Alan Wake, I Am Alive headline XBL House Party

Microsoft has finalized the guest list for its third annual House Party, with four downloadable games invited to the 2012 version of the promotion.

In a video posted to the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft advertised the House Party as featuring four games: Alan Wake's American Nightmare, I Am Alive, Nexuiz, and Warp. However, the clip did not give release dates or prices for the games. Last year's House Party promotion featured five titles (Hard Corps: Uprising, Full House Poker, Beyond Good & Evil HD, Bejeweled Blitz Live, and Torchlight) and kicked off in mid-February.

In Alan Wake's American Nightmare, the titular author journeys to another remote town full of spooky secrets. There he faces off against a new supernatural villain, Mr. Scratch, and the two do battle using the powers of light (for Wake) and darkness (for Scratch).

Developed by Ubisoft Shanghai, I Am Alive tells the story of an everyman who has lost his wife and daughter during a mysterious but cataclysmic event. This man returns to his hometown, Haventon, a year later to find the city in ruins, with its inhabitants taking "necessary actions" to survive.

Nexuiz is a multiplayer-only first-person shooter in which eight players on two teams square off against each other in Capture the Flag and Team Deathmatch modes. The game also features dynamic mutators that can modify the game mid-match, with effects that turn the screen black and white or force players to get by with inverted controls.

Finally, Electronic Arts is adding the stealth action game Warp to the House Party lineup. The game puts players in control of the teleporting alien Zero as it attempts to escape from an underwater laboratory.

[UPDATE 1/10]: While the specific titles remain undated, Microsoft has said that the House Party promotion will kick off February 15.