It’s been quite the roller coaster of a week for Alan Wake fans who started off with elation when a follow-up to last year’s cult hit was announced, then fell into a small stage of depression when that title was revealed to be an XBLA game, but then came out feeling much better once Remedy clarified the experience would be structured like a retail release.
Now that roller coaster of emotion has finally culminated in the release of the promised fist screen shot of this Alan Wake title, which may or may not be called Alan Wake’s Night Springs.
The screenshot itself is nothing too revelatory — it features the titular Wake standing in a dark street with flashlight in hand — but it does allow for a small bit of speculation after careful analysis of the image. Remedy chose this particular image as the first gamers see for a reason, which leads us to believe it has hints of the game's content contained within it.
Clearly Alan Wake is a changed man in Night Springs, in the way he approaches both his wardrobe and the night. With 15 miles to go until reaching the town of Night Springs, one would surmise that Wake has quite a journey ahead of him (walking from point A to point B was a common trope in the first Alan Wake).
Also, in Wake’s right hand can be a seen a nail gun, suggesting that this Wake is much more resourceful and will use anything available to take out the darkness a la Dead Island.
Aside from that, the screenshot looks like classic Wake, a fact that should make fans very happy. What exactly this new downloadable title will deliver to gamers — will it be more episodic, will each segment be replayable for a higher score, will we better understand Alan Wake's psychosis — we cannot say, but a bigger reveal is slated for the Spike Video Game Awards next month.
What do you think of this first screenshot for Alan Wake’s Night Springs? Would you be interested in seeing a more resourceful Wake i.e. one who doesn’t use guns?
Alan Wake’s Night Springs is slated for a 2012 release on the XBLA.
Source: Game Informer