When Remedy had finally released the long awaited Alan Wake to Xbox 360, it was one of the finest and most polished retail experiences of 2010. Less than 2 years later Remedy and Microsoft bring back the famous author who battles the taken in the darkness. Alan Wake's American Nightmare sees the return of Alan Wake as well as Mr Scratch, his evil alter ego, as he experiences an episode of Night Springs - the TV show written by Wake.

While Alan Wake had more of a survival horror feel originally, American Nightmare chooses to go a more pulpy route, with more edgy characters and gameplay that goes into a different direction. It should be noted that Alan Wake's American Nightmare is an Xbox LIVE Arcade release, which makes it even more impressive that the follow up manages to maintain an absolutely stellar gameplay experience as well as stunning visuals and lighting effects. Alan Wake as well as his surrounding create an excellent immersion for the player and the costume change for the protagonist is a great fit for the new location.


Even though the feel of American Nightmare differs from Alan Wake, the gameplay remains very similar. Alan will navigate dark and dense locations while battling ever increasing amounts of 'the taken' - the enemies Mr Scratch brings upon Alan Wake. Remedy has also brought back the manuscript pages which are handled a bit better than in the original and can also be used to unlock weapons caches throughout the world. However, American Nightmare will give our favorite writer some extra powerful weaponry this time around, causing the game to feel more like an action title. Alan will be able to use powerful automatic rifles and obscure weapons like the nail gun to battle the taken. As I mentioned before American Nightmare looks and feels as polished as the original Alan Wake and even though the story is not quite as focused and the game has traded suspense and horror for action, American Nightmare is probably the most impressive Xbox LIVE Arcade title we have seen in ages.


Without going into spoiler territory too much, American Nightmare utilizes some interesting time warp mechanics which have our hero repeat sequences multiple times. This is a pretty unique and clever concept in theory but almost causes some repetition issues, almost.
Once you have played through the campaign of American Nightmare, there is an option to switch over to the new 'Fight Till Dawn' mode. This new horde-type option will set Alan up in one of several areas where the writer has to battle an ever increasing amount of taken with varying degree of difficulty. Each round lasts 10 minutes and depending how little damage you take, the score multiplier will go up and set a score on the leader board. You'll be able to use all unlocked weapons from the single player to get the job done, trust me when I say the stopping power will be needed when taking on the mass of enemies.

Remedy had a tremendous task in front of them when they revealed Alan Wake's American Nightmare, especially after the title was announced as a downloadable game. If you enjoyed the original Alan Wake then this game is for you and cannot be missed. The amount of polish and content Remedy fit into this awesome package is impressive. Between the single player and the new Fight Till Dawn mode, American Nightmare is the best value on Xbox LIVE Arcade today.

Score: 8.5 / 10

Alan Wake's American Nightmare was developed by Remedy and published by Microsoft for Xbox LIVE Arcade on February 22nd. A copy of the game was provided to us by Microsoft for reviewing purposes.