The game Alan Wake was one of the more enjoyable Xbox 360 games I played this summer. I loved the duality of the world: life and death, clarity and dumbfoundedness, light and darkness. It helped even more with its awesome narrative. Over the past few months, the developers have released two downloadable content packs. The first is The Signal. The other is The Writer. This review follows the latter and is a solid download for fans of the game.
The Writer follows Wake as he continues to explore his subconscious and fight for his own identity. In fact, the strong level design is what really helps sell the story here. The land is distorted and is floating in dark space. Wake hops from rock to rock. There’s a Ferris wheel consisting of rooms, and it’s downright awesome as it feels like you’re running through all the major rooms of the main game. There’s even a giant typewriter to jump on, and it clicks when you jump on the letters in his name. I love it because it feels very Hitchcockian to me.
There’s a greater emphasis on platforming than the main game. This is a problem because Alan moves too loosely to double as an expert in locomotion. The game requires a bit too refined movements for its type. There are only four new enemies, and they behave like any other taken in the game. The lure here is the strong narrative, which is still on display.
The voice actors do an excellent job drawing you deeper into Wake’s nightmarish world. And the way it comes together truly adds greater depth to its intriguing mythos. There’s real chemistry in this game, and it shows.
Although there might not be much to be said about Alan Wake: The Writer, it does its job well. It completes the story The Signal began and sets it up for a sequel. Yet again, the main game already did that. So it is a bit difficult to justify a $7 (or 560 Microsoft Points) purchase. But if you can grab it for about $3, then you’re golden. If I had to choose between the two DLCs, I would go with The Signal. The plot felt like you were stumbling upon something, as if some sort of awakening was going to occur. However, if you love the main game, then you cannot go wrong with either pack. That’s not a bad deal, no matter how you look at it.
