Tech Blog

[#1]

The first DLC episode for Alan Wake hit this morning, and people who purchased a new version of the game (either normal or collector's edition) get it for free while those who purchased the title second-hand will have to stump up the princely sum of 560 points for it. I downloaded (and played it through) this morning, so the question for either party is--is it worth it?

Well, I suppose it depends. I think you can take a lot from the fact I played it through this morning, because it's not one of Alan Wake's longer chapters... I think I probably clocked about an hour and a half of playtime, and that's being generous. Of course, your mileage may vary on that. My playstyle for Alan Wake evolved across the course of the original game, and by the end I'd learned (realized?) that the best way to deal with groups of enemies was just to drop flares and leg it to the next light/safe area. I feel like The Signal's design does its best to stop players doing that--there are only about five flares and one flashbang in the entire thing--but I still managed to avoid most encounters through careful use of flares and letting Alan take hits when he had to (it's worth noting though, that I found the enemies a lot tougher this time round... perhaps I was just rusty.)

Of course, a short length doesn't mean anything if the time spent is good (look at Limbo) but particularly for those who spend 560 points I think The Signal is going to be found quite frustrating. It's still very much Alan Wake, fun to play and enjoyably creepy in the way the original game was, but the story really doesn't grow at all in the space of the episode. After the confusing conclusion of the main game you'd think this would offer some clues to keep you going, but it just goes deeper into oddness. There is one addition to the design--Alan now has some control over the world through choosing (or not) to turn words into real items, but it's really not quite enough.

Then there's the simple fact of location re-use. I'm not sure, actually, how much of the episode goes over old ground, but it feels like it's composed of almost nothing but places Alan has been before--each with their own twist, of course, but mild twists at that.

As a free update to Alan Wake, I quite enjoyed my time with the Signal, but it's slightly problematic in that it hasn't left me gasping for more. In fact, I'm kind of put off the idea of stumping up the cash for the next instalment as I believe that it's not going to shed any more light on Alan Wake's story and, honestly, just feel like more padding. Ultimately, I think The Signal is well worth downloading if you've got a download code in your box--its some added game time in a pretty enjoyable game--but for 560 points the lack of resolution is only going to irritate.