A post on Videogaming247 includes translated snippets of a Finnish-language interview with Remedy Entertainment’s lead writer, Sami Järvi. Remedy has been toiling away on Alan Wake for about a bazillion years now, and looks to be needing a bazillion more. And that makes Steerpike a sad, sad panda.
According to Järvi, Remedy’s long-anticipated title Alan Wake is still in development, and has taken so fricking long because they’re a “small team,” and making an open world game is “very tough.” Though we’re still looking at sometime in 2009 for Alan Wake’s release, I personally wouldn’t hold my breath.
That said, I’ve been watching this one with great interest. Psychological thrillers are uncommon in game development, and Remedy has produced outstanding work in the past. What could go wrong? Well, aside from the obvious long delays, there’s the question of how much of the Max Payne series was produced by Remedy, and how much was done by its allies at Rockstar Games. Järvi indicated that they are still using some Rockstar talent on Alan Wake, but the implication is that Rockstar isn’t participating to the same level on this title. Prior to Max Payne, Remedy was only known for Death Rally, and its sudden transformation into an intensely story-driven development house did raise some eyebrows.
In other news, Max Payne the motion picture arrives in theatres on October 17, starring Marky Mark – but without the funky bunch.
I’m kind of dubious of the idea of a psychological thriller videogame. Part of what works for those in books or movies is the urge to yell at the characters, the fact that you can’t control them. Plus, while it has been done (System Shock 2), it’s awfully rare to find a game that manages to actively remain scary.