Alan Wake: The Signal

*CAUTION! THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS*

The first DLC for Remedy’s horror/thriller game entitled “The Signal” once again puts the player in the shoes of the renowned author and protagonist, Alan Wake. When we last left our hero, he had succeeded in hunting down and defeating his wife’s kidnapper, an enigmatic woman clad in funeral garb revealed to be the manifestation of something known only as “The Darkness.” Alan Wake momentarily dispels The Darkness long enough to write his lost wife back into existence and himself out of the story. The game ends with Alan Wake seemingly lost under the murky waters of Bright Fall’s Cauldron Lake.

But, as Alan Wake: The Signal reveals, Bright Falls is not yet through with him. The DLC begins with Alan Wake returning to the center of Bright Falls with the uncanny sense that something is not quite right. As The Darkness creeps back into the town, Alan Wake is once again catapulted into his previous nightmare. Armed with nothing but a few guns and an arsenal of light-inducing weapons, including his trusty flashlight, Alan Wake is forced to battle his way through hordes of shadowy, ghost-like manifestations of the town’s residents in pursuit of answers to his mysterious situation. Along the way, Alan Wake is subject to several images and video clips of himself writhing on the floor in agony, clutching his head and muttering nonsensical phrases like a madman. This leads the player to believe that Alan Wake has lost his mind, due likely to the events within the story’s previous installment. Are Bright Falls, the disappearance of his wife, and The Darkness real? Or are they simply the ravings of a very disturbed mind?

Guiding Alan Wake is the personage of Zane, who appears as a floating man in a diver’s outfit, as well as the doppelganger of Alan Wake’s agent and comic relief, Barry Wheeler. Both point Alan Wake toward a GPS location given off by something they call The Signal. Alan Wake never reaches The Signal, however, as the DLC ends with him once again collapsing on the ground, holding his head and spouting off sentences riddled with mystique and general paranoia. The screen fades to a tantalizing TO BE CONTINUED, thus setting up the story to be concluded with the release of Alan Wake’s next DLC, “The Writer.”

I commend Alan Wake: The Signal on several accounts. First and foremost, the DLC stuck to what made Alan Wake great in the first place: gritty, suspenseful action set in a haunting environment and beautifully narrated. Shadows still burn away to the sound of shrieking strings. Light and shadow stills respond to Alan Wake’s movements with exceptional realism. Waves of enemies wielding chainsaws and harvest scythes still create an atmosphere of futility and panic as Alan Wake is forced to run from one safe haven to the next. Barry Wheeler still lands the occasional joke and vocal jab, although this time around he seems intent on establishing a more dominant role in his and Alan’s writer/agent relationship.

Matthew Porretta returns as the voice of Alan Wake, narrating the author’s progress through the treacherousness twists and turns of Bright Falls. This narration, as in the first installment of Alan Wake, truly gives players the sense that they are part of an overlying plot, an intricate story weaved into the very actions and ambitions of the protagonist. Because Alan Wake: The Signal is a game inspired by the writings of horror novelists, such as Stephen King, the narration becomes imperative to the overall gameplay, which itself is excellent.

Gameplay is, for the most part, smooth and simple. Battling enemies boils down to little more than point and shoot with the occasional dodge mixed in. However, since Alan Wake must first dispel any darkness surrounding his enemies before they can be harmed, choices like what sources of light to use and how to best conserve your flashlight’s batteries become increasingly important. Because light = survival, the occasional lack of flashlight batteries or external sources of light quickly add to the overall suspense and tension of the game.

Sound quality and music in Alan Wake: The Signal are good, although nothing exceptional caught my attention. Scratchy violins and vocal moaning typically herald the approach of shadowy enemies, which fit the dark nature of Alan Wake: The Signal very well. Voice acting and narration is also worth mentioning. Overall quality of voice is good, although I did notice several moments when the character’s words did not line up with the general shape of their mouths (a small complaint).

Graphics in Alan Wake: The Signal are fine, but I would have liked to see more from the occasional cut scene. Scenes interspersed among the overarching story and gameplay fit the game, but appear graphically dated. Textures and facial expressions appear somewhat fake and colors are often bland and uninteresting. It doesn’t detract from the overall likability of Alan Wake: The Signal, but it cost the game a few points in my mind.

VERDICT

Alan Wake: The Signal accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do: progress the captivating story of Alan Wake. All the things I liked about the first installment are still there and it seems as though it will effectively connect the story between Alan Wake and Alan Wake: The Writer. The game should provide its players with at least an hour of intriguing gameplay (2 hours if players take the time to discover all the collectibles and back story). I would highly suggest purchasing this DLC, although chances are that if you purchased Alan Wake recently, you’ve already downloaded the DLC for free off of Xbox Live.

SCORE: 9/10