Review: Alan Wake - The Signal (DLC)

DLC in games is hit or miss with a lot of people. If it attempts to expand the story and lore of the game, it more often than not succeeds at drawing in those who were face-to-screen for hours with the game the first time around. Alan Wake‘s upcoming DLC release (July 27) “The Signal” is something I can easily label right now a “hit.” It successfully expands the story past the ending of the game, provides solid gameplay time, and actually intensifies any feeling of craving that light for shelter or just wondering if you will ever escape Bright Falls. In The Signal, Bright Falls manages to up the ante and gets a whole lot crazier. This place has been doomed from the start.

The Signal is the first of two pieces of content planned by Remedy for Alan Wake. It is free for those who purchase the game new and 560 Microsoft Points (or $7) for those picking it up off the Xbox Live Marketplace. After the mentally corrupting wild ride of an ending we experienced from the game itself, wanting to know more about Thomas Zane or what really happened to Alan Wake is an understatement of how I felt when I beat it.

When starting up The Signal, it opens up with a return to Bright Falls and everything is even more eerie and distorted than you’ve experienced yet from the game. Thomas Zane is trying to send a signal to Alan Wake. Although this “signal” is followed via the worst product placement advertising yet when a slow motion clip of a cell phone falling and a logo is displayed on the phone’s screen. The signal is followed via the phone’s GPS system, which somehow works in this extremely twisted anything-but-reality version of Bright Falls. All is not well.

The story still left me a bit confused and needing more clarity, but the gameplay just added this real sense of dread that I never fully felt from Alan Wake. The safe havens, or areas with light, are few and far between, and it even gets as cruel as to make certain lights break down as you near them to just further mess with your desire need for safety. There are tons of enemies and wild fights between possessed objects that is killing me not to spoil.

Not only are the safe havens scantly placed, but Remedy has devised a way to make you even feel afraid to let loose with your only true friend in the game - your flashlight. There is an area or two you will experience that will punish you if you’re not careful with your blinding little friend. It’s a really creative element that was definitely a nice touch.

I would go as far to say as I enjoyed The Signal more than any of the chapters in the actual game’s story (except maybe The Old Gods of Asgard rock part). I was literally always on edge throughout the entire hour and a half’s worth of game time, completely nerve-wracked and itching to find a safe haven to have a breathe-in breathe-out yoga moment in. Though the story doesn’t advance and isn’t explained too much further, it’s still one of the better pieces of DLC I’ve played to date. I definitely recommend picking it up if you enjoyed the game, or if you’re in the mood for a bit more of a twisted ride. Oh, and for those of you who were into the collectible part of Alan Wake, the coffee thermoses have jumped ship and now you can seek out ticking alarm clocks as well as several cardboard standees of various characters in the game that are littered with snippets of information.

Alan Wake - The Signal (DLC)
Xbox 360
	Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Developer: Remedy Genre: Thriller Release Date: July 27, 2025 MSRP: $7 / 560 Microsoft Points ESRB Rating: T for Teen

Doin’ It RIGHT: - A whole new experience of dread and desire for safety - when it’s just not in sight. - Great gameplay that really expands on the nerve-wracking and much more distorted town of Bright Falls.	Doin’ It RONG: - Criminal product placement. - Story is still foggy and isn’t furthered much.
FINAL SCORE: 9 / 10