I came into this thinking I was getting more of the Alan Wake I knew and loved, but sadly, this was an incredibly mixed bag, tending towards the mediocre and only saved by a few highlights. I can’t help but feel that this was originally planned as DLC content even though I can’t find info on whether that was the case. But even as DLC, American Nightmare would’ve left a whole lot to be desired. The vibe and noir atmosphere are still there, except this time there’s a heavy action component to all fighting scenes which, even with slightly improved gameplay, does a complete disservice to the tension and ambience the original game was able to evoke. The real highlight in the entire game is Mr Scratch. He’s a really impactful antagonist from start to finish, not so much in the actual in-game interactions, but especially in those moments that are shown to the player on a TV screen, just like Night Springs episodes were in the first Alan Wake. There, the actor who gives life to the character truly shines, giving off some genuine American Psycho vibes throughout. Additionally, it delivers one particular moment that I feel I’ll remember for years to come: that scene, where he’s dancing to The Happy Song by Poets of the Fall, is a truly glorious, Tarantino-style segment, one that I’m fairly sure I’ll end up placing amongst my most memorable ones in gaming. This alone, along with the character development that came before it, made the game worth playing for me.

Everything else, sadly, falls incredibly short. The game comes with a mediocre, somewhat senseless and overly formulaic narrative, both in story and storytelling. A far cry from from the original Alan Wake’s tale, which was one of its biggest highlights. The dialogues and in-game acting scenes are often poor and even a bit corny at times. There is nothing surprising or unexpected throughout the entire game, and even the ending felt anti-climatic for me. The world space feels a lot less like the Twin Peaks type of town when compared to the first game: it’s considerably smaller and more restrictive, removing the ability to drive or do much of anything other than follow the very linear paths the devs set out for the player. Finally, this game does away with pretty much all survivor horror elements that were so effective in the main entry: nothing comes across as scary, tense or even imaginative, and with the ammo and weapons galore the player is showered with, you get close to zero challenge throughout the entire playthrough.

All of these flaws seriously bring the enjoyment down. Ultimately, the game came very far from giving me the Alan Wake experience I was craving, even with its forced attempts to connect it to the original story. The saving grace of American Nightmare basically comes down to a couple of moments I felt were absolutely memorable and almost deserving of epic status. But as it stands, I can’t give it more than a 6/10.

Following a great game, even with an expansion pack, can be a tough balancing act. Alan Wake’s American Nightmare manages to do more good than harm to the series and, while it is of a different style than the original, shows that there are many ways to make a great game. The original Alan Wake was very much a light survival horror game. There were only basic firearms; scattered bits of light to heal yourself; and while it wasn’t the hardest game around it manages to have a good amount of challenge without being sadistic.

American Nightmare sheds a lot of the survival horror themes in favor of more action and black comedy. Gone are the basic weapons and in their place you get automatic weapons almost right away. This isn’t a terrible thing as the action is a lot more fun than the original but it lacks the tense parts you had and also gets way too easy. Never once did I feel challenged and never once did I die. Again, I’m not slamming the game nor am I angry because if you’re going to substitute tension for action and it is great action then I can make that work and enjoy it. Had it been sub par or not fun then it would be a different story.

Some other differences are that the flare gun and flash bang grenades no longer have the ability to destroy enemies. Given the reduced difficulty this isn’t a terrible thing but it is unexplained why these enemies are somehow hardened against this attack all of a sudden. The game also lacked the ranged enemies of the original. All but one enemy were only effective close range which was another part that made the game easier.

The game also has a more open world feel to it. The objectives require more travel and exploration with less paths blocked off. The HUD was improved to accommodate this with a great mini map. You can also unlock better weapons by finding the manuscript pages which gave extra reason aside from back story. The manuscript pages themselves now appear to move down the page as they get read which was a nice touch from the static pages of the original.

The story was once again a fun and engaging ride. It had some holes in it such as just how the trap at the end actually works but overall I still highly enjoyed it. The black humour I mentioned earlier was also a great addition to the game. Your main nemesis this game is an evil alter ego of Alan called Mr. Scratch. He shows up on televisions to taunt Alan frequently as well as torture people. The music was also another strong point of the game. If Remedy came out and said they designed the whole game around the song “Clubfoot” by Kasabian then I would not only accept it but congratulate it.

The game even manages to try to recreate a music scene like the one from the original where you fend off "taken" on a concert stage. It wasn’t quite as good but still fun. The voice acting and characters were once again top notch. Alan; Mr. Scratch; Emma; Serena; and Dr. Meadows did a great job. The cut scenes were very high quality as well. Graphically the game was much the same as the original, not to say that as a negative. Even in 2012 this was still well above average in many areas.

This is a very fun and great game overall in it’s own right. It adds to the story in a meaningful way and adds things that make the change in style work.

This is a fairly short game enacted in 3 locations in Arizona (rest stop, observatory, drive-in theater) instead of the Pacific Northwest. The desert environment is much more sparse than the first game; and likely because of this, the detail on the enemies has been ratcheted up a bit. Overall, this new world feels much less "lived in", with only one mildly-2020-offensive female NPC per location (helpless mechanic girl, low-cut cocktail dress scientist, and horny-for-Alan film festival curator).

The story is barebones, and really only provides a framework for the game's fetch-quests. The well-played antagonist "Mr. Scratch" is actually quite menacing (in a "Handsome Jack" sort of way), and he really steals the show for the entire game.

Remedy makes much more use of live action video in this game (including almost all showings of Mr. Scratch), which appears to be a "thing" they like to do. They also show off some more of their house band musical chops during a few battle sequences.

American Nightmare uses the same flashlight & gun combat as the first game, but with some more high-powered weapons. This combat is really only a distraction from the fetching you need to do, though. Also, you're in a timeloop, so you end up doing each of the three locations 3 times. Thankfully, each fetch-questy runthrough gets further abbreviated from the previous loop, so it doesn't get too repetitive (it's still totally repetitive, though).

The game feels "videogamey" as hell. There are weapon crates lying around, but you aren't allowed to open them until you find a prescribed number of manuscript pages in the world. You can repeatedly return to weapon caches to refill all of your ammo, which chips away at the survival aspect of the previous game. Also, the "Safe Zone" streetlights go out when you use them to refill your health & clear away enemies; and then turn back on after 30 seconds or so.

This videogameyness all makes sense when you consider that a large chunk of the game appears to be its "Arcade Mode". However, the actual gameplay in Alan Wake & this game aren't actually all that fun. So, I had no urge to try Arcade Mode.

Compré este juego luego de haberme pasado el Alan Wake (2010) pensando que iba a ser igual de divertido, pero me encontré con algo que no esperaba. Tenía altas expectativas pero no fue suficiente.

Personalmente fue un juego aburrido, que me costó terminarlo a pesar de habérmelo pasado en una sola partida. A veces me aburría tanto que quería desinstalarlo en el momento. Entiendo la idea de hacernos pasar por "el día de la marmota" pero se me hizo muy pesado. Me acuerdo que una de las veces que tuve que volver a repetir todo de nuevo dije "supongo que esta es la última", y no lo fue. Gracias a dios cada vez que se repite no tenés que hacer TODO de vuelta, pero de todas formas se me hizo muy denso.

No es un juego para mí. Estuve leyendo otras reseñas y muchos dicen lo mismo, "es un juego para los fans", y tienen razón. Siento que podes jugarlo sin antes haber jugado al Alan Wake, pero no creo que sea disfrutable de todas formas.

Por el lado positivo, me gusta como utilizan grabaciones reales para darnos esa sensación de que de verdad existe nuestro doppelgänger "Mr. Scratch".

★★☆☆☆ 2/5

It is a lot of interesting ideas and presentations holding together a redundant gameplay loop. I know redundant gameplay loops are kind of Remedy Entertainment's "thing" and they usually pull it off but this just felt... B-squad.

Changing the focused and authored levels of Alan Wake for the 3 tiny open-world maps is not inherently a bad idea but the execution just did not feel tight or as good as the first game.

While it is mostly a so-so experience I do think it has enough narrative meat that it any fan of Remedy and Alan Wake in particular still kind of NEEDS to play this one.

There is one thing that is kind of confusing but it is very SPOILERS so stop reading unless you do not care about that sort of thing.

. . . What if anything was real? Wake is in the dark place but they try to make it like there are stakes? For saving the hotel mechanic... who is does not really exist if we are just in the dark place? Or are we in Arizona??? Is the film real? The interviews with Barry and Alice? I have so many questions!

I guess I just need to play Alan Wake 2, eh?

Alan Wake's American Nightmare on napakka ja viihdyttävä spinoff pääpelilleen.

Pelissä jatketaan pitkälti siitä, mihin Alan Waken loppu jää. Tarinan voi pääpiirteittän summata Alanin taisteluksi Mr Scratchiä ja tämän luomaa aikasilmukkaa vastaan. Lisätwistinä koko peli ja Alanin kivinen taival Scratchiä vastaan sijoittuu ykkösestä tutun Night Springs -tv-sarjan sisälle. Alan Wake 2:n myötä tarina on käytännössä pyyhitty kaanonista pois, mutta sen takia ei tätä peliä kannata kuitenkaan välttää.

Alan Wake's American Nightmaren suurin vahvuus pääpeliinsä verrattuna on huomattavasti pirteämpi taistelu. Nyt mukana on iso kavalkadi erilaisia aseita, ja viholliskattauskin on mukavasti villimpi ja laajempi. Myös pelimaailman tutkimiseseta on tehty palkitsevampaa, sillä manuscriptien keräilyllä saa uusia pyssyjä auki.

Muuten peli on tuttua Alan Wakea, mutta juustoisemmalla ja räikeämmällä otteella. Uusi miljöö, kuvitteellinen Night Springsin kaupunki Arizonassa, toimii todella hyvin. Myös överin yltiöpaha Mr Scratch pahiksena on viihdyttävä vihulainen. Sivuhahmot ovat puolestaan oudon tökeröitä. En tiedä oliko ideana nimenomaan heijastella roskakirjallisuuden ja b-elokuvien seksismiä, mutta kaikki pelin kolme sivuhahmoa ovat hämmentävän kliseisiä "naisia hädässä". Etenkin Mr Scratchin vaikutuksesta nymfoksi muuttunut Serena on vaivaannuttava tuttavuus. Tästä rososta huolimatta, pelimaailma ja tarina pitivät minut hyvin otteessa koko pelin ajan, tässä tapauksessa vajaan viiden tunnin ajan.

Pelin audiosta tykkäsin kenties jopa enemmän kuin ensimmäisesä Alan Wakessa. Tämä johtuu pääosin siitä, että toiminnan taustalla olevassa musiikissa oli hieman enemmän omaa otetta ja nyrjähtänyttä synasärinää ykkösen sinemaattisen ääniraidan sijaan. Myös lisenssoituja biisejä on taas mukana. Nämä ovat ihan ookoo lisäyksiä, joskin kohtaus, jossa Kasabian soi taustalla, sai musiikista humoristista edgy-vibaa. Remedylle nykyään tunnusmerkilliseen tapaan, mukana on myös uusi Old Gods of Asgard -biisi, joka on hyvää rokkia.

Harmillisesti Alan Wake's American Nightmare skippasi remaster-kohtelun, mutta ei tätä pelatessa silmiin sattunut Series X:n taaksepäinyhteensopivuudellakaan. Alan Wake itsessään oli näyttävä peli aikalaisekseen, ja tämä jatkaa samalla linjalla. Hahmomallit ovat vähän pökkelön näköiset tosin, mutta pikkuvikoja. Onhan pelillä ikääkin.

Lyhyen tarinamoodin lisäksi, pelissä on Resident Evil -sarjan mercernaries-moodista inspiraatiota ottanut arcade-pelimuoto. Tässä pitää selvitä tietty aika vihollisaaltojen kurmottamana ja kerätä mahdollisimman paljon pisteitä vihuja tappamalla. Tarinamoodissa avatut aseet aukeavat käytettäväksi tässäkin, mikä on ihan hauska palkinto. Nopean testin perusteella pelimoodi vaikutti ihan hauskalta räimeeltä, tosin en tiedä kuinka paljon tähän tulee palattua. Enimmäkseen sen takia, että muuta pelattavaa on niin tolkuttomasti.

Itselläni oli kyllä hauskaa Alan Wake's American Nightmaren parissa. Se on mukavan lyhyt ja toiminnantäyteinen sekä tarpeeksi erilainen ensimmäiseen Alan Wakeen verrattuna. Vastaavia spinoffeja tohtisi nähdä useamminkin.