Tag Archive: American Nightmare


EGM Review: Alan Wake’s American Nightmare

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment
February 23, 2012

Heeeeeeerrrreee’s Alan!

The original Alan Wake wowed audiences with a twisted and unique story that saw an unlikely protagonist rise to the unreal situation he found himself in. And when last we saw Alan, he had sacrificed himself to the Dark Dimension in order to save his beloved wife Alice, taking her place as its hostage.

Flash-forward now two years later. Alan has basically had to scrape together an existence, fighting for his life on a near daily basis in the Dark Dimension, his love for his wife the only thing that keeps him going as he continues to look for a way out. The Dark Dimension satiates itself by feasting on Alan’s creative writing talents, but in the process of being touched by this ethereal power, Alan has acquired some unique abilities all his own, including using his writing to help change the reality of the given situations he finds himself in to better suit his needs. And in this new adventure, where the Dark Dimension has inserted Alan into one of his early writing experiences, a script for the cult-TV show “Night Springs”, Alan must take on his dark side given physical form in the nefarious Mr. Scratch, who taunts Alan by being able to cross between dimensions freely where the barriers are at the weakest, like Cauldron Lake or in this case, the Arizona desert, and threaten everything that Alan has ever loved.

A major goal in developing this game for the guys at Remedy was to try to make American Nightmare accessible to both new and old audiences to the franchise. And I think that by trying to play both sides of the fence, they may have missed their mark a little on each side. Easier to find manuscript pages help fill in the back story to newcomers, while some also flesh out this newest adventure for the series loyalists, but unless you actually experience the first game, a small narrative piece, that many people may not even find all the parts for, doesn’t do the first game’s tremendously original story and adventure justice and newcomers may feel like they’re missing out on something.

Meanwhile, the game does have a lot more of a “pick-up and play” feel to it as the action comes hot and heavy from right after the opening cut scene. This is all well and good as newcomers and veterans alike will enjoy the smooth controls, still awesome “light washing away the dark” dynamic, and the satisfying feeling that comes from dispelling the huge variety of new Taken like the Giant or the Grenadier. The problem that hardcore fans will find though is that after the survival horror aspects of the first game had you hording your strongest light producing materials for more diffcult moments in the game and scrounging for ammo, batteries, and flares, the abundance of self-replenishing ammo boxes in American Nightmare will ruin any chance of building suspense as you never actually feel in danger anymore. Flares, flashbangs, and some new and more powerful weapons not in the first game at all make themselves very readily available right from the get-go (SMG for the win). The challenge that I loved from the first game is completely gone.

Even with these flaws though, there are enough aspects that fans on both sides of the fence will also tremendously enjoy that makes the game a worthwhile purchase considering its 1200 MSP ($15) price tag. Again, the action is very well done and the controls are still tight and responsive enough that each kill or nimble dodge of an axe swipe by Alan feels very satisfying. The new Arcade challenge mode, complete with 10 maps, adds to some of the replay-ability found in the collectible hunting of the main story as you try to work your way up the leaderboard and earn the high score as you refine your Taken bashing skills.

Another brilliant aspect of the game is the TV sets scattered about Night Springs, Arizona. The dynamic of a live-action Mr. Scratch, using the TVs that established “Night Springs” in the first game, to taunt Alan in that classic villain fashion, is almost comical as Scratch is that rare charismatic bad guy who a part of you deep down roots for. There is one where he talks about his “tools of the trade” that was absolutely spectacular. And the use of licensed music in proper moments, especially as a backdrop to these “episodes” is definitely another strong point for the game.  And at the end of the day, it is all part of what is really a very solid story, especially if you look at this as a day in the life of Alan now since he has become trapped in the Dark Dimension.

Although it doesn’t do much in terms of forwarding the overall plot of the franchise and how Alan will hopefully one day escape or destroy the Dark Dimension and its denizens, it gives us a peek into what Alan must endure to hopefully set himself up for the end game and makes us care about the characters even more so than before and gives the series a weird sense of realism considering how far out there it is concept-wise. But one thing that American Nightmare does do in terms of forwarding the franchise’s story is it helps give us the sense that the Dark Dimension is not just some primal entity, but it is conscious of what it does in many ways and is truly alive, giving us a sense of some epic struggle worthy of a Greek mythos as Alan must endure trials and tribulations thrown in his path by some dark and unyielding god before he can finally return home.

There are also some minor nuances I believe that will also be universally panned by both sides of the fence with this game. The voice acting and dialogue outside of the “Night Springs” narrator or the Mr. Scratch TV episodes is bad. Like Japanese-import bad. And there are moments where Alan is surrounded by light, but still has to take on Taken. There is one scene where you are surrounded by a burning oilrig. Last I checked, fire gave off a good amount of light. And there was a lot of fire, and a lot of Taken. Small little gaps in the continuity of the universe like that had me scratching my head some.

All in all though, I think that as a stand alone adventure and a spot check on seeing how Alan was doing, this game did a good job of giving us an idea of the struggles the character is going through and hopefully will serve as the launching point for a bigger and even better story down the road.

SUMMARY: In trying to please everyone, American Nightmare takes a small step back from what made the original Alan Wake an original and enthralling experience, but is still well worth the price of admission for old and new fans alike.

  • THE GOOD: Fluid action and smooth controls
  • THE BAD: Dumbed down, broader appeal approach will turn off hardcore fans
  • THE UGLY: Dialogue worthy of a Japanese import

SCORE: 8.5

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is an XBLA (Xbox 360) exclusive.

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XBLA “House Party” 2012 Lineup Detailed

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January 26, 2012

THE BUZZ: Microsoft announces the full lineup, prices, and “extra incentive” if you purchase all games for their Xbox Live Arcade “House Party” promotion for the first-quarter of 2012.

EGM’S TAKE: Similar to their “Summer of Arcade” promotion, Microsoft is looking to make a splash this first quarter on Xbox Live, keeping up the trend we are seeing of major releases coming out shortly after the New Year instead of sitting on them.

The “House Party” promotion will start on February 15th with the release of Warp from EA for 800 Microsoft Points. Here you play as Zero, a lovable orange alien killing machine with a score to settle. Captured and imprisoned in an underwater facility, you must use stealth and your wits to overcome the harrowing puzzles and lead Zero to freedom.

Next comes a very highly anticipated game here in the EGM office, Alan Wake: American Nightmare for 1200 MSP on February 22nd from Microsoft and developer Remedy Entertainment. Jump back into the shoes of horror writer Alan Wake as new enemies, games modes, and firepower highlight one of the creepier experiences you’re likely to face on your Xbox 360. For our full preview on American Nightmare, click here.

After that you can celebrate the Leap Year on February 29th with Nexuiz from THQ for 800 MSP. This arena based first-person shooter has you take on your opponents in ever-changing hostile environments and mess with the laws of physics.

Finally, wrapping up the event is I Am Alive from Ubisoft on March 7th for 1200 MSP. A year after a worldwide apocalyptic event wipes out most of the world, a man struggles to find his missing family while battling against other survivors in this desolated, dog eat dog world laid out before him. For our full preview on I Am Alive, click here.

Coming to a total of $60 dollars (4000 MSP) for all four games, you’re looking at a pretty quality haul here if you should decide to purchase them all. And if you do, again, much in the same vein as the “Summer of Arcade” promotion, Microsoft will throw in an extra bonus, this time of a credit on your account for an additional 800 MSP that you can use in any way you see fit as an extra reward.

It’s great that Xbox does things like this to really highlight the online marketplace and the fact that they can do it twice a year now shows how much developers are taking it seriously as well. And by putting out such high quality titles like this on a consistent basis, it implores the gamers to actually explore and check out the marketplace a bit more often for those hidden gems that sometimes fall under the radar of events like this. All in all, this looks like a winning lineup for everyone who takes part in it.

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Alan Wake: American Nightmare Preview

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment
January 15, 2012

After the end of the first Alan Wake and its subsequent DLC, as players, we definitely had more questions than answers. And while Alan Wake: American Nightmare, the downloadable sequel to Alan Wake that will be out from Remedy Entertainment sometime in the beginning of 2012, may finally answer some of those questions, I wouldn’t be surprised if true to form, the game only continues to deepen the mystery before us. Of course, this only made me all the more excited when I got a chance to get a preview of the campaign and the brand new “Fight Till Dawn” mode.

Where the first game took place in the picturesque Pacific Northwest, now Alan finds himself in the deserts of Arizona, and the color palette before us, exploding with reds and oranges, definitely let us know we were in a new locale. It was explained to us that Alan is now living through an episode of Night Springs, the fictional TV show introduced in the first game, that he happened to guest write when he was still starting out as a writer.  Only by going into this previous work of his does he hope to catch Mr. Scratch, a bogeyman in some ways, a charismatic but psychotic serial killer in others, who we first saw in the last Alan Wake DLC. Being an episode of Night Springs, I was also pleasantly surprised to hear that Alan is no longer the primary narrator, but instead the Night Springs narrator will serve that role for the game.

Another key fact I learned was that in the time between games, Alan has come to grips with the fact that he is now a “Champion of Light”, thrown into this surreal war between light and dark, day and night, and he must act as the counterbalance and defeat Scratch, the “Herald of Darkness”. Part of being this champion though is that somehow his words can take on a reality altering effect now, making those missing manuscript pages from the first game even more crucial in this one. The manuscript pages have become so important in fact that aside from being a collectible or adding to the back-story, they actually are key for driving the game forward now.

This page importance played out in the very first objective I saw in our demo, which required Alan to rescue a lady who had locked herself in an auto garage after being chased by the Taken, the darkness possessed individuals from the town, for she had found one of those pages. Something I noticed immediately in our first encounter here with the Taken is that there is several classes of Taken now to provide greater game play variety. Some even have powers, like one I saw in this first batch split up into two and then four copies of himself when light was shone on him. Luckily, I was armed with Alan’s new favorite weapon, a nail gun, and were able to deal with them just as easily as regular Taken, although they did eat up quite a bit of ammo. Another tidbit that really became evident during the first battle was the changes made to the HUD. Alan now has a life bar, a clearer GPS radar, and a larger ammo and weapon icon to help keep track of the item you’re currently using and it was definitely an improvement over the first game’s.

After saving the lady, I learned just what we were able to do with the manuscript pages. Because of Alan’s reality altering powers, aside from predicting events that were about to take place with the pages like in the first game, Alan could now interact with the world around him, taking clues from the pages to instead change things and solve puzzles in the world around him in order to better suit his needs and open up new paths. These paths are also unique as unlike in the first game that had a more linear feel, Alan will set up shop at a central location that will act as a sort of level hub and then go explore his surroundings from there, affording players the chance to explore and re-explore some areas even as necessary.

As I was moved to a further point in the game, Alan was beginning a trek up towards an observatory where he was looking for an astronomer who has clues as to what was going on in the town. Here, I saw the environment begin to have an effect on game play like in the first game. Dead cars and other debris on the path came to life and began to fling itself at Alan, and since the darkness has only been growing stronger since last game, it even tried to bring a chunk of mountain down onto our hero. Since the environmental graphics have been improved since last game, there is actually a lot more stuff that can be flung at Alan now while he travels through the world and so a greater level of suspense is reached as every inanimate object now can become a threat.

Once I reached the observatory, I came face to face with the latest variety of Taken introduced to the game and what the boys from Remedy lovingly refer to as their “answer for Angry Birds”. This new Taken can transform into a flock of crows and quickly move all over the area. He also isn’t nearly as weak against light as many other Taken, but more powerful items like flashbangs, flares, and another new weapon in the crossbow, which can act as a one-hit kill on most enemies, can still dispatch him for you.

After clearing up the mess at the observatory, my story mode demo was finished, and I was salivating for more. Although there was a clear emphasis on more action this time around, the atmosphere from the first game still comes through strongly to give it a bit more of a pulp comic feel and it should be interesting to see what else unfolds in Alan’s world when the full game is released.

But I was far from done. Whereas the first game was all about the story, American Nightmare features a new mode called “Fight Till Dawn” along with what Remedy believes will be a 5-hour campaign. I was able to go hands on with this new mode and true to the game’s atmosphere, it is a one-player mode with Alan fighting for his life. What it really reminded me of though was the challenge maps from Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City as the premise of the mode is for Alan to work through as many waves of enemies as possible in a 10-minute time limit by himself. If he can survive that long, the sun will rise and you will survive.

This game mode is score based though, where you can build combos for every enemy you dispatch and attack you avoid, so if you really want to do well and work your way up the online leaderboards, you’re going to want to try to mow down as many enemies as possible. And with each wave getting harder and harder, you’ll have an interesting dilemma on your hands as you try to decide on whether or not you should run away and try to preserve yourself or dive head first into the fray in order to try to get the best score. Especially since there is a limited amount of items around the map for you to collect and wield against this army of Taken. Remedy also confirmed for us that there would be 10 maps total for the mode at launch, five normal maps and then five Nightmare versions of those maps.

All in all, if you were a fan of the first Alan Wake you’ll probably be surprised by how much content Remedy is fitting into this downloadable sequel to the first game, but still enjoy how far the story will progress. With a stronger emphasis on action though this time around, this could also be a great point to jump into the series for newcomers, especially with less of a financial commitment since it is going to be an XBLA title. All I know is that I can’t wait for American Nightmare to finally be fully playable within the next few months.

What do you folks think? Are you amped for the new Alan Wake game? Are you surprised by it going to an XBLA format? What do you think about the Fight Till Dawn Mode? Let us know with comments below!

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