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Remedy's Quantum Break manipulates time and multimedia
In Remedy's Xbox One-exclusive Quantum Break, time begins to break down after an experiment at Riverport University goes horribly wrong. "The theme of the game is time," Remedy Creative Director Sam Lake tells us. "This is a time travel mystery with a looming threat of time breaking down." This narrative thread, one of many, is the wrapping around the Max Payne and Alan Wake developer's latest: a third-person action shooter, with cover mechanics that Remedy says is built on core strengths learned from the team's past development experiences. Tied to a television series Microsoft will produce and release, Quantum Break is a game that weaves its narrative through multiple forms of media. As players control two playable characters through the game's narrative, stories in the game and live-action series collide to help flesh out the Quantum Break universe. "There are a number of ways in which the game and the show interact. That said, it's worth mentioning that we're not creating a 'choose your own adventure' where, very easily, one tight story gets watered down to many weaker ones. For us, this is much more 'one powerful story told many ways, based on your actions," Lake adds. Quantum Break's episodic-structure is built around character's with the ability to manipulate time. Time breaks manifest in the game where the world begins to stutter, freeze and violently skip forward. Having been exposed to the experiment gone bad, game protagonists Jack Joyce and Beth Wilder, as well as Quantum Break's primary bad guy Paul Serene, are all gifted with time manipulation abilities. How each character decides to utilize their newfound abilities differs greatly, but players can help shape specific decisions and motivations. Though the prime narrative in Quantum Break won't change based on actions, the game allows for some deviation based on player choice by way of a system known as "junctions in time." "Your junction choices in the game are a big part of defining your custom experience in the game, and your personalized 'Director's Cut' of the television series. All of the junction moments are big, memorable moments with big consequences in both the game and the show," Lake says. Remedy, who proudly admits it draws inspiration from a melting pot of pop culture, says that the best enemies in action movies always come close to "stealing the whole show." Quantum Break's baddie, Paul Serene, has the most powerful time power: the ability to see glimpses into other timelines and futures. "In an action movie, you always have these scenes where the bad guy is planning and making his moves. In Quantum Break, you get to play the bad guy during junction moments, determining which future comes to pass." Decisions made during junction moments will reflect throughout the rest of the game, we're told while a live demo of the game showcases one of these moments: a characters stands in the middle of a crime scene and two ghostly copies of himself dart off in opposite directions, giving players an indication of where they can go to shape the way the scene plays out. Though it's not required watching to complete the game, viewing the live-action Quantum Break series will give players information to unlock further content in the game, we're told. What was shown during our meeting was an extended look at the same in-game trailer featured on the Microsoft stage during its E3 press briefing. In the scene, Jack Joyce and Beth Wilder search for a scientist with information about Serene's plot. Perhaps with his ability to see a betrayal in her future, Serene attempts to kill the scientist by crashing a drone into her office, but a time anomaly freezes the scene as the drone's explosion rocks the room. As Jack and Beth enter the scene they spot the scientist, flying backwards and frozen in the air with a terrified look on her face. The scene is gorgeous, with particles suspended in the air. Wood panelling from the scientist's desk are broken into pieces, surrounded by glass and hang like a painting in the middle of the room. Taking control of the scene is Remedy's Head of Franchise Development Oskari Häkkinen, who pushes through the debris, as Jack, toward the scientist. As Jack comes across flying matter, he swipes it out of his way much like Assassin's Creed protagonists push through dense crowds. The fine detail is immense, from splinters and large chunks of wood to minuscule shards and large surviving panes of sharp glass all being whisked away as Jack inches toward his target. With the scientist frozen along with the explosion, Jack uses his ability to rip her out of time. Grabbing her, Jack jerks her body toward his and eventually she wakes from the broken timeline and witnesses the chaos taking place in her office. "I'm not going to hurt you, but I can't let you go!" Jack screams at the terrified woman. "Something went wrong with the experiment. This 'zero state' is just the beginning and Serene is behind all of it." Soon after the exchange begins, the frozen timeline begins to degrade and the explosion continues throughout the room, nearly taking all three characters with it. "We're building on our two core strengths," Lake says, "we've taken what we have learned about interactive storytelling from Alan Wake and we've raised the bar much higher. And we're taking everything that we have learned about cinematic stylized action from Max Payne and, again, we've raised the bar much higher." "We brought these two elements together in one game, creating something that you could call the 'ultimate Remedy experience.'" Quantum Break is coming exclusively to the Xbox One sometime in 2014.
Alan Wake's emergence from darkness to cult status
"Oh, God. You're killing me," Remedy Entertainment's Oskari Hakkinen groaned when I pressed him for details on PC plans for Alan Wake's American Nightmare. "I've got nothing to announce at this point," he moans softly into his headset. After a moment of silence I burst into laughter and he quickly joins me.As Head of Franchise Development, Oskari -- or Ozz, as he asks people to call him -- would certainly know Remedy's plan for Alan Wake's XBLA title coming to PC. But American Nightmare wasn't the basis for my call to the Finnish developer. It was Alan Wake's original tale I wanted to discuss, a game many skimmed past due to what many in the industry infuriatingly refer to as an "embarrassment of riches."On the same day Alan Wake's long development process met its ultimate ship goal, it was greeted by a host of quality competition. The adrenaline-fueled Split/Second landed on shelves. The Prince of Persia returned to his roots in The Forgotten Sands.Red Dead Redemption happened.%Gallery-147824%
Alan Wake's American Nightmare illuminated in latest dev diary
When Alan Wake makes his second appearance on the Xbox 360 this year in Alan Wake's American Nightmare, he's bringing more than just his flair for writing and a new set of clothes to the fight. He'll have ... umm ... a nail gun, too!
New Alan Wake confirmed, but it's not 'Alan Wake 2'
Remedy has confirmed that it's working on the next Alan Wake game -- but the "next" game is not the "Alan Wake 2" that was outed from an artist's resume. Oskari Häkkinen, head of franchise development for the Finnish developer, confirmed to Joystiq that a slice of the team is crafting "this next Wake installment," which is neither sequel nor downloadable content. "Fans of the franchise will be excited to learn that, yes, more Wake is coming!" he said. "But to be absolutely certain to avoid confusion, this next Wake installment will not be Alan Wake 2. But neither will it be DLC." The full explanation, "when we'll actually SHOW YOU," is being saved for the official announcement later. If it's not a sequel, then what is it? (What is it with you and confounding nebulousness, Alan?) "It's something that'll definitely give more to the Wake fans out there, but just as importantly, this installment will also give an opportunity for players who aren't familiar with the franchise to finally jump on board." Could it be an updated version of the original scary-forest sim, or an episodic continuation? Remedy is not announcing platforms or release dates yet, but told us that "Fall 2011 is probably a good guess." Also a good guess? Nowhere near a Rockstar game.
Remedy discusses next Alan Wake DLC, 'The Writer'
Outside of the knowledge that a second episode of DLC for Alan Wake -- titled "The Writer" -- will be coming sometime this fall and that it will cost 560 MS Points ($7), little else is known about the developer's plans for the future of the series. Though head of franchise development Oskari Häkkinen didn't get too specific, he told Eurogamer that the second DLC may not necessarily be the last we see of Mr. Wake on Xbox Live Marketplace. "I can't confirm whether this is going to be the last one or not. There are some things in the pipeline that we're looking at, and we're balancing out how we will move on with this," Häkkinen said. In terms of "The Writer," though, Remedy ... writer Mikko Rautalahti added that gameplay will skew towards the type found in the first DLC ("The Signal"), while level design errs more on the side of fantasy than the first. "You will be seeing a lot more weird stuff. And we've learned quite a bit from making 'The Signal,' and we'll be applying that to 'The Writer' quite a bit," he said. Both Häkkinen and Rautalahti remained relatively tight-lipped on the subject of an Alan Wake sequel, with Häkkinen only allowing, "I don't see any reason why we wouldn't continue with Microsoft with a full-blown sequel for Alan Wake. We definitely want to do it. We have great ideas for it. I can see Mikko here twiddling his thumbs with his ideas for Alan Wake 2. There's certainly a want, and that want is I believe from both sides." He did, however, add, "Right now I can't confirm anything." Given our feelings on the game (and the first DLC), we've got all our fingers and toes crossed for more.
Interview: Remedy's Oskari 'Ozz' Hakkinen on Alan Wake
After five long years of development, Remedy Entertainment is weeks away from delivering on one of the "most anticipated titles of 2010." Alan Wake's long journey comes to an end on May 18 (in North America) and the Finnish developer is in full "promo" mode -- when it isn't partying it up, that is. During a press stop in Toronto, Joystiq pressed Remedy's head of franchise development Oskari 'Ozz' Häkkinen on the hard-hitting questions: How much like a homeless Vin Diesel does the new Max Payne look, and when can players expect Alan Wake Wars to ship? We also grabbed a few tidbits about Alan Wake's New York City flashback, dreams of Alan Wake 2 and more on Wake's planned DLC. If that kind of stuff is important to you. %Gallery-64691%
Consider Alan Wake's DLC a 'Christmas Special'
Like Remedy Entertainment told us back in March, Alan Wake's poorly lit world will be getting a few DLC "episodes" this year. What we didn't know, however, was how said episodes would fold into the game's narrative arc -- but head of franchise development Oskari Hakkinen recently shed some light on them in a recent interview with Edge (via CVG), saying, "We've thought of DLC, which will be more of a bridge between season one and season two, should this first part be a success." Hakkinen is referring to the first, yet to be released Alan Wake as "season one," banking on the interest in the first game to produce a sequel (or "second season") with DLC episodes set to bridge the narrative between the two "seasons." He also likens it to a "Christmas special," adding that it "will give you a different perspective on the stuff you've played in season one." If our past with Christmas specials is any indication of what we can expect from this DLC, we're just as excited as you are.
New Alan Wake details emerge into the cold, hard light of day
We're not quite sure how, considering the media blackout approach that Alan Wake developer Remedy Entertainment has taken, but Norwegian gaming site Gamer.no sat down for dinner with head of franchise development for Remedy, Oskari Häkkinen, this past week. New details were (unsurprisingly) scant, though we were able to glean a handful of facts from the interview. For instance, the game has, "a lot less action than Max Payne," the studio's last franchise which recently had a current-gen update announced. Aside from an emphasis on story, Mr. Häkkinen says that weather effects will play a role in gameplay, specifically noting (by way of a strange sounding Google translation from Norwegian), "Everything in the game can be influenced by the weather. If you are running the car, run conditions will be worse by heavy rain, than if the weather was good ... the weather is dynamic, since it will influence how you play the game."Furthermore, Mr. Häkkinen tells Gamer.no that, "Lighting is very important in the game, and this is a unique item that really has not been used in the game before on the way we do it." The obvious comparison here would be to last year's conceptually strong Alone in the Dark -- here's hoping Remedy can deliver on the lighting concept where Alone in the Dark more or less failed. So, we officially still know little-to-nothing! We'll keep an eye out for information at E3 2009 in June, but, ya know, we're not holding our breath or anything.[Via IGN]%Gallery-33592%
