When it was announced at E3 back in 2005, Alan Wake had Xbox and PC gamers salivating over the promise of a psychological thriller in the style of Twin Peaks or the X Files. Early screenshots of the game boasted impressive visuals and the game seemed to be on track to blow our minds in 2007.But then something happened, Remedy, the studio behind bullet time ballet Max Payne, announced the game “still needed time” and the released date was depressingly pushed back. Gamers didn’t really seem to care however, distracting themselves with the big name titles such as Halo 3 that had the good graces to come out on time. By early 2009 when the game was put back again most people had given up on Mr Wake, and waited for the inevitable announcement that the project had been shut down.

This isn’t what happened however. At E3 2009 Alan Wake came back in a big way. With a gorgeous graphical overhaul and “gasp” a playable demo project leader Sam Lake who had previously headed the Max Payne team announced that Alan Wake was to be released in May 2010, a date now tantalisingly close, and that it had been “worth the wait”. Gamers waited for the promise of a delay again but it never came and come this year’s X10 showcase, where the game was on show with its may release date intact, many of us let ourselves get excited about the game again, this writer in particular.

So what do we know about Alan Wake so far? First of all the game looks amazing, the extra time Remedy has had to put the game together really shows, colours and lights flicker through beautifully rendered mist and the character models and environments really look like their pushing the 360 to its limits. Each area of the game that has been on show in trailers and screenshots drips with a tense cinematic feel. I could go on for the rest of this article about how gorgeous Alan Wake is but since I don’t have that much space ,ill just implore you to get on YouTube and take a look for yourself. Screenshots don’t do justice to how the game looks in motion.

The game tells the story of Alan Wake, A bestselling horror writer who loses his muse and is unable to write anything for almost two years, fearing the royalty money will dry up(possibly) his wife takes Wake on a trip to the idyllic mountain town of Bright Falls in an attempt to help him find his creativity again. Cue a missing wife, murderous possessed townspeople and a manuscript, that Wake can’t remember writing, which tells the story of the events unfolding before him. While the story may be standard X Files fare, Remedy has chosen to have the game play out like a television series with each level separated by a cliff-hanger and then catch up of events. While this may seem like a novel approach to videogame storytelling, the mechanic will hopefully help to make the story of Alan Wake all the more engaging.

Gameplay seems to consist of typical survival horror exploration however what make Alan Wake unique is the important role light plays within combat. In order to dispose of the 'Dark forces' that pursue him throughout the game Wake must first break down dark barriers that surround them before taking the overactive shadows out with conventional weapons. While this mechanic may sound very ‘Alone in the Dark’ in practice it’s a cool feature which sees Wake scrabbling for spotlights, flares and any other illuminating objects he can find, making combat much more of a thinking man’s game.

There’s not much more that can be said about Alan Wake without descending into a series hyperbole`s but what can be safely said without a hint of exaggeration is that if Remedy is actually able to release the game on time later this year, Mr Wake could be a contender for game of the year.