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February 2010 11 February 2010 11 Labor of Love So goes the plot of Remedy Entertainment's Alan Wake, an exclusive Xbox 360 title that was fi ve years in the making and is now one of the most novel and highly anticipated titles of 2010. In era dominated by body-count shoot-'em- ups like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which has already surpassed the $1 billion mark, Alan Wake is a bold strike at the heart of that violent trend, with a deeply literary plot, mind-bending mystery, heart-pounding suspense, a pol- ished cinematic production, and a protagonist who fi ghts with his wits and a fl ashlight instead of an M16. e game followed a fi ve-year, tumultuous road to re- lease, caused mainly by the challenges of organically interweaving the endlessly corkscrewing plot twists into the gameplay and cinematics. In fact, the game has been in development for so long that, in the early drafts of the script, Alan's wife was actually his girlfriend. Remedy likes to joke that during the fi ve years, the couple had time to get engaged and married. "Actually, the setting and plotline about a writer whose work starts to come true is still very close to the original concept conceived way back in 2005," says Saku Lehtinen, art director for the Finnish game developer. "But with a game, the basic concept and story is just a story point. It has to be, because story in- spires gameplay elements, and the gameplay of- ten refl ects back to the story. Since Alan Wake is a psychological action thriller, where night and dark are about danger and fear, light and darkness become key gameplay elements." In Alan Wake, the player fi ghts with light. " e darkness protects [the locals] that it possesses," explains Lehtinen. " ey cannot be harmed with conventional methods [like guns] before the protecting dark presence has been de- stroyed with light. Light is a great gameplay element: It's visible and familiar, yet you can achieve both awesome visual eff ects and gameplay with items like searchlights, fl ashlights, handheld fl ares, and fl are guns." Film and TV Infl uences Like Lost or Twin Peaks, the game is designed to be the fi rst season of a TV series, wherein each level is a new epi- sode, with their own objectives and three-act structure. But the roots of inspiration go far beyond television, tapping into the literature of Stephen King, Paul Auster, Bret Easton Ellis, and Dennis Lehane, particularly Shutter Island. e opening scene, featuring Alan's wife driving him up a sinuous mountain road, recalls e Shining, while Alan's struggles with his failing memory and the ghost of his missing wife are reminiscent of Christo- pher Nolan's Memento. Much like a movie, Alan's narration accompanies most of the game, as moody, orchestrated strings brood in the background. rough its eerie, heavily backlit, and mist-laden photography, the camera work employs slow, creepy tracking shots and Gaming ■ ■ ■ ■