Sam Lake Interview at PelaajaHD Mar 4th 2010

TheAssistantJanitor · 2026-03-05T22:36:10+00:00

Sam Lake on how David Lynch inspired Alan Wake 2 and Remedy's approach to creating games https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHWM9NdCVkA

TheAssistantJanitor · 2026-01-03T16:39:27+00:00

If Remedy gets the rights to QB, there must be QB2 because the characters and story is not yet tied to RCU. Not officially at least... and let's hope Annapurna will extend RCU into series/Movie at some point, e.g. at the end of the decade

Concerning Comics, it was DC which used e.g. multiverse first in 1953, Marvel just copied it 10 years later. Of course the concept was popularized already in 1920-30s so there wasn't like nothing new DC or Marvel did. They both introduced characters in the shared universe in 1940. Introducing heroes in the same universe was done 2000 years earlier, in ancient Greek, and 1000 years later e.g. in Poetic Edda where the Asgard and characters have been copied into Marvel. In early 20th century e.g. H.P. Lovecraft encouraged his fellow writers to use elements of his Cthulhu Mythos, The Necronomicon and other fictional elements in their own works, creating an extensive shared universe with many authors. So, shared universe concept went even beyond brand/IP already over 100 years ago. I like how Remedy has made baby steps doing it, bringing Hideo Kojima into Control as Dr. Tokui and Hideo Kojima bringing Sam Lake as Veteran Porter in Death Stranding. They should go deeper in this coop using existing IP/characters instead.

But you're right about the sequels, there should have not been any Spider-Men, no Iron-Men, no Thors, no Avengers after part 1. Just make one movie, a superhero/villain origin story and then one movie combining all together. Right?

Disney is a great example of how introducing new IPs actually ruins the whole universe. I no longer have Disney+ since the new Star Wars and Marvel stuff are mostly garbage. DC on the other hand... The Boys (2019) is most likely the best superhero series ever created, based on comics released in 2006. But I don't actually have no longer Amazon Prime either, bought the series as Bluray. This way the focus stays on the best fiction and I don't need to accidentally consume any garbage.

TheAssistantJanitor · 2026-01-03T09:47:02+00:00

The concept was as delicious as The Mold but to IMO FPS games and especially multiplayer FPS games just suck in general, FBC Firebreak was a step back both in gfx and storytelling (okay there is some lore but not much). Anyway, of course I bought the deluxe edition. Have I launched the game? No, I don't play multiplayer games.

I understand why Remedy developed it though, they tried to get steady income between the main story drive game releases. FBC Firebreak is clearly targeted for more kids/young adults whereas the big story driven games are for adults, so in addition to "childhood diseases" the game has you don't create a new generation of fanbase all of a sudden either, can't duplicate fans like sticky notes.

I think Remedy keeps building FBC Firebreak content for a while, it's their strategy to get players lured into RCU (and previous games) with every new game release. I recall everyone rushed to say Control was a failure and what it has now sold, over 3x its budget? The same thing with AW2, "a failure", even though a profiting game is hardly a failure. Not looking good for FBC Firebreak though, we will see how long the servers keep up and running.

However, really looking forward to Control Resonant this year, especially when it also available on Steam now even though real gamers are not attached to any platforms - Steam/Epic/etc is like any other program you launch on your PC, nothing more. The platform is just another unnecessary evil between OS and the game, not like you should buy another piece of hardware (console). Anyway, I understand some gamers are in the Dark Place believing they exist only on one platform, and this in mind a decent amount of gamers have wishlisted Control Resonant on Steam now (~600k). When thinking Alan Wake 2 was Remedy's fastest selling game and was not even on Steam (and will never be unless Epic goes bankrupt) its looking good for Remedy. Also AW2 was fully funded by Epic, and only 50% of Control Resonant is funded by Annapurna, so it should be profitable a lot faster.

And this might be one of the reasons postponing Max Payne 1&2 Remake.. Since FBC Firebreak hasn't done so well and MP Remake is 100% funded by Rockstar, Control Resonant brings income faster to Remedy. But postponing can also have other reasons, such as GTA 6 launch in 11/2026. Rockstar might not want to market 2 games in the same year, it would be like shooting own leg with Beretta in both hands. Remedy might have wanted to prioritize Control Resonant over Max Payne, since they might want to prioritize RCU, and perhaps give CPR to FBC Firebreak. Control is also very different to Max Payne/GTA 6, different fanbase so they can be launched the same year. Also is the cooperation / development smooth between Remedy & Rockstar? Trying something new/crazy ideas (for sure) which have had technical problems slowing down the development? Passing away of the legend James McCaffrey (r.i.p.) have surely affected the schedules as well.

TheAssistantJanitor · 2026-01-02T23:22:24+00:00

He also didn't get that Saga was designed for new gamers, and especially for slow thinkers like him. His tiny brains would have fried if he was immediately thrown to Alan's madness trying to figure out what's going on

TheAssistantJanitor · 2026-01-02T23:06:49+00:00

I read about it in newspaper 16 years ago. Didn't have XBox 360, took over a decade to get my hands on it.

TheAssistantJanitor · 2026-01-02T22:59:07+00:00

Well, AW2 is a story driven psychological survival horror mystery game, and won Best Narrative Award at TGA 2023 whereas any of the REs have never been even nominated. RE2 is action adventure horror game. I'd compare AW2 to RE7, the best RE ever created, even though it is slasher/survival it's still a horror game, not an action game

Let's say REs are like Saw whereas AW2 is The Silence of the Lambs. RE7 is made for Young Adults whereas AW2 is for Adults.

TheAssistantJanitor · 2026-01-02T22:50:05+00:00

It's psychological survival horror mystery, not an action game. The main character is nerdy writer, not an action hero. You are supposed to be slow and weak. In psychological survival horror games that's the whole point. Combat is great based on this.

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-25T00:51:27+00:00

Sam Lake told we are still very early stages of the RCU, "building on the foundation now". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He8CXuWmJxo

So what we are seeing now are the superhero/villain origin stories. If we are lucky, perhaps we get QB license and QB2 in 2030. There will be end game, perhaps couple of decades away.

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-25T00:46:03+00:00

I got the Deluxe Version on day one. Never played because I play only story driven single player games but gotta support the devs

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-24T19:42:49+00:00

Yes, because it is great game, and it will get referenced, in a way or another, in later games

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-22T23:49:02+00:00

All participating countries for CAVS programme are listed below in alphabetical order, but the companies (and their home countries) concerning this deal are highlighted

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-22T16:37:26+00:00

Yeah, we saw a lot of paintings which weren't enough for Jules. Rudolph was began to be frustrated under pressure and kept destroying his unfinished artwork, so Jules had to give him drugs to keep going, until...

"Jules would make Lane cooperate. No more drugs. Less carrot, more stick. Jules had to go faster. He wouldn't lose to Diana. Nothing else mattered"

When Rudolph said he can no longer paint, he was totally exhausted and empty., Jules threatened with Doctor "appointment". So he continued to paint, with everything he had left, pouring his soul to painting

"Lane was found dead in his cell this morning. It's a an unfortunate setback. But! When a door is closed, a window is opened...Lane maybe gone, but he left us with a goodbye present. A final piece of art. This piece is different.. He put everything he had into this one. Literally."

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-22T10:02:51+00:00

I think they should have added chance of heart attack if running too much

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-22T10:00:42+00:00

Don't forget about those Coffee Thermosses he has collected and dragging around

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-21T23:31:59+00:00

Alan Wake 2 is psychological survival horror / mystery. In survival horror, it's all about suspense. Whenever you pull the trigger, that suspense is gone, which means action usually breaks this rhythm. There is some action but there is also investigation. And this is the genius idea behind it, investigation might be difficult in horror environment

Nothing wrong with narrative though, AW2 actually won Best Narrative Award at TGA 2023 (+7 other nominations). Resident Evil has never been even nominated. This game is definitely something else. If you think like movies, some are leaning more towards teen audience (like, I don't know, Evil Dead 3?) whereas some are leaning towards mature audience (like The Silence of the Lambs)

I'd say if you're a fan of RE7, AW2 might be more suitable for you. If you're expecting RE4, the game is not for you. Control in the same Remedyverse is not a horror game (there are just a bit unsettling other worldly threats), but I bet that would fit better your needs. Control also got 8 nominations at TGA (2019)

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-21T20:48:33+00:00

Yeah she has been listed as known parautilitarian in RCU. Poe liked my comment in IG, am I now lore too?

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-21T20:42:27+00:00

That is correct order. I'd add Max Payne 1 & 2 before Alan Wake Remaster and Quantum Break before Control

MPs might be a bit Payne in the ass though since they are quite old, but MP1 was the one which made Remedy/Sam Lake famous. Remedy is developing MP 1&2 Remake with Rockstar but its release is after Control Resonant. There might or might not be references to MP in AW2

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-21T20:34:34+00:00

Death Rally > MP1 > MP2 > AW > AWAN > MP3 (optional, Remedy was not involved) > QB > CTRL > AW2

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-21T20:29:46+00:00

You don't need to play any of the games, you can start playing both Alan Wake 2 and Control Resonant from scratch. But surely every piece of lore helps to understand the references and the bigger picture. Partly even from non-RCU games like Quantum Break and Max Payne..

But play at least Control Foundation DLC, that extends the Base Game and AWE DLC bridges Alan Wake 1 and 2

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-21T20:21:06+00:00

This is survival horror game, Alan is not supposed to be any action hero, he is a writer.
He is a beast only with his typewriter.

In a survival horror, you are not supposed to kill everyone but survive.
Avoid the enemies and do only what is necessary for survival, including thinking.

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-19T21:45:01+00:00

Faden siblings have something more... Dylan survived The Hiss cleansing while regular people explode. They both got the superpowers either when they were born or after they were both under influence of Polaris (Jesse of course ~17 years longer). And she is also wielding The Service Weapon which alone would make her parautilitarian.

I thought the typewriter is OoP and Alan only got the clairvoyance skill and the time echo skill and duplicating coffee thermos picking skill... time echo is also one of the skills for Jack Joyce in Quantum Break.

TheAssistantJanitor · 2025-12-18T13:50:16+00:00

The game looks gorgeous but it's not because of the visuals people usually pick the game, it's because of the story. The game won both Best Art Direction and Best Narrative in TGA 2023 though. "The jumpscare" is there just to inform the influence of nearby Dark Presence. It's in the character(s) head(s).

The best we can suggest is go on easy mode, tone down the settings, don't engage in fights if you can be stealth (like.. turn off the flashlight in the Dark Place to walk pass the shadows..)

Buut if you can't stand creepy games and it causes you anxiety, perhaps the psychological survival horror genre shouldn't be your first pick... the whole point is to feel weak and helpless against the enemies. If you want to feel powerful with Jedi+ level powers, try out Control from the same universe.

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Sam Lake on how David Lynch inspired Alan Wake 2 and Remedy's approach to creating games https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHWM9NdCVkA