James carries two pistols, but can swap the one in his left hand for a flashlight. Rider Haggard’s Allan Quartermain: he is his great-grandson, James Lee Quartermain. The player character is not just thematically descended from H. This is a strange game: a pastiche of adventure pastiches like Indiana Jones and Uncharted, but with their literary genealogy restored. The weaponized flashlight recharges over time, but can also be reloaded using Energizer-branded batteries found throughout the game. Combat is a two-step process: destroy the darkness with the flashlight then shoot the enemy with a gun. But in Alan Wake, that which damages the shield does not damage the enemies. They’re covered in a shadow, a videogame-standard shield that has to be destroyed before they can be killed. Wake’s enemies, the Taken, are humans (or animals, or inanimate objects) possessed by the Dark Presence, an enemy as pulpy as its name.
And because flashlights would be too limited, here are nine videogame Personal Illumination Objects. It can’t illuminate everything, and anything outside of its glow becomes more threatening.
Darkness is threatening, and the flashlight is personal. They can empower, yes, but only in a context where you’re not empowered. Model the latter (and oh so many videogames model the latter) and it’s not too difficult to model the former. You aim them and use them to affect things at a distance. This month’s release of Remedy’s Quantum Break has us thinking about their previous work, Alan Wake, a game where one of your most valuable weapons is your flashlight.
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