A brief demonstration of the game was shown prior to the date announcement, with protagonist Alan Wake chasing after companion Rusty--said to hold the manuscript pages Wake needs top save his wife Alice--whilst fighting off seemingly flannel-clad enemies, mysterious floating objects, and a huge flock of shadowy birds.

The game's human-like enemies, apparently miners or lumberjacks given the lush (though dark) forest setting, were shown as being weak to light, with Wake using a flashlight and flare gun to burn them as he ducked and avoided their attacks and tossed objects. The flashlight required the player to finish the foes off with a gun, while the flare gun and the resulting bloom took care of two foes standing next to each other.