This game has been on peoples want lists for quite a while ever since its debut. Horror games are always welcome for me as they represent good atmosphere and immersion.

Reading and watching previews of the game the game has proved to me that it is very successful in the immersion side: good lighting and good sound. But I suppose to make this a good game it'll need more than that, I suppose the core features haven't really been revealed but so far these are my main complaints:

1. Bullet time really? Sure in a cheezy action horror like FEAR it was good, but Alan Wake is serious business and is a survival horror, it always removes you from the immersion.

2. Every (well most) instance I've seen previews, Alan Wake holds a gun or is being shot at by a gun, this could be simply to draw Xbox shooter fans into something it is not, but if it is something along the lines of RE5 it could become a wasted opportunity. I suppose if it does end up gun heavy, the "light and dark" mechanics to defeat enemies may counter-balance it. but still......

3. Alan Wake does not really interact with the environment. I've seen this a million times with almost all horror games, the avatar you play always has this stiff body that doesn't look like it reacts to anything that is happening. Not a big problem but going that little bit further can help on immersion. Uncharted 2 (as you can see on my sig I've been playing a lot) although not in the same genre obviously, does this a lot with their characters like stumbling or looking around, it can make the difference.

Watch the video in the video section if you haven't checked this game out. I'm a big fan of these games, so I will definitely check it out in due time, hopefully it will be released on the rumored release date of May 2009 (Spring).

Wasn't this the game that used Havok?

Don't know, but does it matter?

I was worried when I saw the E3 video and was a little disappointed with it in all honesty due to the points you mentioned. Seems as though all the trailers they have released seem to be action orientated so it would be nice if they decided to release one with light in play or something more suspenseful than being shot at.