wife vanishes one night shortly after moving to a mysterious small mountain town. Legions of the dark stand in his way of finding her. Oh, and the whole thing might be in his head. I’m sorry, gamers, but your deep plot line is in another game.

Honestly, the first thing I noticed about the game was some not-so-sly product placement for Lincoln. I actually burst out laughing as the camera panned over the steering wheel of the car, lingering over the Lincoln logo for just long enough for it to feel really awkward. I must just not be jaded enough because everyone around me just stared at the screen in silence. Maybe I just hate product placement more than most, but I really couldn’t even wrap my head around this one.

The second thing I noticed about the game was that the Uncanny Valley seemed to have taken over this mysterious mountain town and replaced everyone in it with spawns of hell. The game was certainly nice to look at for the most part, but everyone looks like contorted demons hell-bent on our destruction. I kept expecting their disgusting maws to gape open wide and swallow Alan whole.

I can’t be the only person who is bothered by the level of realism in games these days. While the game had natural(ish) voice acting (it was obvious that the devs were trying to create a cohesive feel for the game through the dialogue),  the constantly repeating lines of dialogue immediately shattered any illusion of verisimilitude that I felt at first. In my opinion, the Uncanny Valley extends far past just how realistic a game looks into every element of the design that is meant to evoke a sense of reality. I know these sorts of things are unavoidable, but they are the reason why I tend to enjoy games that strive for fun in lieu of realism.

So, after all this talk about details that honestly probably won’t matter too much to the final product, let’s get into the meat of how the game plays. My first question for you all is: have you played Resident Evil 4? If yes, then you already know how Alan Wake plays. If not, then what the hell are you doing reading this? Go play that game before you take another breath. The only difference I could pick out between Wake’s enemies and Resident Evil 4's Los Ganados is that the latter ones are covered in a dark presence that only direct light can drive away. Other than that, you essentially spend your time working your way through levels, aiming over Wake’s shoulder, and popping caps into enemies as they lurch towards you arms raised over their heads. It all vaguely felt like something I had experienced several times before.

The aformentioned light/dark dynamic in Alan Wake is actually the most interesting aspect of the game. Wake is only ever truly safe when enveloped in light. Otherwise, danger could come from anywhere or anything. Inanimate objects will actually come to life and attack Wake out of the blue, which wasn’t nearly as cool to behold as I thought it would be, but I will reserve that judgment until I see some of the later stretches of the game. Still, struggling to boot up a generator as you hear the shadows whispering around you and danger looming ever closer was pretty thrilling.

My forty or so minutes with Alan Wake were enough to convince me that it would be a fairly fun Survival Horror game when it finally comes out. It’s too bad that Remedy is hellbent on never using that genre term to refer to the title. When I asked Mr. Maki why they strayed away from calling the game Survival Horror, he insisted that it was because they wanted the main character to take a more active role in the game. I’m not 100% sold on this explanation though, as I am hard pressed to point to that many games in which the main characters take on passive roles, but I didn’t want to point this out to Markus especially having just met him a few minutes prior.

There are certainly some compelling mechanics in place in this game, although I can’t help but be a little disappointed that the title seems to ape RE4 so much. Still, if you’re going to steal from someone, why not steal from the best? In the end though, I kept wishing that Alan Wake had turned out to be the combat-free Psychological Thriller that I had initially pictured when this game was announced so many years ago. I have no doubt that the end product will be a lot of fun. It just might not feel entirely new to a lot of us.