What did you think of it? Do you like it more than The Signal?

I think i do. Signal had too many reused environments in it; this had some cool and fresh sections, like the rotating police station and the part with the rolling barrels. But i also think that both episodes lack the impact the main game had. I wish all parts of Alan Wake were as scary and unsettling as the first couple of hours were.

The ending was kinda unsurprising, didn't tell me anything new.

edit: Huh, i guess no one has played it yet? I was early.

I certainly liked it more than The Signal, but still didn't love it. 
I loved parts of it, like the Ferris Wheel and the lighthouse. But it's the combat, it just frustrates me. I think that The Writer was no where near as bad with bombarding you with enemies like The Signal, however there where times where I felt overwhelmed; it didn't help that I was trying to go for achievements too. 
 
As for the story, I felt unfulfilled and I am sorry that there probably won't be another game so we may never get to hear about "The Return". 
 
 Overall I feel conflicted, on one hand I was glad to play some more Alan Wake and was impressed with some of the set pieces. On the other hand, however, there were sections that I really did not enjoy and really put a downer on what could be my last experience with the game. 

@Guybrush said:

As for the story, I felt unfulfilled and I am sorry that there probably won't be another game so we may never get to hear about "The Return". 

Right, hard to say if they'll be able to make a sequel. Writer does have the "Alan Wake's journey through the night will continue" line in the credits. Even if they get to do it, it'll take forever to get done.

I also agree that the combat in this game isn't substantial or deep enough, considering how much the game relies on it.

I just finished it. Loved it so much, as I did the Signal. The end was awesome, especially when they zoomed in on the document and it said "Return" by Alan Wake. 
 
Also, the part where you're talking to Zane on the bridge and you're asking him about Mr. Scratch was such a tease!  
 
Remedy is basically telling us right there that they're gonna make a sequel.

Loved: Zane's voice and the sound design around it. And the powerful beam of light he emits, to the point where you can barely make out the suit when looking straight at it.

Played through the whole thing in one sitting.  I loved it.  At first, with a return of Barry and the concert fight, I was kinda let down; but it got immediately better, and just continued to ramp up in awesome until the very end where I let out an audible "fuck yes" 
 
It was just about everything I wanted.  The level design was very innovative.  The enemy spawns were much more fair than in The Signal, and a couple times you were allowed to go back and explore areas that were previously infinite-spawns.  I loved how you can see so much of previous and future environments in the distance throughout the episode.  The bit in the sewer pipe was the first legitimately scary scene in any of the Alan Wake episodes.  It was claustrophobic, tense, and looked like Silent Hill. 
 
Remedy is very overt in their desire to make a sequel here.  I believe that they have been frugal enough of a company to make it happen despite Alan Wake not being the blockbuster they hoped.  How long that will take... that I can not guess.

I really enjoyed it. I guess Remedy always intended to have the second game focused on you escaping.

Wow it is out now???  
 
*goes out to play it*
 
><

The bit in the sewer pipe was the first legitimately scary scene in any of the Alan Wake episodes.  It was claustrophobic, tense, and looked like Silent Hill.

Hell yeah dude! That part is only like 2 minutes long, but it left an impression.

I wasn't a fan of it actually.  I mean it brought the first game to a close and definitely set up the sequel, but I felt it was more boring than the rest of the game and The SIgnal.  There wasn't a lot of combat and when there was it was just swarms of taken... I don't know.  The ending felt a little "meh" to me.  I mean it was definitiely creepy and the whole running through a ferris wheel was fun, but it lacked something.

Yep, it was fun. It was what I expected. I think with this it is to expect a sequel sooner or later.  
 
S1 (The Signal) and S2 (The Writer) where just episodes meant to bridge the first and second games. My bet is that the second game will arrive in 2012. 

Huh...

2001 - Max Payne

2003 - Max Payne 2

2010 - Alan Wake

2012 - Alan Wake 2?

Maybe on the next Xbox by then?

"

Huh...

2001 - Max Payne

2003 - Max Payne 2

2010 - Alan Wake

2012 - Alan Wake 2?

Maybe on the next Xbox by then?

"

Thought it was really cool how they managed to make the DLC very different than the main episodes. They even played differently, introducing new mechanics. I think that's awesome. 
 
I found it funny how they brought up Mr. Scratch and Zane writing about Alan and the Clicker, but don't explain them at all. They acknowledge the questions, but don't give answers. WHO THE HECK IS MR. SCRATCH!? Agghhh. 
 
Plz make Alan Wake 2, Remedy.

I really enjoyed it. Bummer that this is the last DLC though.

" @Jeust: You're probably right about basing AW2 tech off of AW1. They really made the game run wicked smooth and look awesome on the 360, so now that that's out of the way they can concentrate more on the story and set of the second game. While maybe making small tweaks to the graphics :D "

" Thought it was really cool how they managed to make the DLC very different than the main episodes. They even played differently, introducing new mechanics. I think that's awesome.  I found it funny how they brought up Mr. Scratch and Zane writing about Alan and the Clicker, but don't explain them at all. They acknowledge the questions, but don't give answers. WHO THE HECK IS MR. SCRATCH!? Agghhh.  Plz make Alan Wake 2, Remedy. "

I watched a run through on youtube and liked it enough that I'm going to buy it. 
 
It actually ended exactly how I wanted and expected it to. It sets up the sequel in a perfect way. Although I did also kind of expect we'd be playing a different character in the sequel, and it would only revolve around Alan Wake insofar as he's the new writer behind it all, but that doesn't look like it's going to be the case. 
 
I sure hope the sequel makes some drastic gameplay changes though. While the environments from the first game were used to great effect in the DLC, they'd be wearing a bit thin if the sequel took place in the same unaltered area. There has to be a scenery shift of some sort. I'd also like to see improved enemies and greater enemy variety. I was fine with the combat in Alan Wake, but it starts to wear thin in the DLC (even with the added environmental kill methods). 
 
And during that whole chat about the clicker and Mr. Scratch, there's a moment when it doesn't even sound like Zane is the one talking. 
 

Zane: The part of you that is in control is in the cabin, dreaming and insane. 
 
Alan: I don't think I like that. 
 
Zane: You represent the part of Alan Wake that is capable of rational thought and planning, which is why I'm talking to you. If that part can regain control, then you have a chance of making it. But a part of you wants to give in. There's... comfort in the oblivion of dreams. You represent the part that isn't ready to quit and die. 
 
Alan: Wait, are you telling me I'm not real? 
 
Zane: You're as real as anything else in this place. 
 
Alan: So there are two of me? 
 
Zane: Yes. 
 
Alan: And the one you called Mr. Scratch, he's me as well? 
 
Zane: No. 
 
Alan: Zane, are you playing some kind of game with me? 
 
Zane: I am not the author of your story. 
 
Alan: How can you say that when you're the one who wrote that page about me and the Clicker? It wasn't one of my pages, you directed me to it! You had Weaver guard it!
 
Zane?: Yes, she was needed, and you needed the Clicker. But... I am not... 
 
Alan: What? I don't understand-- 
 
Zane: Alan. You should keep going.

Personally what I gathered from this episode is that Wake may not even be a real person, and that he is in fact stuck in a world of ideas because that's all he is, an idea. Zane wrote a book called Alan Wake and that story is basically the fall of this man. But there are two different ways my theory can go.  
 
1. Dark Presence, a real entity, took over "Departure", the story Zane was writing which included the fictional character Alan Wake. It make Wake think he was real and gave him false hope that he could be free. The game is about the gamer playing as Alan Wake, trying to escape a place he was never meant to (and simply cannot) leave.  
 
or, 
 
2. There is no actual Dark Presence, it's just made up in the book and everything (as far as the book and plot Zane wrote) is going according to plan. Zane could just be using himself in his own book as a guide to help his fictional character Alan Wake out, maybe even using this story as a form of self rehabilitation and a way of coming to terms with the events of his own life - almost like seeing the same things happen to another person, to experience a perspective that someone may have had about Zane himself.
 
I stand firm on the notion that Alan Wake isn't actually real and that he is in fact a part of Zane's imagination. Their lives are almost parallel and it's like Zane fashioned this characters after himself. Think about it - when Wake asks Zane if Mr. Scratch was him as well, Zane replies "No", even though Mr. Scratch and Wake look exactly alike. Not only that, we are never ever shown what Zane looks like under his suit. So we have Mr. Scratch - someone who is definitely NOT Alan Wake yet looks identical to him -  we don't know what Thomas Zane looks like, and Zane seems to know all these answers... 
 
@AndrewB said:

"
I sure hope the sequel makes some drastic gameplay changes though. While the environments from the first game were used to great effect in the DLC, they'd be wearing a bit thin if the sequel took place in the same unaltered area. There has to be a scenery shift of some sort. I'd also like to see improved enemies and greater enemy variety. I was fine with the combat in Alan Wake, but it starts to wear thin in the DLC (even with the added environmental kill methods). 

I loved the level design in this DLC. Its really innovative and you don't see this stuff in other games. I actually like the combat, it can be challenging at times but thats the whole fun of it. Making my way to the lighthouse was some scary shit, seeing like a horde of Taken scared the shit out of me lol. 
 
They'll make a sequel for sure, thats the whole point of the ending. It won't take them as long as the original Alan Wake took just because they'll prolly just keep the same mechanics and improve on some of the flaws and glitches. I say we'll see it end of 2011 early 2012

I have thoroughly enjoyed Alan Wake as a whole. 
 
1. Even without the DLC it's a solid game.
 
2. The Signal wasn't terribly exciting but posed as a challenge and a great set up to The Writer.
 
3. The Writer was fantastic, I felt Remedy really had fun with this one (especially in the ferris wheel part and the environment design overall)
 
I don't think they really NEED to make a sequel, I don't see why they can't just make a 3rd DLC and make an even crazier and wilder ride than The Writer. Personally, I liked the ending to Alan Wake before the DLC. It was ambiguous yes, but that represented what Alan Wake was in the first place. AW rocks!

Just completed The Writer and its hard to describe how I feel....the actual gameplay and twisting nightmarish style was really good fun. But storywise it left a lot to be desired, I wouldn't say it felt like a cop out by Remedy, it just seems like the writers have confused themselves twisting the story as much as possible. Maybe I'm not fully understanding it but this left me with more questions than it answered, in my head theres currently about 3 interpretations of what 'could' be happening. 
 
1) Alan drowned going in to save Alice and this is basically all in his head.
 
2) The car crash caused brain damage and its an overactive imagination during a dream.
 
3) The darkness is real and the whole working of it is really...really...fucked.
 
So confused...

" I watched a run through on youtube and liked it enough that I'm going to buy it. 
 
It actually ended exactly how I wanted and expected it to. It sets up the sequel in a perfect way. Although I did also kind of expect we'd be playing a different character in the sequel, and it would only revolve around Alan Wake insofar as he's the new writer behind it all, but that doesn't look like it's going to be the case. 
 
I sure hope the sequel makes some drastic gameplay changes though. While the environments from the first game were used to great effect in the DLC, they'd be wearing a bit thin if the sequel took place in the same unaltered area. There has to be a scenery shift of some sort. I'd also like to see improved enemies and greater enemy variety. I was fine with the combat in Alan Wake, but it starts to wear thin in the DLC (even with the added environmental kill methods). 
 
And during that whole chat about the clicker and Mr. Scratch, there's a moment when it doesn't even sound like Zane is the one talking. 
 

Zane: The part of you that is in control is in the cabin, dreaming and insane. 
 
Alan: I don't think I like that. 
 
Zane: You represent the part of Alan Wake that is capable of rational thought and planning, which is why I'm talking to you. If that part can regain control, then you have a chance of making it. But a part of you wants to give in. There's... comfort in the oblivion of dreams. You represent the part that isn't ready to quit and die. 
 
Alan: Wait, are you telling me I'm not real? 
 
Zane: You're as real as anything else in this place. 
 
Alan: So there are two of me? 
 
Zane: Yes. 
 
Alan: And the one you called Mr. Scratch, he's me as well? 
 
Zane: No. 
 
Alan: Zane, are you playing some kind of game with me? 
 
Zane: I am not the author of your story. 
 
Alan: How can you say that when you're the one who wrote that page about me and the Clicker? It wasn't one of my pages, you directed me to it! You had Weaver guard it!
 
Zane?: Yes, she was needed, and you needed the Clicker. But... I am not... 
 
Alan: What? I don't understand-- 
 
Zane: Alan. You should keep going.

The italicized portion is clearly a different speaker (at least, it sounds like that to me), then Zane's voice cuts Alan's last line off. The other thing to keep in mind is the emphasis in Zane's "no." The tone is pretty hollow and grim. "

" Just completed The Writer and its hard to describe how I feel....the actual gameplay and twisting nightmarish style was really good fun. But storywise it left a lot to be desired, I wouldn't say it felt like a cop out by Remedy, it just seems like the writers have confused themselves twisting the story as much as possible. Maybe I'm not fully understanding it but this left me with more questions than it answered, in my head theres currently about 3 interpretations of what 'could' be happening.   1) Alan drowned going in to save Alice and this is basically all in his head.  2) The car crash caused brain damage and its an overactive imagination during a dream.  3) The darkness is real and the whole working of it is really...really...fucked.  So confused... "

" Thanks for bringing this DLC up, I guess the site wasn't going to, unless I missed it. My apologies if it did.  I liked it okay, but even by my standards, it was short. I guess I finally learned how to play a video game a bit, though Alan wake was only ocasionally a little hard anyways.  But a lot was left unanswered and of course Alan Wake was left imbetween, so to speak.. Mr. Scratch, and Zane, both those characters have continueing questions about them. Very obviously a set-up for sequel I half doubt we'll see. "

I'm still not convinced a sequel will financially happen. I know it's always been in Remedy's intentions, but well see.  I'm hopeful, but not convinced; which is why I feel like a sucker for playing the "What I want AW2 to be" game, and disappoint myself.    
 
if I were optimistic, I'd go into detail on how I'd like to see the sequel go for a more exploratory, almost detective based gameplay, like Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, rather than just gunning down more Taken.  But I doubt Remedy's love for action will consider that.

I just played it and thought it was great! :D I think it sets up a sequel well, hopefully they make one and hopefully it doesn't take years to come out.