Alan Wake, developed by Remedy Entertainment and released in 2010 on the Xbox 360, told the story of a blocked writer who goes to the Pacific Northwest to re-acquire his creative muse. In turn, an unexplainable force called The Darkness corrupts the residents of Bright Falls, and his wife goes missing. It was met with medium to high reception from critics, and gamers really dug the Stephen King feeling that the game was trying to convey. With more than 145,000 games sold after the first two weeks, Alan Wake was not a high commercial success and was reportedly pirated 1.1 million times in 2010.
Now Remedy Entertainment seeks to release a follow up to Alan Wake with a downloadable game: Alan Wake’s American Nightmare. It takes the illustrious writer and places him in the desert of Arizona. The central antagonist is not only the Darkness that corrupts the residents, but also a dark doppelganger of Alan Wake named Mr. Scratch. When in the presence of the player, Mr. Scratch is a cookie-cutter villain who is constantly antagonizing the player with some poorly written banter. However, there are televisions you can find throughout the world which, when turned on, give a window into Mr. Scratch’s psyche and his motivations. He dances with a knife after killing someone and holds the camera up to an array of weaponry and describes which one he prefers in deep detail. He tells Alan Wake at one point that “he isn’t afraid to be the center of attention.”
The gameplay of American Nightmare is largely unchanged from the original game. Each conflict that the player has is in two parts: you must shine away the Dark aura from the target with a flashlight and then use the gun to eliminate the being entirely. The enemies have become more varied than in the first game as well. There is an interesting enemy who does not have a dark aura, but they divide from one into two whenever the light is shone on them. It really livens up the combat and forces the player to think about each enemy’s abilities, which was not present in the first game. Another aspect that has been improved is the weapon variety, which includes M-16 assault rifles, automatic shotguns and nail guns.
In addition to the five-to-six-hour game, there is a survival mode called “Fight Till Dawn.” The player is put into environments such as a ghost town or a cemetery and time appears counting down from ten minutes. The player must survive against the enemies and build up a score, which is then put on the online leaderboards so you can see where you compare to your friends and everyone else who has played the game. After playing Gears of War 3, with a five-player survival mode, it’s hard not to feel lonely when playing “Fight Till Dawn,” but there is a level of tension that feels at home with the series. American Nightmare’s visuals can easily be compared to the original’s visuals. Compared to other downloadable games, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is a stone-cold stunner.
For a mere $15, I can enthusiastically recommend Alan Wake’s American Nightmare for those who are looking for a cheap, fun experience that can fill the gap between one major retail release and another.
