Nice tip thanks GR8.

I have so many decent games on the go at the minute

Good review GR8, I'm glad it turned out would have been disapointing waiting all that time and then having the game suck..

Yeah if it had of been a dud after 5yrs development they'd probably have gone bust

Remedy have come up with the goods again though. I remember being very impressed with the story telling in Max Payne on the original Xbox. They seem to be alot more sophisticated than so many of the studios going around (with the exception of a handful - Valve amongst them).

After a second play through now completed I'm thinking this probably is the best told and most entertaining story of all the 360 games I've played. The style of presentation, the incredible detail and beauty of the scenery, the perfectly selected soundtrack and wonderful voice acting, the way even quiet moments are so full of eerie tension... so many facets are handled at a level rarely seen in todays game designs.

If I had any say in game of the year, best art direction, best voice acting, best sound design and best storyline this game would get all of those awards. Mass Effect 2 was the only other standout game I've played so far this year and in my personal opinion Alan Wake beats it on all of those categories.

Looking forward to my 3rd and 4th play through and more so looking forward to the two coming DLC episodes. Apparently Remedy's plan is akin to Valves with Half Life 2 in terms of releasing episodic content prior to a sequel.

I look forward to it I'm going to finish red dead, mass effect and blur first then alan wake time till crackdown 2 comes out.

Yeah Red Dead is supposed to be good - every reviewer is giving the game top scores despite the many glitches they mentioned. Looking forward to that one too!

My only contact with the game so far is fumbling my way around in Greg's posse sometime last week. Due to no prior contact with the game I was basically figuring out the controls while they were galloping off into the distance

I'll soon be reviewing The Writer - the first paid DLC for Alan Wake. The first DLC The Signal was free for everyone with a full version of the game (the code is in your game box) - if you have a full version what u waitin for? GO GET IT!!! It's free!!!

Anyways the Signal was pretty cool - though a bit short IMO (but it's free) and all the achievements were very attainable.

Hoping The Writer will be a bit longer. It is only 560MS points so I expect it to be a popular DLC seeing as some people seem to have no problem with spending 800MS points at a time on Mass Effect 2 DLC.

I got the game for free and thus require points for the signal. Is it worth it?

If you're talking GS value then compared with other DLC with similar or less GS it's very good value for money. Probably the only one better value was Dead Rising 2: Case Zero.

Of course I don't view my DLC purchases with a GS slant (as you can tell from my lowly total GS) so the decision for me is as simple as do I love the game and want more of it? Answer: definite yes for anything Alan Wake related thanks.

If you want a campaign DLC that is same length as a full campaign mission I'd advise against it. But all DLC is shorter than the campaigns you get on disc from my experience so if that's a consideration you probably shouldn't buy any DLC missions / campaign add ons full stop.

Remedy, Valve and Capcom are all selling their DLC for very reasonable prices. Of course in Valve's case they actually wanted The Sacrifce DLC to be free (as it was to PC users) but XBL said no... hence its 560MS points instead. Mind you I don't understand why they didn't just make it 400MS points like Capcom did with Case Zero. Anyways I consider recent DLC from these 3 companies to be fairly priced... unlike EA / Bioware

Short answer, yes I will get it.

Alan Wake : The Writer is the second DLC story extension that Remedy have put out.

In 'The Writer' Alan Wake continues to be trapped in the alternate dimension inhabited by the dark force... this continued premise from the second DLC is much better explored and The Writer features some of the best Alan Wake sequences. Some of the more bizarre moments seem straight out of Limbo with whole rooms rotating with you inside them.

Again make sure you play this in a dark room with the surround sound up or surround headphones on. You'd be selling the game and yourself short of a fantastic experience if you did it any other way.

The achievements on this one will be a bit more challenging - one being to survive the whole episode without dying or restarting once. Now on the previous episode that wouldn't be a problem but this one features a number of sequences where you can easily fall to your death. I think you would need to have an awesome memory or play through it a few times to understand where the greatest moments of danger lie.

There is another "find items" achievement too. This time it is find the Bright Falls video game cases. The cases are Xbox 360 cases and Remedy have been kind enough to include an environmental sound when you are close to or passing by one. The sound made is like the final part of the original 360 startup woot sound. You'll hear what I mean if you play it. Nice touch as it makes finding those items that little bit easier.

Gameplay wise there are still plenty of typical Alan Wake moments with the torch and gunplay mechanic. What is more interesting is the use of environmental words on this occasion. In the Signal I think those environmental words were sometimes not used well. In The Writer they definitely work into the game much better.

I'd recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the game and in particular the storyline. If you really want to see the ending of the current Alan Wake storyline you will need to play The Writer as it actually has the conclusion.



It was a great adventure and story - I'll definitely be returning to Bright Falls in future.