Remedy: Alan Wake "tried out sandbox elements" during development

Alan Wake was a sandbox game before going on a more linear route, writer Sam Lake has revealed.

He also revealed to CVG that developer Remedy "tried new things" during the several year period the thriller was in development.

"We were constantly trying different gameplay elements to see which would end up in the game and which would work well together," said Lake.

"For example, early on we tried out sandbox elements. With them we were constantly running into situations where we had to [endure] big compromises in our thriller pacing and our thriller storytelling. At the end of they day we decided it wasn't worth it. We wanted to do a story-driven game - that's what we feel Remedy games are supposed to be."

The game was finally dated last week for the US and UK for May 18 and May 21 respectively for Xbox 360.

No PC version, though. At all. Never again.