More of the Same Signal?

I played through the Alan Wake DLC, the Signal, yesterday afternoon. For better or worse, it's more of the same. For those of you who loved Alan Wake, this is probably right up your alley. I would like to hear the opinion from someone like Nick, who really enjoyed the original game though.

As for me, this wasn't anything new. I felt it was still plagued by the problems that made me lukewarm the first time. Still, I was having problems with the combat, which was my biggest gripe initially. There were still moments when I felt I was in situations unable to handle all the things presented.  Running away seems to be the best option working about half the time, so eventually you'll get through it. I did try to fight my way through most of it but the endless supply of enemies wore on me. And even more, did the Poltergeist objects. The flying spools, combat TVs, stuffed deer pieces, and the monster trucks with death wishes that can all be destroyed by a flash light, I will never take a liking to. Running around shining a light on things while trying to avoid getting butt-raped by them is by far the worst part of the Alan Wake formula.

Without going to in-depth, most of The Signal is a recreation of the original game, taking bits and pieces or previous sequences and mashing them together into one semi coherent jumble. Remedy used their "Get Out of Jail Free Card" in the new sequences by taking exact locales and not creating anything too entirely new, which is of course the worry in the usage of DLC content. There is one new interesting game play spot, the furnace, but after having to replay the section multiple times, I resorted to just running through it.

As far as adding to the story, nothing much really goes on in The Signal. Nothing is solved and no new conflict created. If anything The Signal serves as a placeholder, reminding players of events so far and reacquainting them with the controls and combat. It does raise the question about when the next DLC will come out though.

I hate DLC Episodes and  The Signal is the weakest chapter in the story but I wasn't expecting too much out of a free episode and it fits in the nightly episode format that the game is set up in. Plus it was free to a certain extent and I was presented with the opportunity to play the game again, adding a few more Cheevos to the pile.

But again this raises the question about the next DLC's release date. If Remedy waits too long to release the next Episode, I feel that they run the risk of people not caring about it. And more importantly they run the risk of that lack of interest feeding into not wanting to spend money. They've set a good thing in motion with a free episode and gameplay longevity. It's fresh on people's minds again. They gave people a reason to keep their game discs around instead of trading them in, here's a chance to prove that it and DLC are worth it. For all of our sakes, I hope they deliver.

David