"Umbra gave a significant boost in rendering performance on the Xbox360, and at the same time made our content creation faster. With Umbra's culling technology, Remedy's team can add more details to Alan Wake's world and concentrate on the cool visuals while minimizing tedious work such as adding portals," said Remedy Entertainment's Development Director Markus Mäki.

Umbra is a GPU accelerated rendering optimization middleware available for PC, Xbox360 and PS3. Umbra has two major application areas: it increases frame rate dramatically, and makes the content pipeline faster and more effective.

"It's been a pleasure working with Remedy on Alan Wake," said Marko Nurro, Umbra Software's CEO. "Remedy is one of the most innovative and technically competent studios in the world. Their games just rock, simple as that."

Umbra Software Ltd. is the expert in 3D rendering optimization middleware for PC, Xbox360 and PS3. Umbra Software's flagship product, Umbra, increases rendering performance in 3D games and allows game developers to create rich, complex and highly dynamic game worlds previously impossible.

Set in the deceptively idyllic town of Bright Falls, Wash., “Alan Wake” immerses players in an intense and expansive cinematic world that enables players to roam freely in hyper-realistic, dynamic and interactive environments. “Alan Wake” is mission-based with a deeply engaging and suspenseful story line unveiling new twists and profound character revelations at every turn. Players will unravel the riveting plot through multilayered character interactions, unique problem-solving and intense combat against terrifying enemies. In this nightmarish world, Alan Wake must use a variety of weapons to survive, including his most powerful ally against the creatures of darkness — light itself.

Features :

• Intense psychological thriller. “Alan Wake” delivers a deeply psychological and finely crafted plot that raises the bar for storytelling in video games. The riveting story of “Alan Wake” is propelled by a movie-like atmosphere, compelling situations, memorable characters and real-time pacing. Remedy has a record of creating and developing games with unique cinematic presentation and exceptionally high production values. The developer has harnessed next-generation gaming technology to tell a powerful story that immerses the gamer in the intense emotion and suspense of Alan Wake’s thrilling adventure.
• Massive, open world to explore. The free-roaming elements and massive open world allow gamers to investigate the mysteries of Bright Falls and encourage them to explore and pay close attention to detail.
• Light as a combat element. As the story progresses, nights grow longer and days grow shorter. This poses a severe problem for Alan Wake since his enemies seemingly gain strength from the shadows, and before long light itself becomes his greatest ally. Players must skillfully combine their use of light with more conventional weapons to stand a chance against these creatures of darkness.
• Realistic, interactive environment. Set in the town of Bright Falls, the hyper-detailed environments of the Pacific Northwest play an important role; even the change in daylight and weather will profoundly affect the characters and enemies in “Alan Wake.” The game’s advanced rendering engine provides amazingly realistic environments that bring this world to detailed life — from the lush forest of evergreen trees to the quaint small-town buildings and streets. The world of “Alan Wake” is alive and real.
• Episodic narrative. The mission-based structure of “Alan Wake” creates an episodic narrative similar to a deeply structured dramatic television series. As the episodes progress, gameplay will evolve to introduce new elements and characters, escalating the level of threat and action in the game.

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