Alan Wake's American Nightmare (PC)
A while back I reviewed the original base game Alan Wake as part of my first installment of HorrorTober. This year, on my Twitch channel, I decided to include it in this year's lineup of games to play because it still stands as one of my all time favorite games. Only this year, I took it a bit further and got to experience the DLC chapters The Signal and The Writer, as well as the sequel/spin-off American Nightmare. Before playing, I'd heard mixed things about the game, and it's questionable use of a mechanic. But, my love for the original game persisted and I wanted to experience this one for myself.
Developed By : Remedy Entertainment
Published By : Remedy Entertainment
Released : May 22, 2012
Genre : Action, Adventure, Horror, Shooter
Platforms : PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Story
The game opens with Alan waking up in a desert canyon, just outside of Night Springs, Arizona, and is driven just like an episode of the show with the same name (an in-game universe version of Twilight Zone). Alan, known in this as the Champion of Light, is chasing down his evil doppleganger Mr. Scratch, known as the Herald of Darkness. Scratch is determined to rip everything away from Alan (who's been missing from the real world for two years now), including his life and his wife.
Alan leaves the canyon, stumbling upon an oil derrick that erupts with Taken, brought on by Mr. Scratch himself. Alan fights them off, escaping to a nearby hotel where he meets Emma, the first of a handful of people that have already encountered his dark half, making them weary to trust him initially. Alan must navigate through Night Springs, visiting the places that Scratch did to determine what his plan is, and how to stop it, as well as hopefully escaping this nightmare and getting back to his wife Alice.
But, what is Scratch's plan? And can Alan actually escape it?
Gameplay
For the most part, American Nightmare plays just like it's predecessor. Now, I played the original on console the first few times through it. And while this one supports a controller on PC, I wanted to get a feel for the mouse and keyboard controls. It felt completely different controlling it, but other than that it felt exactly the same, if not a lot smoother.
Alan still totes around the flashlight and a gun, to rid the darkness from the Taken before putting them out of their misery for good. You can still perform excquisite last second dodges from your enemies attacks, and there's plenty of manuscript pages scattered around the game's three main locations to flesh the story out a little bit more. However, even the things that remain change a little bit too.
Ridding the darkness from enemies is key to killing them, as it manifests in a shroud over them that protects them from any damage. In the last game you could choose to just hover your flashlight beam over them or boost it until the darkness is gone. Now, you can only do it through boost. It seems like it's a worse system, especially when you notice that your max battery total is carrying 10 instead of 20, but then you realize that the boost not only lasts for longer, but it recharges faster too. The game's gunplay remains mostly the same, giving you further options for your arsenal instead, some of which are extremely powerful and locked inside special cases which can be opened if you obtained the right amount of manuscript pages.
Now, the manuscript pages received a bit of an update, and while it's a much smaller portion of the game compared to the Taken combat, the change makes the pages so much more entertaining to find. Last game, you'd find a simple white page with some type written text and be greeted to Alan reading off his own writing. Now, the pages are a bit more stylized, and come with a bit of a flourish, as the image slowly scans down the page as the words are read off. Again, it's a small area to receive a change but it looks beautiful when it happens.
How it's Told
One of my favorite things about the original game, was the force behind the story that was driving it. A lot of heavy horror influences were noticeable throughout the game, but one that came through in many ways was a name anybody who walks through bookstores is familiar with : Stephen King. He's referenced directly by name more than once, and a number of situations in the original game can be attached to him as well. Alan's venture through the hedge maze to bring one into the light. So it made sense that Alan Wake and it's story was paced out more like a novel.
Now, inspiration is drawn from another medium. The pacing in American Nightmare is a bit more reminiscent of a TV show, which is perfect given there's one readily available to use in the game's universe : Night Springs. It's a show in the game that's delivered very much like Twlight Zone, and what's more : Alan is connected directly to it, having spent a year working on the show's staff as none other than a writer.
However, there is one mechanic that is utilized in the telling of the story which is in a sense questionable. I say in a sense because it's one of those things where it makes absolute sense within the game itself, hell it's even explained by Scratch himself. But, the way it's done is...odd because what's supposed to be a way to hold Alan back and prevent him from stopping Scratch's plan, actually helps Alan out in the end and speeds up his process.
Alan is able to rewrite reality, by going to places in Night Springs and essentially setting a scene according to a manuscript page. It's through these rewrites that Alan hopes to change the reality enough and escape Scratch and his trap. Enter questionable mechanic : A time loop. Scratch notices Alan's plan and forces him back to waking up in the canyon, with all of his work undone.
So, why is this questionable? Wake isn't the only one aware of it. During his time through Night Springs, he encounters three people, two of whom are "normal" while the third is consumed by darkness internally when Alan meets her. The two normal ones remember everything that happened from the initial loop, and even decide to prepare things for Alan, knowing that he'll return. For instance, his first attempt at rewriting reality is by placing three things near the oil derrick and manipulating them in a specific way. Initially, he needs to find all three items before bringing them to the derrick, but on waking up in the second loop, he reunites with Emma to learn that she's already grabbed the items for him.
So, why is this questionable? Wake isn't the only one aware of it. During his time through Night Springs, he encounters three people, two of whom are "normal" while the third is consumed by darkness internally when Alan meets her. The two normal ones remember everything that happened from the initial loop, and even decide to prepare things for Alan, knowing that he'll return. For instance, his first attempt at rewriting reality is by placing three things near the oil derrick and manipulating them in a specific way. Initially, he needs to find all three items before bringing them to the derrick, but on waking up in the second loop, he reunites with Emma to learn that she's already grabbed the items for him. Overall
Whether you play it on PC or Xbox, Alan Wake's American Nightmare is a unique experience to say the least. Expanding on what had already been established in the main game, this project takes things in a bit of a new direction. It in no way is a full blown sequel to the original game, but rather an individual encounter with our main character and his story. With no real direct ties to the first game other than Mr. Wake himself and a few mere mentions of details in passing, it's not difficult to see that American Nightmare was more than likely intended to be a stepping stone onto something more. Without that something more, we may never get that full feeling we were supposed to from this title, which leaves it in an interesting limbo.
For me and my opinion as far as this one goes, I came to love it. It was a lot of fun to play, and again while it didn't really offer a very full story feeling, it was a deeper look into the madness that the Dark Presence can leak into the world. For a mere $10, this is definitely a title worth picking up. If you're looking to play just in and of itself, the combat and gameplay are definitely enjoyable. Likewise, if you're a hardcore fan of the original game and it's mythology, you'll enjoy playing this title as well and seeing the new details Remedy brings into this world.
