But sadly not in playable form
This isn’t a Mega-Scoop for the Ages, but it’s a fun little story. Tucked away in one dark corner of Remedy’s latesthorrorextravaganzaAlan Wake 2you’ll find an arcade cabinet machine dedicated to the very first game the Finnish developer ever made.
The project in question isDeath Rally, a top-down combat racer for MS-DOS in the spirit ofMicro Machines, which graced CRTs all the way back in 1996. Published by Apogee, it sees you looping around toytown courses, peppering your rivals with bullets or pranging them with your spiked fender. “It features both death and rallying, so is adroitly named,“opinedsome guy named Kieron Gillen back in 2009.
Remedy themselves were founded the year before Death Rally’s release by members of the Finnish demoscene groups Future Crew and The Aggression. The demoscene was/is more about tinkering and experimenting with computer hardware than game-making, so shifting to a “proper” videogame production was a challenge.
Death Rally was a big hit for the time, selling over 120,000 copies and allowing Remedy to expand and work on another title for Apogee, an isometric shooter initially titled “Dark Justice” which eventually became the very firstMax Payne.
The game isn’t actually playable in Alan Wake 2, alas, unless there’s some secret activation method we’ve yet to uncover. This feels like a missed opportunity, given Remedy’s crazy talk of alltheir games sharing a universe. It’s just as well, then, that you candownload Death Rally for free from Steam- forever. There’s aremakeknocking around, which Nathan Grayson (RPS in peace) found to be not that good.
As for our full verdict on Remedy’s latest paranormal potboiler, watch out for Katharine’s Alan Wake 2 review in the coming days -her opening impressions are positive. My understanding from conversations with various people is that it’s longer than anticipated, and rather fiddly. Ah, for the simpler days when all you had to do was drive in circles, murdering people.
