Overview
Sami Järvi or (Sam Lake in English) is a Finnish writer, who's most notable video game credits come from writing the script and story for Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne and now Alan Wake. Sami also took up other roles in the development of Max Payne. Due to the game's low budget, Sami appears as the basis for the character model of Max Payne (in the first game) as well as modeling as Max Payne in the in-game graphic novels. In the second game, Sami appears as several characters in the TV shows that can be watched throughout the game. He also wrote the poem that inspired Poets of the Fall to write the closing credits song 'Late Goodbye'. Sami is a public supporter of Poets of the Fall, sporting the band's t-shirt during the stage demo of Alan Wake at E3 09.
Sami is also credited with character development for the film adaptation of Max Payne.
Sami personally chose the song 'War' by Finnish band Poets of the Fall to be in Alan Wake. Unlike 'Late Goodbye', 'War' was not composed for the game, but Sami felt it complemented it well. The song can be heard on one of the in-game radios in episode five, 'The Clicker', as well as at the end of the episode. Additionally, Poets of the Fall enjoyed the Alan Wake experience so much that they themed the music video for 'War' after the game, going as far as to use elements lifted directly from the game as imagery and having it star the Finnish actor who was the visual model for Alan Wake.
Sami also briefly cameos in Alan Wake as a guest on the fictional television talk show "The Harry Garrett Show". As the show ends, the host asks him to "once more, do the face for us," prompting Sami to scrunch up his face in a recreation of his Max Payne grimace, to the laughter of the show's studio audience.
Sam Lake is currently overseeing Quantum Break as his role as Creative Director at Remedy.
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