New Alan Wake clip sheds light on combat system

An Alan Wake teaser video has hit the interwebz and, while short, it’s sweeter than a pack of Rolos. It may only come in at a measly 44 seconds, but it’s a gameplay clip, and upon closer examination we can glean a few things from the combat system that Remedy Entertainment has incorporated into the title.

While the video shows the role that light and dark play in combat, that’s old news.  What first perked my attention was the apparent inclusion of a slow-mo, almost bullet-time, feature.  We also see an enemy wielding a butcher’s knife jumping towards Alan, who appears to dodge the attack.

The presence of a bullet-time feature is interesting considering the emphasis on fear in this game.  Whereas some developers deploy tools like panic and immobility (see Dead Space, Resident Evil) to instill fear, slowing things down during the heat of battle seems to go the opposite root and makes me think that this title may rely more so on spooky subtleties like environment, ambiance, and atmosphere for its chills.

If my eyes do not deceive me and Alan did in fact dodge the knife-wielding attacker, I can’t help but be reminded of the dodge and counterattack functions of recent action/adventure titles like Batman: Arkham Asylum and Assassin’s Creed 2.  Alan Wake doesn’t appear to use a combo system like these games, but the melding of a third person shooting mechanic with the ability to dodge or counter with the well-timed press of a button is simply intriguing.

This game just looks better and better with each glimpse we’re given.  Check out today’s clip, courtesy of 1UP:

As a side note, I promise not to use the term “glean” in a post again for while. What can I say, I’ve been doing a lot of gleaning lately….last one, I swear.

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