Alan Wake: American Nightmare Review

Alan Wake was unsurprisingly polarizing when it was released in 2010 alongside Red Dead Redemption; the "Psychological Action Thriller" was a hard sell and after 7 years of development is was also facing astronomical expectations. I personally loved the game, as it stands as my third favorite game of that entire year and I lamented its inability to capture the attention of most videogame players. But thankfully developer Remedy has decided to continue the franchise through a slightly different approach via Xbox Live Arcade as a more bite sized experience that leans more heavily on the incorporated "hoard" equivalent mode.

American Nightmare improves in every facet from its predecessor. The combat is more varied with a wider variety of weapons, better enemy distribution so you never feel overwhelmed but neither is it a cakewalk. The game looks significantly better as well, with sharper visuals and a better mix of art design instead of the same basic dark forest of the first. The game is also the first I've played that makes back tracking inventive, by having the story and its characters aware of the repeating scenarios, as it plays into the over arching story. Never have a played through the same 3 segments in a game and relished it each and every time, the game also smartly streamlines the process each time you restart the journey; with items being retrieved for you and entering levels closer to your objective.

American Nightmare is unfortunately too much of a side note for its story to be of any significance but Alan Wake's signature atmosphere and style is ever-present. Mixed in this time around is a wonderful Twilight Zone theme, that has a suitably cheesy yet spectacular voice over narrator that channels the great Rod Serling. American Nightmare for me is a story only affair but there is the increasingly prominent wave based survival mode thrown in for lasting appeal, as the story is relatively short. It holds no interest to me but its there if you want it.

This game has lots of FMV and it's AMAZING

American Nightmare does an incredible job at making appreciable improvements to the Alan Wake formula, the obscene amount of collectibles are still here but their more compelling. The combat is still not the strongest aspect, but its been tweaked enough that its bearable and never frustrating (a huge problem in the original game).  I adore the Alan Wake games they are immensely atmospheric and engaging. The games combat leaves a lot to be desired, but if having to put up with some slightly mediocre gameplay to get a unsettling, inventive, highly stylized and immensely original experience, the likes of which are extremely rare, I'll happily take it.

(4 out of 5)