PC Zone/C&VG Preview - New screens!

ComputerAndVideoGames.com has a preview up featuring quite a bit of new information and also some new screenshots from Alan Wake.

“Missions are built around a single linear storyline, so that the player always knows how to progress, but then there are other story fragments spread all around the world - smaller games for the player to mess around with,” continues Järvilehto. “While we allow for free-roaming exploration, we don’t want you to get lost or frustrated.”

Check out the preview here and you can view the screens below.

Thanks SlamDunk for the heads up.

Remedy is looking for gameplay designers

Remedy Entertainment, the developer of the Max Payne games and one of the leading independent game studios in the world, is looking for Gameplay Designers to work on the upcoming next-generation title Alan Wake.

You know what it takes to create a great game. You have a refined visual imagination, as well as experience working with complex scripting and gameplay editors. As Gameplay Designer, your main responsibilities are to implement and script minute-to-minute gameplay and game systems within the framework of the story and high-level game design. Before implementation, you will create the gameplay plans in co-operation with the Lead Game Designer and Lead Writer. You are expected to deliver gameplay that matches the overall game atmosphere and style.

Desired skills:

- Excellent communication, problem-solving and team work skills
- Independent and proactive attitude
- Ability to plan and document your own work
- Understanding of playability, user interfaces, and the basic concepts of game AI and physics
- Proven experience with modding, level editors, scripting and creation of story-driven gameplay
- Extensive knowledge of past and current games on the market, and understanding of what factors contribute to a commercial success

Pluses: programming background, 3D Studio Max skills

More info at
http://www.remedygames.com/contact_info/recruitment_info.html

PCPowerplay Alan Wake Preview

Another Australian magazine has a Alan Wake preview up and this time it’s PC gaming magazine, PCPowerplay. There’s a tiny bit of new information and a cool little Q&A with Sam and Petri. “We set out to build the first psychological action thriller in games,” says Lake. “We wanted to clearly raise the bar for story telling in video games and set out to build a movie-like atmosphere, compelling situations, and memorable characters.” It’s a sentiment echoed by the game’s creative director Petri Järvilehto. “Alan Wake feels like a logical step forward,” he says, “taking some of the things that worked in our previous games further, such as themes aimed for grownup gamers, cinematic atmosphere, and storytelling. We have a record of creating games with unique cinematic presentation and exceptionally high production values - but felt that we could take this so much further.”

But that doesn’t mean that a decent narrative comes at the cost of sacrificing gameplay. The team is looking to make that aspect just as compelling and as memorable as its previous forays. “Mystery is an important part of a good thriller,” says Lake, “as are tight atmosphere and suspense. But on the other hand we are known for action and there will be plenty of cool and cinematic engagements. We wanted to steer clear of horror and gore, which often means buckets and buckets of blood. The idea is to stay in a more stylised and tasteful area.”

The PC Powerplay magazine is available from all good newsagencies in Australia, issue #133 has the Alan Wake article.

Hyper Magazine Alan Wake Preview

Australian magazine Hyper has a writeup on their impressions of the Alan Wake showing at X06.

“The game is played form a third person perspective similar to that of Max Payne, although the screen is devoid of the usual HUD. Instead players get the occasional hand writing mission briefing and Wake’s own internal narrative to let them know what to do. Although we have only seen a brief amount of gameplay the use of first person narrative looks as though it will work very nicely for both exposition and immersion. After a little running around and showing off the character animations and cloth physics of Alan’s flapping coat, the first actual gameplay segment of the demo began with Alan talking to a gas station attendant who tells him to head on up to the cabin in the nearby mountains. Jumping in a 4WD, Wake begins the drive up the mountains. We haven’t had any hands on time with the game but from what we were shown the driving engine looks solid and realistic. More importantly it was also explained to us that as well as utilizing the episodic narrative, Alan Wake is going to be an open world game in which players can approach the story as they see fit and will have ample opportunities to explore the mysteries of Bright Falls and be rewarded for their inquisitiveness.

During the drive up the mountains the voiceover kicked in, explaining how the drive seems to mimic a passage in his notebook, if only a hitchhiker would appear. Lo and behold a stranger with his thumb out does turn up and, contrary to conventional wisdom, Wake picks him up. Just as we begin to internally groan at the “coincidence”, the voiceover, with immaculate comic timing laconically says “creepy”. Alan comments to his passenger that in his book a man picks up a strange hitchhiker. The hitcher assumes he’s meant to be the killer in the story but Wake sets him straight telling him that in fact it is the hitchhiker who dies. A little further up the road Alan comes across what appears to be the scene of a hit and run accident. A body lays bloodied in the centre of the road (a body that seems to be dressed almost identically to Alan Wake) and our hero goes to investigate. Shortly after he gets out of the car an out of control truck slams into it killing the hitchhiker, proving more of the mysterious written notes to be true. To make things even stranger the body on the road is no longer there and Alan remembers the next part of the writing that says that the hitchhiker will stalk him in some fashion, before finally passing out.”

Hyper magazine is available from all good newsagencies in Australia, issue #158 has the Alan Wake article.

Credit: Thanks Marcus.

Gamereactor Video Interview

Scandinavian site Gamereactor has an interview with Remedy’s Lasse Seppänen about Alan Wake.

Check out the interview here, it’s all in English.