Remedy's Sam Lake Talks About Light And Dark In Alan Wake

After five years of development, the arrival of Alan Wake and his lost pages are almost here. With nothing more than a few demo game plays, much of this game has been left to the imagination. Remedy has done a great job keeping the story and gameplay under wraps from the public, but now, are shedding some light on subject. Lead writer, Sam Lake gives us insight:

"Light and darkness [present] a central theme in the fiction of Alan Wake. Darkness is the enemy; it represents terror, danger, and nightmares. Light is your ally; it represents the waking world, sanity, and safety."

As Alan progress through the story searching for his wife he picks up pieces of his work, then and only then does he realize his writings are the unfolding before him. He investigates during the day and manoeuvres under the cover of night to attempting to locate the one he loves. Alan will encounter many obstacles along the way possessed by darkness. The light is the only thing that can help him.

"The darkness protects those that it possesses. They cannot be harmed with conventional methods before the protecting dark presence has been destroyed with light. In some cases, the possession is so strong that the dark presence regenerates in darkness, and you have to keep your light on them long enough without interruptions to be able to destroy it. In addition to people and animals, the darkness can also take over vehicles, machines, and other objects, all of which it uses as weapons against you. It can also take over doors and gates that block your way until you can find a source of light to destroy them."

Again, most of the game will take place at night, but when you find yourself exploring during the day, make sure you spend enough time seeking out the right information along the way. Remember your surroundings so that night time game play will be easier to manoeuvre .

"The primal fear of the dark is something that has attracted me as a writer for a long time. It seems so fundamental and pure in a way. It's almost as if the whole concept has been programmed into our DNA as people. It's something that has been with us for a long time and has been explored in the works of fiction from theatre to books. Also, the symbolism of light as a saviour and a safe haven is so cooked into our collective subconscious that it offers a lot of interesting fiction to work with. The daytime scenes are definitely more about character development and story progression than combat," says Lake. "More often than not, they are there to give contrast and to foreshadow the horrible things to come when the night falls. Just as with any thriller -- be it a book, or a movie or a TV series -- you need to pace things right. If you are constantly hurdled forward at a hundred miles an hour, it all gets exhausting, and you become numb to it all."

With Lake’s look inside the game it leaves a lot of gamers thirsting for more! Many believe the game's “Spring 2010” release will be trumped by the rumoured “May 2010” date. Unfortunately, Remedy is keeping quiet on such rumours and hasn’t committed to the date.

Source: 1UP