Alan Wake’s American Nightmare released on February 22, 2012 as an Xbox Live Arcade title. Read on to see what ZeroSuperman thinks of this horror action game.
"Welcome...to Night Springs"
Sometime in Summer of 2010
Just under two years ago, a semi-sleeper game released on the market known only as Alan Wake. I remember seeing maybe half of an advertisement for it, thinking, "What in the hell is this crap?" A wonderful happenstance at GameStop helped rectify my initial snobbish judgment of that game.
While trading in my PS2 console and games, Gamecube console and games and other various odds and ends I was done with, I spotted the Limited Edition Alan Wake game sitting neatly on the shelf behind the register. I brushed off the tiny whisper in my ear and proceeded to the used Xbox 360 game section to plunder my spoils, only after reserving my Halo: Reach, of course.
Returning to the register sometime later, my eyes flick to the flashlight-bearing silhouette again. Without forethought, I ask, "How much is that Alan Wake game?" I was slightly startled when the question came out of my mouth. Quick math told me I would only be short a dollar or two, so into the pile it went.
Experiencing Survival/Horror, Stephen King style
I’m sure every other mention of Alan Wake says, “If Stephen King ever made a video game, it would be Alan Wake.” There isn’t a word in that sentence that bears a lie. Alan Wake IS NOT a graphically advanced game, even considering it came out in 2010. It didn’t have the best game engine or perfect lip sync. The game had some platforming sections that were far more difficult than they needed to be.
Alan Wake didn’t promise to deliver any of those things anyway, so ultimately they were irrelevant. What made it a great game was playing in the dark with the surround sound on. Allowing yourself to sink into Alan’s shoes while you desperately ran for your very life was a better reward than any graphics ever gave me. Not to mention, the voice cast was prime.
You set the game to Nightmare difficulty, drink a couple of beers and dive in. There hasn’t been a recent game that made my adrenaline pump like that, or make my asshole pucker up as I hear the Taken nipping at my heals. Seeing the safe haven only 30 feet away and Alan’s run slow down because he’s a writer, not a cross country runner are things made Alan Wake one of the greatest games of this console generation.
American Nightmare: Xbox Live Arcade, 1200MSP
I sit down, ready to get back into Alan’s shoes and wipe out more Taken, via tragic hero style! I played the demo just long enough for the sales pitch “You’ve Unlocked an Achievement! Purchase the full game now to claim your gamerscore points blah blah blah!” The answer was simple: Yes, I will give you $15 for that, thank you!
American Nightmare is Alan Wake evolved. Two years have passed, in game time, since Alan’s last adventure. Now he is in Night Springs, Arizona. His memory of how he got there, why he’s there and what he’s really supposed to be doing are a tad hazy. He knows he’s Alan, he knows the Darkness is bad. The change from the first game’s ending scene, a la The Signal DLC, made me literally stop playing, go the Xbox dashboard and see if I had missed another DLC. Note: There are only two for the first Alan Wake: The Writer and The Signal.
Simple beginning: pick up the flashlight, pick up the gun, and head for the waypoint. You come out of a canyon and meet some Taken. Of course, they are fairly weak and easily dispatched. Their main purpose: an in game tutorial of your controls. You see a desolate gas station/hotel sitting next to a diner.
Head for the Light
The game concept is virtually the same. The Taken are shielded by shadow, so you use light to break it away. Use your gun to end them and proceed. Here’s where I started to feel the game is losing its roots. Early in the game I picked up a sub-machine gun. Not long after, I picked up a carbine rifle. As I said before, Alan is a writer and little else. The sudden increase of power on the weapon palette made the game surge forward into a shooter feel, and less like I really needed to survive. Make no mistake; opening up all 30 rounds of a single magazine into the Taken was a thrill at first, but It quickly became a bit of a bore.
Another addition here is the interaction with non-Taken characters. You travel to more than one location, each having another character with which Alan has conversations. You find out who your main nemesis is fairly early on. You goal is to uncover their motives. Alan’s voice actor is still spot on, but some others could use a few lessons.
The televisions and radios make a nice return. The TVs give your nemesis a means in which to taunt Alan ruthlessly. The radios allow a throwback to some characters from the first game, with a nice nod to music talent via some new songs.
Gameplay Breakdown
In the first game, it was a chore to change direction quickly without using the dodge button. The gameplay here feels far less spongy. Alan kind of slid before stopping, then going in the new direction. Here you still have the feel of Alan’s movements, but they seem to have tightened them up a bit. Now, his run ability has been increased to a ridiculous amount of time. Maybe two years of cardio will do that, or maybe enough people bitched about the first game being too hard. Either way, you can make it to safe havens much easier now. Dodging attacks is still a welcome function, with the nice slow motion scene to help you feel like a true bad ass.
Safe havens now have a limit. Once you reach a safe haven, the light will flicker then go out for a period of time. You no longer get to hide in the light. It still recharges your health, which is broken into three distinct bars. Once a bar is depleted, only a safe haven can restore it. Partial bars are restored by avoiding damage. If you are fortunate enough to lure the Taken into a dark safe haven, and it happens to turn back on, you’ll wipe out the Taken. Yay for you!
You flashlight will still recharge over time and you can opt to use a battery if you’re in a pinch. The recharge time has been shortened to the point that I never needed a battery during my play. You still use your flashlight to show you were you’re going to shoot (another feature I was impressed with during both games.)
The most notable addition is the new types of enemies. I came across four different types of Taken, each very distinct. To avoid spoilers, I will have to skip their descriptions. Just know that these are all very welcome additions to the game.
Arcade mode: Survive until Dawn
This additional game mode lets you select a certain play zone and fight waves of taken for a set period of time. In the end, you will get up to three stars for your performance and Leaderboard bragging rights. Obtaining enough stars will unlock more locations and tougher modes. You can collect manuscript pages in the story to unlock better weapons in Arcade. Yes, THIS is where stronger weapons are acceptable. The mode is fun, but reeks of Horde/Firefight/Zombie/Echoes rip-off just to add replay value.
Closing Statements and Passing Judgement
I applaud Remedy for creating not only this game, but an extremely fun series with Alan Wake. My best compliments about American Nightmare are the lunges it made toward the shooter genre and the additions to Alan that have made him less vulnerable. Resident Evil used to be all about survival horror. Prior to current gen, the last Resident Evil game I played was RE Zero on GCube. Then I bought my RE5 Edition Xbox, and I was very disappointed with the game. As far as the shooter aspect of American Nightmare, let me just ask: Do we REALLY need any more shooter games? Not right now, and not Alan Wake. If you’re a penny pincher on top of all this, you might be frightened by the $15 price tag. American Nightmare is truly Alan Wake’s evolution. It’s better than I expected, even with it’s short comings. Try it if you were a fan of the first game.
