Alan Wake's American Nightmare

[GaMeR-BoY]

After the very successful first episode on Xbox 360, Alan Wake is back again on Xbox Live Arcade. Remedy seems to have won its bet. There were great bundle of questions when Remedy unveils a follow-up to this widely popular title, Alan Wake. At the time of first release, Alan Wake was the series of writer Zone X (it was possible to watch on television screens scattered throughout Bright Falls in the first Alan Wake). In an episode he wrote, the hero is trapped by his evil twin, the latter wishing to take his place and let the darkness invade the world. And indeed, it is in this same episode as the novelist seems to be stuck in the lead at that. Without going into details, it seems that the authors of Alan Wake’s American Nightmare are stimulated by a film named Harold Ramis. This idea is particularly original that developers have found a smarter way to present a complete and interesting story while bypassing the limitations forced by the format of the game because his script does that through 3 different environments of adventure that is not actually good.

Anyways, as per the gameplay, Alan Wake's American Nightmare is not a follow-up or sequel of its previous release but rather a spin-off linking the titular writer. As we stated above, Alan trapped inside a script written by the writer for the Twilight Zone-esque TV show Night Springs. He's caught in a desert town rewriting actuality after his evil doppelganger, Mr. Scratch, tore through and freed a host of Taken, tedious psychopaths who have been obsessed by the Dark Presence. American Nightmare chooses to go a pulpier route with the written script, a sharp contrast to the simple mystery-horror elements in the previous game.

Though it’s not a sequel, but technically it’s pretty close to its forerunner and hence suffers the same issues like very quaint facial animations. However the lighting effects used throughout the adventure aspect are enhanced if compared with the previous game. Focus is clearly once again placed on the mood and atmosphere. As stated above the game takes place in a TV series, the narrator get involved regularly to take stock of the situation and incidentally remind the player what to do. The city of arizonienne Night Springs is fully consistent with its drive-in cinema, his seedy motel, or simply desert landscape. And just visual considerations aside, the sound production also contributes largely to the atmosphere that originates from American Nightmare. Just stop next to a radio and listen to the program presenter at night to convince him that is in the southern United States.

At quick look, the changes with this new Alan Wake are small joystick in hand. It is always a matter of an action game in the third person in which the hero is forced to play the flashlight to kill his enemies. But this time developers have chosen to blur the side in favor of survival action phases. And to repel the hordes of Demons as it should, the hero now have access to more wide-ranging weapons like crossbow, assault rifle, revolver, etc... along with almost unlimited ammunition. Also as history says there should be some variety in combat, now the enemies have in their ranks with new recruits. This time there are XXL spiders, few new opponents to the hero who must see the light. The action style this time may disappoint the fans of Alan Wake who loved the gameplay of Original Alan Wake. But when brought face to the scenario, this choice stands. Indeed, the past two years by the author in the dimension parallel (after the end of Alan Wake) allowed him to gain confidence and less fear of confrontation with the Devils.

[GaMeR-BoY]

Nevertheless, the Remedy creation has done pretty good job. The game is about fifty pages of manuscript that requires about seven hours. Of course, players will rush much less time to see the end. Alan fans may have interest in taking the time to get their hands on the pages scattered throughout the Zone X. Additionally in order to expand the story, this manuscript serves as a link between Alan Wake and Alan Wake's American Nightmare and can learn what happened after the events of the first game. In addition to the main mode, developers added an Arcade mode in which Alan Wake must survive until sunrise against waves of increasingly dangerous enemies. The license did not need a special type of Horde mode, however it would be silly to spit on additional content. If the goal of this episode was downloaded to reopen the appetite of fans of the first episode, it is filled with flying colors.

Alan Wake's American Nightmare is on par with the original in terms of graphics, an impressive feat. Character models also seem good. Environments are quite dissimilar from the previous Alan Wake but look great, as do the lighting effects. But the changed settings this time lacks the general feel of atmosphere that was present earlier. If we consider it technically, it's very good that the team was able to include so much of the original aesthetic into an XBOX Live Arcade. . Good Wishes Alan Wake 2!

In Conclusion, Alan Wake's American Nightmare is quite good. Enjoyable to play, watch and learn, it offers a pleasant experience that was sensitive to the original title. And for 1200 Microsoft Points, fans of the fictitious author would be wrong to deprive of a new journey in his tortured world.