David Lynch's celebrated TV series, Twin Peaks, is in the news right now - but for all the wrong reasons. Showtime announced it would be picking up a third season of the quirky murder-mystery series last year, complete with the original cast, which got Lynch's followers hopeful for a return to the titular town. Much to their dismay, this week Lynch officially announced he left the project due to budgetary concerns. The collective cry that Twin Peaks is not Twin Peaks without both original creators David Lynch and Mark Frost at the helm can be heard loud and clear. The creators' surreal vision for the absurd drama is so unique and alluring that its influence has naturally seeped its way into the minds of game developers for decades. Today it's uncertain whether Lynch will ever return to Twin Peaks (Showtime wants him back), but to celebrate the show's lasting legacy we examine its impact on a handful of games all about outsiders entering peculiar closed communities.
(Please visit the site to view this media)
Max Payne
Remedy Entertainment's love of Twin Peaks starts well before Alan Wake began writing his pulpy
detective thrillers. The early Max Payne games feature a few TV sets playing
crudely portrayed shows, one of which is fictional '90s cult series Address Unknown. Smooth, unsettling jazz
underscores a story about a missing woman, an enigmatic serial killer, and a city
that seems to mysteriously shift its identity - all touchstones from Twin Peaks. Further sealing the deal is
a talking pink flamingo with distorted vocals, similar to the backwards-talking
man from Twin Peaks. In case that's
too ambiguous for you, the show also contains a room with a black-and-while
zigzagging floor bordered by red curtains, exactly like Twin Peaks' iconic
Black Lodge.
Alan Wake
Max Payne's in-game Address
Unknown series borrows heavily from Twin
Peaks' imagery, whereas Remedy's Alan Wake also shows broader thematic
influence. Alan is a writer struggling to top his previous success, so he and
his wife steal away to a quiet mountain town in Washington called Bright Falls.
The setting is almost identical to that of Twin
Peaks. Early on, Alan has a strange encounter with Bright Falls' bizarre
townsfolk. The Oh Deer diner scene oozes Lynch, with coffee-obsessed patrons,
decrepit old rock stars, and a prophetic old lady clutching a lantern that
would look right at home in Twin Peaks'
Double R Diner if she swapped the light out for a log. The references run even
deeper, including a Sheriff's Department that's nearly identical to the one in
Lynch's show, a locket strikingly similar to Laura Palmer's, and a plot thread
involving a doppelganger.
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Link's first portable adventure sticks out like one of the
series' cracked walls amidst these other entries. However, the development team
for Link's Awakening admits that Twin
Peaks, which was popular around the time the game was developed, influenced
the goofy townsfolk. According to this Iwata Asks interview,
Nintendo developers packed Koholint Island with a cast of suspicious, goofy
characters. The aim was to compensate for a lack of NPCs by making them
intriguing and deep. Additionally, the dreamlike vibe of the game is also a nod
to David Lynch's serialized cult classic.
Mizzurna Falls
Similar to Alan Wake, this Japanese-only game by Human
Entertainment (Clock Tower series) takes place in the fictional Colorado town
of Mizzurna Falls. The town is bordered by snowy trees and mountains, setting a
tone remarkably familiar to Twin Peaks
fans. The story even kicks off with dual mysteries, one concerning a missing
girl and another involving a woman apparently mauled to death by a bear. The
open-world adventure lets players talk to the curious NPCs as they please. The
people available to talk to even changes with the day/night cycle, encouraging
players to learn the residents' routines. It also introduces a police station
and greasy spoon diner setting early on, cementing Lynch's obvious influence on
the game.
Up next: A couple newer titles inspired by Twin Peaks and the king of them all..