Alan Wake’s American Nightmare

considering that it had just gotten off the Max Payne “kill everything criminal” binge, Alan Wake was a breath of fresh air from Remedy Entertainment when it was released back in 2010. Combining the best elements from survival horror games with an involving storyline and an unparalleled presentation, it was long worth the wait since its initial introduction years ago…and developed an avid following that continues to be with the game today. (Which would probably explain its popularity on the Steam/PC front, since it was released last week.) Now fans have a new adventure to look forward to, as the “prequel” of sorts, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, arrives on Xbox 360 this week as part of Microsoft’s House Party program. Yep, it’s downloadable rather than retail…but don’t let that hold you back. The only real thing that this game has in common with the original is the lead character, the troubled author Alan Wake. This time, he finds himself smack dab in the middle of an episode he penned for an old Twilight Zone-esque show called Night Springs, stuck in the middle of a small Arizona town.

Trouble soon starts acting up when he begins his search for Mr. Scratch, the enemy from the original game who has just as much of a threatening presence here. And before you know it, Alan finds himself surrounded by dark forces yet again, requiring both weapons of light and heavy artillery to dispose of them, lest he wind up biting the dust. Like the original game, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare makes clever use of strategic and shoot-em-up gameplay. Some enemies require that you whisk away the darkness surrounding them before they become vulnerable, using your focused flashlight or, once they become available, bigger weapons like a flare gun. Once they do become unshielded, you’ll use traditional weapons to take them out, including shotguns, a sub-machine gun and, our favorite out of the bunch, a nail gun, which gets the point across while being able to carry a lot of ammunition. But there’s a catch. Some enemies don’t go down so easily, as you’ll have to use badder weapons in order to avoid getting chopped to bits. And then there are the splitters, these enemies that actually double up if you shine your flashlight upon them before shooting them. They add some trickiness to the overall game, a convenient touch.

Other than that, you’re following a storyline that takes you all over the town, shutting down dark towers and exploring new areas for manuscript pages and finding secrets. Some of the fetch quests can be a little bothersome, like needing to find clues to some event that’s yet to happen (c’mon, can’t you get me the damn parts?!), but overall the game paces itself like the first, albeit with less scares due to the somewhat lighter tone that comes across the tone. Still plenty of action, though. Once you finish up the main game, you’re not done yet. Remedy has wisely added a new Arcade Action mode that puts you through a series of survival trials. For ten minutes at a time, you’ll find yourself fending off waves of increasingly smarter enemies, regathering weapon and health with each run and trying to get the best scores possible for the leaderboards. It would’ve been great to have multiple people battling the dark simultaneously, but this is the next best thing, very competitive and lots of fun. And with different weapons to upgrade to, it just keeps on going.

Oh, one more thing. If you haven’t gotten used to the dodge tactic yet, now is the ideal time. This is when you’re able to step out of the way of an incoming attack and everything slows down dramatically, so you can figure out your next move without taking utter physical damage. It still works gracefully here, provided you hit the button at the right time to avoid what’s coming at you. Though it’s changed formats from full retail to digital download, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare looks just as good as the first. The barely lit environments are awesome, even if the town is somewhat smaller than Bright Falls, and the smaller things, like the glowing sign at the motel or the flickering beams by the gas station, really stand out, especially on a bigger TV. The animation is smooth, especially on the enemies, though there are times things are a bit off in terms of collision detection. Fortunately, it happens more with the events that surround you, rather than when you’re fighting enemies. So it’s forgivable.

The audio, however, takes a slight step backward. The music is excellent, consisting of great dramatic tunes that heighten with each encounter and occasional licensed ones (keep an ear open for “Club Foot”), and the sound effects, especially the moaning Taken, hit the right tone. But the dialogue sounds off this time around, as if it’s lacking a little bit in emotion. Maybe that was the intention since this is TV style of science fiction, but even Alan comes across slightly different. It’s just how it incorporates into the story, which is flimsier than the original, though the TV segments featuring Mr. Scratch do make up for most of it. If you’re expecting a full-on bonkers sequel to the mighty Alan Wake, you may be slightly disappointed in American Nightmare. However, as a spin-off/prequel sort of game, it does the job, providing plenty of spooky action and great-looking visuals to keep you engaged. The addition of Arcade Action is a huge plus too, providing a versus side of things so you can compete with your friends. This is a fun Nightmare that’s worth going through – especially if you turn off the lights.