DLC Review(s): Alan Wake - "The Signal" and "The Writer"

Avert your eyes. Minor spoilers ahead.

The conclusion of Alan Wake was a bittersweet one, but I honestly couldn't imagine a better way to bring the story to a close. Without giving too much away, it doesn't seem like Mr. Wake will be going anywhere for a while. Trapped in a place he'd rather not be, his only hope of getting back to the real world is to write himself back into it. Unfortunately, he's developed a rather violent form of writer's block, where his anxiety and overactive imagination have collided in such a way that his rational side has been pushed away into a nightmare.

Both Alan Wake add-ons, "The Signal" and "The Writer," focus on Alan's rational self as he tries to make his way back to the cabin and out of harm's way. To do this, he has to survive a nightmare of his creation. These are ultimately two stories of a writer having his own imagination turned against him.

The Signal:

This add-on begins in much of the same way the main game did, with Alan Wake stumbling into the Oh Deer Diner in Bright Falls, though things are certainly different this time around. The darkness is everywhere, perverting Wake's memories to the point where they're blending into each other. A door to the city streets might lead you somewhere else entirely, and things only get worse as Wake's insane self dives further into madness.

In short: someone done crossed the streams.

Though I loved that this add-on continued the story in an interesting way, it didn't advance beyond the initial concept. For the most part, you'll be fighting the Taken. A lot of them. An unusual amount, actually. Whereas the game itself had the battles spaced out quite a bit, there's nothing like that going on here. After you figure out just what the heck's going on with Wake, there's little else to be impressed by outside of a few interesting set pieces.

But you know what? It was still enjoyable. And if you buy Alan Wake new, you get it for free. So, while I can't complain too much, I will say that the few things that I didn't like about the main game seem to compose the core of this add-on. There are way too many fights, another shameless instance of product placement, and the story doesn't advance much after the first fifteen minutes or so.

But it's still pretty dang spooky, and, again: free.

The Writer:

"The Writer," on the other hand, was a perfect example of what I'd expect out of an Alan Wake story. It expands upon some of the questions that the main game left unanswered, has some very good character moments, and has probably one of the craziest sequences I've ever seen in a video game. It's similar to the hallucination from Fallout 3 - Point Lookout, or Nightmare Hollow from Fable 2... but waaaay creepier.

Basically, "The Writer" feels like a proper descent into madness. I honestly couldn't tell what was going to happen next, and when the crazy stuff happened, I couldn't believe I had just played such a thing in a video game. I was awed, I'll say that much. Even the combat sections were creative as all hell and, most importantly, fun.

The ending is a nice teaser for what could happen in future Alan Wake installments, and I honestly can't wait. Sounds like we have something coming soon, but the announcement was definitely vague. In any case, I'll take what I can get!