Now Playing: Night Springs (DLC)

Night Springs is the first DLC release for Alan Wake 2. It’s a short, mostly fun addition that’s worth giving a spin if you enjoyed the base game, but I wouldn’t say it’s worth buying the Expansion Pass for on its own – if you don’t already have it, maybe wait for the Lake House DLC to see if that adds more value.

Night Springs is split into three ‘episodes’ each of which involve playing as a different character with each lasting around 30 minutes. The first, in which you play as Rose – Alan Wake’s Number One Fan – is the most amusing as you’re treated to a warped view of reality in which Rose is the hero on a quest to save Alan. A quest that involves shooting a lot of bad guys with a shotgun.

Amusing, but not particularly substantial and like the other episodes, it’s mostly just reusing assets from the base game. The next episode is unfortunately the weakest. You play as Jesse Faden, star of Control, and although it was good to see her again, the episode is mostly just a slow, back and forth slog around the amusement park from the base game as you hunt for the items you need to progress.

There’s a rather terrible attempt at a ‘horror’ section at the end but it’s more annoying than scary and the episode ends pretty abruptly. If you thought Jesse might get to play with some of the powers she acquired in Control then guess again. I guess you could argue that it’s not technically her but I don’t really care. There’s nothing very interesting about this episode in terms of its narrative or how it plays.

Thankfully, the final episode is pretty great in which you play as Sheriff Breaker. It gets very meta and unlike the other episodes, it isn’t entirely reliant upon recycled assets. They’re certainly there in parts, but that’s not all there is and there’s some fun and surprising stuff towards the end.

It’s the strongest episode in terms of narrative and the only one that really feels important within the context of Alan Wake 2 as a whole. The other two episodes feel a little more pointless in that regard, but maybe they’ll turn out to be more relevant in the Lake House DLC.

Overall, Night Springs is worth playing if you liked Alan Wake 2, but I’d say the last episode is the only one that’s ‘essential’ to play. The first is fun and silly, but not really important, and the second just feels like a waste of time. Like I said, if you already have the expansion Pass then there’s no reason not to give it a spin but I wouldn’t buy it just for this. Hopefully the Lake House DLC will offer a more substantial and original piece of content.

6/10