DLC Review: Alan Wake – The Signal
Game: Alan Wake: The Signal DLC
Format: 360
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
2009 was a great year for games. We had Batman: Arkham Asylum, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Left 4 Dead 2 amongst others, and this year seems to be a continuation of that. It’s incredible to think that already this year we’ve managed to get our hands on Mass Effect 2, God of War 3 and Super Mario Galaxy 2, with games from the Halo, Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, Fallout and Castlevania series all still to come.
With a constant flow of big titles coming out there’s fierce competition and with that comes fairly big titles losing out on sales and somewhat slipping under the radar. No game this year sums this up more than Alan Wake.
Despite all the time, money, effort and publicity pumped, and is continuing to be pumped into Alan Wake, it’s safe to say the game didn’t sell well…. not at all really. This could be down to a number of things. The fact that the game came out on the exact same day as Red Dead Redemption (which sold TONS by the way) obviously had something to do with it but to place the blame for the game under selling solely on the fact it came out on the same day as another popular game is just being plain delusional. Perhaps people got tired of all the hype and delays over the years that when the game actually came out not as many gamers were interested. Who knows? But you can’t change what has already happened.
Pinning the blame of poor sales solely on Red Dead Redemption is perhaps a little bit ignorant
So Alan Wake sold badly and this has thrown the possibility of a sequel, that the game so richly deserves, into doubt. But whilst the gamers didn’t flock out in their masses to pick up the game, I was one of the very few who actually did and for me Alan Wake will go down as THE most underrated game of 2010. Despite no one buying it and it’s reviews seemingly missing the point, the fact remains that everyone that I personally know that has played it has loved it, and that includes me too. Alan Wake was refreshing, compelling and intelligent, something that games rarely are these days, so when it was announced that, despite it’s sequel being in jeopardy, 2 bits of DLC were being release, I embraced the news with open arms.
With “The Writer” DLC yet to come, Alan Wake’s first piece of downloadable content “The Signal” sports as much attention to detail and polish as the original game itself. Attempting to bridge the gap between the first game and a possible second, The Signal picks up right where the original game finished, this time giving previous Alan Wake players the opportunity to experience the involvement of some of the more mysterious and unknown characters of the original, namely that of diver, Thomas Zane, thickening the plot and adding depth to an already weighty story.
The Signal allows you insight into the role of the mysterious, Thomas Zane
If you were one of the very few that played Alan Wake and enjoyed it, you will undoubtedly enjoy The Signal as essentially it’s just more of the same. The gripping, psychological storytelling that made the original game so compelling is still there, at times coming across a little more harrowing than the original and the same combat mechanics are there.
That’s not to say Remedy haven’t made SOME changes of course. As someone who played the original on normal difficulty, The Signal felt a lot more difficult, a lot more like the full game’s harder difficulties. More enemies attack you at once and in more confined locations too, perhaps the whole sense of the DLC feeling more harrowing is down to the fact that throughout The Signal you are constantly fighting for survival; not only are there more enemies and less places to hide but equipment, such as ammo, seems in short supply adding more focus on rationing and survival. The intention of making The Signal just that little bit harder is then hammered home by the fact that there is an achievement for not dying or restarting from a checkpoint.
Possessed cars, trucks, people, debris, poles, bits of machinery, it's all out to get you and it's everywhere
What, I hear you cry, the DLC contains more achievements? Indeed, achievement whores, it does. In fact The Signal comes with a whole host of new features which is a testament to the effort being put in to the I.P considering Remedy could’ve gotten away with just tacking on some DLC with minimal effort. But no, The Signal reeks quality and attention to detail. There are more achievements to unlock, collectibles to collect, more of the overall Alan Wake story to experience, a new unique end boss to fight, and a brand new world to explore (still set in Bright Falls, but the environment is much harsher and much more dangerous this time around).
Despite the DLC not costing a single penny/dollar/whatever the currency in your country is, (THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S FREE! So long as you kept your downloadable token when you bought the game new, because we all bought the game new right?), it’s also not very short either, giving more bang for your buck (wait, no, that doesn’t work does it?). Whilst being feature packed, The Signal is about as long as your average chapter length in the original game. One play through, neglecting achievements and collectibles, will clock in at around an hour on it’s own, which means that although The Signal is a piece of downloadable content, on it’s own merit, it provides at least 2 -3 hours worth of play to unlock and collect absolutely everything.
Alan himself was even shocked by the notion of The Signal being free
The Signal contains all the trademark features that made the original, full game different and so special, and it all ends so perfectly leading up to The Writer (sadly though, that piece of DLC won’t be free, 300 odd MSP though so still not bad). And as David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” (yes that’s right, SPACE BLOODY ODDITY), plays over the credits, you draw the first breath you’ve taken in an hour, an experience.
Review Round Up
Graphics: 4/5 – Facial animation is still a little bit weak, but the way they’ve changed the environment in conjunction with the progression in story is great. Contains all the polish and attention to detail as the original, full game.
Sound: 4/5 – Space Oddity FTW!
Gameplay: 3.5/5 – The Signal is harder and more harrowing than the full game, but nothing has changed drastically, more of the same. Something a little bit different would’ve been nice though.
Longevity: 4.5/5 – For a piece of DLC, it has a lot of replay value.
Overall: 4.5/5 – Overall The Signal gets 4.5 possessed toasters out of 5.
[starreview tpl=16]
- Kieran Roycroft
