Very good DLC! This is how you connect two franchises together! It was cool!
It is okay. I was expecting a little more.
This review contains spoilers
"Hartman was Stetched! Devoured by hungry darkness!"
Why'd i play expansion 2 first? I dont know! But this is clearly where the bones for Alan Wake 2 were set. The style is all there: Alan's writing, the way the darkness acts, the deep horror vibes, it's all started here. A bit of a follow up to Alan Wake (and maybe american nightmare? I dont know), Hartman dives into Cauldron Lake and is taken by the darkness. The FBC brings him back, but then the hiss mixes with the darkness.
Story's a bit straight forward but once again Remedy KILLS the presentation aspect. Wake's hotline calls are fantastic just as they are in Alan Wake 2 and the way they show the darkness mixing with the hiss is really damn cool. On top of that, Hartman's design is genuinely terrifying. Especially when they have just his silhouette in the dark halls of the Investigations sector. He's such an unnerving threat, and him repeating Wake's writings in that distorted voice? It just hits right.
Gameplay side of things, nothing really new. Darkness is very one dimensional. Turn on generators and run from light source to light source or else Hartman will get ya. Or pick up a light to burn darkness. It's not the best, i'll be honest. Hartman's boss fights play around with the darkness aspect so well though. The game loves to put you in situations where you need to run into the darkness with Hartman right on your trail. It's so tense and i love it to death.
Overall, pretty fun lil expansion to a pretty dang good game. If you like Alan Wake at all, i urge you to play this if you haven't. Also love the lil foreshadowing to Alan Wake 2, they seriously had this all written out for so long, eh?
Why'd i play expansion 2 first? I dont know! But this is clearly where the bones for Alan Wake 2 were set. The style is all there: Alan's writing, the way the darkness acts, the deep horror vibes, it's all started here. A bit of a follow up to Alan Wake (and maybe american nightmare? I dont know), Hartman dives into Cauldron Lake and is taken by the darkness. The FBC brings him back, but then the hiss mixes with the darkness.
Story's a bit straight forward but once again Remedy KILLS the presentation aspect. Wake's hotline calls are fantastic just as they are in Alan Wake 2 and the way they show the darkness mixing with the hiss is really damn cool. On top of that, Hartman's design is genuinely terrifying. Especially when they have just his silhouette in the dark halls of the Investigations sector. He's such an unnerving threat, and him repeating Wake's writings in that distorted voice? It just hits right.
Gameplay side of things, nothing really new. Darkness is very one dimensional. Turn on generators and run from light source to light source or else Hartman will get ya. Or pick up a light to burn darkness. It's not the best, i'll be honest. Hartman's boss fights play around with the darkness aspect so well though. The game loves to put you in situations where you need to run into the darkness with Hartman right on your trail. It's so tense and i love it to death.
Overall, pretty fun lil expansion to a pretty dang good game. If you like Alan Wake at all, i urge you to play this if you haven't. Also love the lil foreshadowing to Alan Wake 2, they seriously had this all written out for so long, eh?