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Looking Back to the 2012 release of Alan Wake’s American Nightmare

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Hopefully, like me you’re very excited for Alan Wake 2. It seems that the adventurous author has not yet been through enough, as not so long ago Remedy treated us to a tantalising teaser trailer for his new ordeal. However, aside from the original Alan Wake, old Alan did have another adventure that may have passed you by.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is something of a hybrid. It shares many features with its bigger brother, but at the same time the focus shifts away to centre around the evil Mr. Scratch. It’s by no means a direct sequel, and it isn’t a pure spin-off either. It falls somewhere into the gaps between, serving more as an expansion to the original adventure. 

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The villainous Mr. Scratch is a character from the first game who only had a brief role, but here is fully focused on taunting Alan Wake at every opportunity. He is a being composed of the whispers and rumours regarding the disappearance of Alan Wake, taking his form as a completely negative and pretty menacing version of him. You do battle with Mr. Scratch across Night Springs, which is the setting of Alan’s work. 

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare plays in much the same way as Alan Wake, as you’ll need to use your flashlight to expose the “Taken” (ghostly silhouettes who can do some serious damage) before blasting them with whatever firearms you can lay your hands on. However, unlike the original this outing has a much more arcade style of play.

It’s a good job then, that Alan quite quickly amasses a small arsenal of weapons with which to defend himself. All the usual suspects are here (pistols, machine guns, rifles etc) however the flare gun was particularly satisfying to use. Although not quite as devastating as it once was, it was still very effective against a group of the Taken, even if it just slowed down the majority.

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There are some cracking locations too within Night Springs that make for some truly thrilling passages of play. An oil derrick, observatory, and abandoned mine all present the perfect opportunity for some Final Destination style attempts on your life. However, the final epic and emotional showdown with Mr. Scratch at the theatre remains the most memorable for me. But I won’t spoil that here.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare was still creepy, but had a stronger action and shooter vibe than a full on chiller mystery game. Mr. Scratch would pop up at nearly every turn, often via the medium of T.V. whilst causing all sorts of injuries to innocent people without a single shred of remorse. The use of a live actor made him even more menacing.

“Arcade Mode” was new to the game, quite literally embracing the adapted style of play. Here you were tasked with defending yourself from enemy waves which gradually become more challenging to dispatch. The aim was to survive as long as possible, and then head to the online leaderboards to earn your bragging rights. It was a really fun way of concentrating the core gameplay and allowing you to jump in whenever you felt like it.

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Alan Wake’s American Nightmare may have been pretty brief when it launched in 2012, especially when compared to his main outing, however that very much fitted the style. Personally, I was desperate for more hands-on time with Alan so no matter what was to be offered, it went down well in my book. The key pull was just how well realised Mr. Scratch was both as a character, and visually within the game. The short but punchy story had me gripped from start to finish. 

For once, it’s easy to check out a game featured in one of these pieces that’s ten years old. Why? Because Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is available on that wonderful service known as Game Pass – the download you need to play it on Xbox 360, Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S is over at the Xbox Store

Just don’t forget to flick the telly off when you’re finished…

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