Remedy Entertainment's Alan Wake has been a long time coming. Originally announced in 2005, the psychological thriller from the developers of Max Payne has seen numerous delays and dropped the PC version along the way. But if our time spent with the game during a preview event in Toronto is any indication, the game is finally on the right track.

The game looks and feels like what might happen if Stephen King ever decided to make a game. It's set in a small town in the Pacific Northwest and stars a best-selling author struggling with his next novel. He discovers a manuscript from a book he doesn't remember writing, and before long, the town is overrun with dark creatures ripped straight from those pages.

Oskari Häkkinen, Remedy's Head of franchise development, described Alan Wake as having "the body of a cinematic action game and the mind of a psychological thriller." It plays out like a third-person action game with a heavy emphasis on the power of light. Since the enemies in the game gain power in the shadows and are harmed by light, it's an integral part of the gameplay. "Light is a combat tool and a safe haven," Häkkinen explained. "You fight with light."

This plays out in several ways. Alan can take refuge under lamp posts, which will both heal him and protect him from enemies—provided they don't take an axe to the lamp and destroy it all together—and there are hints scattered throughout the game written in light-sensitive paint. It also has a major impact on the weapons in the game.

Your go-to weapon is a flashlight, which harms enemies slightly and slows them down enough so that you can get in a couple of shots with your revolver. But much more satisfying is the flare gun. Hitting an enemy with a flare causes it to be engulfed in a glorious explosion of light, though it does have the drawback of needing to be reloaded after every shot. And at one point Alan even takes hold of a spotlight, wielding it like a turret to take out swaths of foes.

The game isn't shy about its influences, going so far as to quote Stephen King at the opening of the game. Häkkinen also noted both Twin Peaks and Lost as major influences, but he was quick to point out that Lost had more of an impact in terms of its structure as opposed to its narrative, so don't expect much in the way of time-travel or alternate timelines. Instead, the game is structured a lot like a serial drama. It's divided into episodes—complete with "previously on Alan Wake" at the outset and "to be continued" at the end—features a large cast of supporting characters, and Häkkinen even frequently referred to the game as "season one."

Of course, this led us to ask whether or not a sequel is being planned. While Häkkinen couldn't confirm this, he did say that it didn't make sense to develop a game for five years and not create a sequel. But whether or not it will actually get released depends entirely on how successful Alan Wake ends up being. He did confirm, however, that Remedy will be releasing some downloadable episodes, which will serve as a "bridge" between seasons one and two. Häkkinen also said that if Remedy does end up releasing a sequel, it won't take another five years.

Another point that Häkkinen emphasized is that Alan Wake is a thriller and not a horror game. "Horror is about blood and gore," he explained. "Thriller isn't about what's happening but what's going to happen." One of the ways that the developer is going to create that sort of thriller-style tension is by messing with the player's expectations. The tension will often build because you'll expect something to happen, but many times nothing will. This gives the set-piece events in the game all the more impact, constantly leaving you on edge.

From what we saw, it looks like Alan Wake will live or die based on its atmosphere and storytelling. From the demo it's clear that Remedy has the former down, but, given the nature of the story, Häkkinen was understandably quiet when it came to specifics of the narrative, so it's tough to gauge that aspect. But the developers have definitely done an excellent job of cherry-picking elements from various pieces of pop culture and making it their own. Let's just hope the final product will be able to stand on its own.

Alan Wake will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 on May 18.