Alan Wake + DLC Review (Xbox 360)

Downloadable Content Pack: “The Writer”

Words have power. Science can understand the universe and the right numbers can split the atom; but the right words can divide a nation, can create emotions, can forge perceptions, can change the universe. The latest DLC addition to Alan Wake understands this. Appropriately titled “The Writer,” and taking place within the mind of the game’s title character, it realizes that in the hands of a skilled writer, words are not just labels; they are weapons, they are tools, they are the means to reshape the world and the way the writer applies rationality to the insanity around him.

And it demonstrates this most aptly through gameplay, specifically through the floating words that previous episodes had merely played with. Here, they’re one of the most basic elements of the game. Nearly every puzzle or scenario involves them in some way and they are used to much more dramatic effect than before. Wake now shines his flashlight on these words to create pieces of the landscape, to alter the level itself. He can create plumes of light that expose hidden enemies en masse and there’s even this one part where he removes pieces of a cliff to allow the beam from a lighthouse to evaporate the ensuing hordes. Even manuscript pages make a return, but now they play a more direct role in events, in that they give Wake a cluster of words to restock his ammo or batteries, to set him on the proper path and to remind him of all the good days The Dark Place in his mind would have him forget.

Alphabet Soup for the Soul

But powerful as that makes him, Wake is his own worst enemy in this story and the dark part of himself is equally capable of manipulating the setting. As a result this level is far trippier than anything we’ve seen before, with random juxtapositions of environments (Wake’s New York apartment leads straight into a forest, etc.), strange pathways surrounded by shadow, giant typewriter keys and this one really cool kaleidoscopic area where all the major locales from the base game are blended together and spinning around.

All of this of course serves to add some variety to the gameplay. The only really unfortunate part is this misjudged rehash of the concert segment from the base game. But beyond that – and unlike “The Signal” – “The Writer” is more interested in exploring new ideas and diversifying the gameplay portfolio. The word element changes how you approach combat, the lighthouse scene is a creative twist on the “Defend this Area” scenario and the kaleidoscope hall is simply unlike anything else in the game.

Even the exploration of narrative concepts goes deeper. You really get the feeling that you’re lost in someone’s mind here, as you travel through Wake’s memories of his life with Alice and through personal internal condemnations that all occur through playable flashes so cutting and so surreal that they would have made The Suffering proud. But the best part of these segments is that they occur over the course of the level proper, during the parts the base game would have called “nighttime sections.” The main game had this annoying tendency of sidelining much of its conceptual development to the hurried daytime segments, which were rushed through quickly in order to throw the player back into the combat with axe-throwing shadow fiends. Yawn.

But in “The Writer” this becomes part of the overall experience, which allows not only the story to develop better, but also the characters. The returning characters in “The Signal” all seemed to be there just for the sake of being there; none of them contributed anything of value to the story. But here they all serve a necessary purpose and some of them – like Dr. Hartman – achieve far more in “The Writer” than they have in any other level.

And that is the real accomplishment of “The Writer:” that it finally, finally, sees the gameplay and the narrative supplementing each other, working together to create a grand unified experience. The floating words – and their increasing potency – are symbolic of a struggling writer overcoming his demons and finding inner peace through his craft. And the surreal moments, the twisting world and the returning characters all serve to ground those demons into a relatable reality. Not simply represented through shadowy hunters throwing axes at him, Alan’s vices, faults and self-loathing are given shape and weight through the faces and voices of his friends.

Haven't we all had moments like this?

“The Writer” is the better of the two DLC packs released so far. In fact, you could quite reasonably call it the best episode of Alan Wake period. It’s involving, atmospheric, well-balanced, funny and horrifying in all the right ways. It is a simply fantastic experience and if the original game had been more like this, then Alan Wake might have actually delivered on its advertising’s promise of redefining narrative in videogames.