When I heard that Alan Wake would be making a return to the Xbox 360, I was thrilled. I enjoyed the first game very much and had hoped for a sequel. What I didn’t expect was Remedy Entertainment to release the next Alan Wake game digitally on the Xbox Live Arcade.
To make this clear, Alan Wake's American Nightmare is not a direct sequel to the original from 2010. This game was created to broaden the Alan Wake universe and it stands as an independent game. The release choice is a unique one, as its 1.4 GB in size rivals many of the largest Xbox Live Arcade games out there to download. Graphically, the game is very similar to Alan Wake, which is simply amazing due to it being a more compact version. Remedy Entertainment was able to pull off such a feat because of their ability to cleverly reuse the same three levels, while still progressing the story.
This game offers both a story and arcade mode, with the story taking place inside an episode of “Night Springs” that Alan had written in the past for a television show. This particular episode is based in the outskirts of the Arizona desert. Alan finds out that he has been thrown into a time loop thanks to his evil doppelganger Mr. Scratch. The game is split into 3 segments: The Desert Shore Motel (my personal favorite), Mount Redtooth Observatory, and The Night Springs Drive-in Theater.
Throughout the adventure, Alan runs into some NPCs (Non-Playable Characters): Emma Sloan at the Motel, Dr. Rachel Meadows in the Observatory, and Serena Valdivia at the Drive-in. They become important pieces to unlocking the mystery behind Alan’s current situation. I found the dialogue amusing at times, with such logical statements like “I come from New York. I was just visiting another dimension.”
Because of this time loop that Alan finds himself in you have to play through the three levels, three times in order to finally beat the game. As you repeat the levels, more of the story unfolds as Alan pieces it together. The play through had me thinking a lot of the movie Groundhog Day. The main story took me about 6 hours to finish, which will probably be longer than the average play through. The reason it took me a bit longer was because, just like the first game, you have to search for manuscripts, radios and televisions.
The manuscripts in particular, give you bonuses such as new weapons. There are cases placed around the levels that require Alan to collect the manuscripts in order to unlock them. I found that this added a new dimension to the game and kept my eyes peeled for the manuscripts. While some are in plain sight, others require a bit of searching to find.
Alan and Mr. Scratch are the main focus of this game. Alan's wife (Alice) and best friend (Barry) were mentioned from time to time, but didn’t play as much into the story as they did in the original game. Be sure to take the time to listen to the radio shows or watch the televisions, or you will find yourself missing some crucial info on Mr. Scratch and his motives.
The enemies from the original game, The Taken, make a return once again in Alan Wake's American Nightmare. However, there are new additions, which include: Birdmen, Splitters, Grenadiers and Bikers. All are formidable enemies for Wake to overcome. This game took a more action oriented turn this time around, adding an assortment of new weapons. Although they may be fun to use, they took out a lot of the suspense and survival aspect of the game. Some of the weapons include a nail gun, magnum, SMG, assault rifle, combat shotgun, crossbow, hunting rifle and a flare gun. There is also items such as flash bangs, handheld flares and batteries for his much-needed flashlight.
When I completed the story mode, I didn’t have the same sense of dread that I felt playing the first Alan Wake. It could be attributed to a few things such as the weapons, the atmosphere, and enemies (The Taken) being less menacing. However, it was fun to play the story out and see how everything went down. I found the ending interesting and it was redeeming to have some sort of pay off, after going through essentially the same thing over and over again throughout the story mode.
The Arcade mode is very similar to “Horde mode” from the Gears of War series. The objective is to fight off waves of The Taken, while trying to stay alive for 10 minutes. After the timer expires, the break of dawn arrives and all of The Taken vanish. Alan starts with a flashlight and pistol, and must make his way around the areas in search of other weapons and items to keep him alive. Some of the unsettling environments include a cemetery, caves and an oil field, to name a few.
In order to unlock other levels in the arcade mode, you have to earn stars based on your score at the end of your level. You can earn up to three stars on each individual level, and there is a score multiplier that goes up based on how many kills and successful dodges you make. The multiplier will revert back to “x1” if you get hit by an enemy. This makes you want to come back to try and earn a three star rating, as it can become a challenge to earn it on the first go around.
The lack of true suspense and multiplayer for the arcade mode hindered this game from being extremely memorable. They really could have built on some great moments and replay value had they made this game multiplayer. Otherwise, this was a superb effort from Remedy Entertainment. Despite it being an Xbox Live Arcade game, it truly felt like a quality release and provides a whole lot of bang for your buck.
Platform reviewed on: Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade)
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Release: February 22, 2012
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