Let’s face it; none of us have ever really had the desire to play as a tweed jacket wearing, flash light wielding (seriously, he fights with a flashlight) author who can’t even defeat the formidable foe that is writer’s block when we pick up our controllers. And yet, you’d be hard pressed to find any Xbox 360 owner who has not at the very least been slightly curious and intrigued by the idea of the upcoming game which puts you in control of that very man, Alan Wake. Now, after a difficult and constantly extended production, the undeniably stunning looking and intense game, which you can discover more about here, has emerged out of the gloomy mist of production and is now fast approaching the light of it’s almost certainly secure release date, May 21. In fact, words out that the game is finished and after 6 long years, fans can most likely feel confident that a well polished game will soon be in their hands, or else there'll no doubt be trouble...

With an episodic style echoing such TV series’ as Twin Peaks and The X Files, and with a hero who should fill Stephen King readers or early 90s cinema goers with a sense of déjà vu as they remember the time they became acquainted with Paul Sheldon and Annie Wilkes, Alan Wake is already an established thriller, with developer Remedy being cleverly selective as they draw their inspiration from already well known works of dark fiction. In fact, if you listen to this trailer carefully, you will actually hear a woman enthusiastically proclaim she’s Alan’s “biggest fan.” Again, do you remember Annie Wilkes in Misery?

All video demos which have been released showing gameplay have been heart pounding just to watch, giving you an impression to how it will feel to actually play the game. Everything about the game is mouth watering to look at, with Remedy having put particular effort into getting the most authentic lighting any game has seen, including realistic shadows and weather spectrums. One thing which has also stood out to me, however, has been the music. You can obviously expect cinematic visuals from the people who brought you Max Payne, but it sounds as though the music is also going to be as powerful as you may expect from a motion picture. This fantastic score is collectively composed by Kimmo Kajasto, Petri Alanko and Poets of the Fall, and beautiful tasters of it can be heard on all the trailers of the game, including the one linked above.

When Wake does finally hit shelves, two editions are going to be available, and, unlike the likes of Modern Warfare 2’s Prestige Edition, the superior option won’t break the bank too much more than the normal edition will already. For the standard game, you will be paying about 40 pounds. For the special limited edition, you will only be paying the slightly steeper price of about 45 pounds. What extras will you get when you dig out that extra fiver? Well, you’ll get a copy of the game’s soundtrack (which I already mentioned sounds pretty good), a collection of behind the scenes DVDs, a book, and in-game commentaries. All this is packaged in an awesome casing modelled to look like an actual hardback book itself. So that fiver does go a long way.

When it comes down to it, though, Alan Wake is going to be a blast no matter what edition you get. With a thrilling episodic narrative, an immersive location, stunning graphics, and a free roaming sandbox style, I’d be surprised if this ‘psychological thriller’ doesn’t find itself on the top of your list of favourite games when it’s released this May, exclusively for Xbox (which just makes us even with the PS3 players who are enjoying the joys of Heavy Rain). So don your tweed jacket, refill your flashlight’s batteries, and get ready to show some dark forces who’s boss in your quest to rescue your wife. Yeah, no one messes with an author!