Alan Wake. A name not many gamers will have come across in the past couple of years however, he’s made a return and graced the Xbox Live Arcade with his writing/fighting skills for us to join him in yet another thrill ride as he battles against the darkness filled Taken once again in Alan Wake: American Nightmare!

So a quick catch-up on Mr. Wake for those who have not had the pleasure on making acquaintances with him as of yet; he’s a writer who mysteriously lost his wife after their trip to Bright Falls. After the Dark Presence that has been trapped in Cauldron Lake escapes, Wake’s world is turned upside down as fiction is slowly turned into reality.

As an avid fan of the first Alan Wake game, that of which I thought was under-appreciated back in 2010, I was really looking forward to seeing how this arcade title panned out as I’ve not really been a big fan of them.

Even after not playing Alan Wake for two years, I found this game incredibly easy to pick up, play and get into the storyline within the first ten minutes. The game starts off with Wake finding himself within this dark and murky area to which the narrator kicks in by describing Wake as the “Champion of Light” and is chasing down the Herald of Darkness, Mr. Scratch, who is described to be Alan Wake’s evil doppelganger. After some taunting from Mr. Scratch that he will take away everything he loves, Wake replies with that he’ll catch him.

After that opening, I was prepared for an almighty trip through some form of messed up reality, similar to that of which I experienced with the first Alan Wake game. The environments that you’re surrounded by look and feel daunting which made me really felt like I was trapped within these environments just as much as what the protagonist Wake is. With only a flashlight in your hand, it’s difficult to see what the hell is in front of you – a perfect opportunity to introduce some enemies that have been taken over by the Dark Presence.

The variation of enemies is better than what I first expected. With a range of the more small, slim and fast ones that will take no time at all to cut you up with their hooks, to the big, heavy and downright scary men that have a slower approach before delivering their devastating blow to you.  Thankfully, we’ve got a range of weapons to pick from to kill these guys. With a choice of pistol, shotgun, flare gun and my personal favourite, nail gun – you can start putting these guys back in their place and back into the darkness that forever surrounds you.  The action that was present during battles with The Taken was always something that left me on the edge of my seat (or out of it whenever a scary moment occurred or I was close to dying). Whether it’s in a big open space such as a car park or more of a confined area which allows minimal places to run to, there was no shortage of “OMG, That was a close one” moments which is mainly brought about with the use of the dodge ability. With a tap of LB, the player can maneuver Wake away from the massive pick-axe that is about to pop his head off of his shoulders for all eternity and it’s done really well so that it’s not annoying on trying to direct him away – it’s all just about the timing of it.

The soundtrack for the game was again, unbelievable. With moments of dead silence and nothing to accompany you on your travels but the odd whisper of a wind brushing past, to other moments where you’re running for your life to the sound of Kasabian’s ‘Club Foot’ – there is no shortage of amazing music on this game. What I noticed that kept happening with myself while I was playing would be that the music would die down completely after an epic moment, to which I always thought “Okay, I’m in the clear now” – I never cottoned onto the fact that it was only the calm before the storm where a mass of Taken would come from absolutely nowhere and attempt to attack me senseless.  Take this as a warning if you do decide to play American Nightmare!

Another factor that was clear as soon as I started playing this game was the lighting. As you can imagine, the game’s plot is very dark and scary which is reflected in the lack of light available to Wake throughout the game. Equipped with only his flashlight, this is about the most amount of light that Wake has to accompany him. I also felt that the light played a big role in the thrill factor of this game – the obvious case being that if the player was afraid of the dark, to which the little child deep inside of me is therefore, it escalates the amount of suspense and tension within the player when the creepy noises start to come into play.

After completing the story mode portion of American Nightmare – I did find that I could of easily gone back and played through it again, even if it was just to pick up the missing collectables that I left out. With a good lifespan for an arcade game of 5-6 hours, dependent of how much exploring you done, the first play through was an enjoyable and yet somewhat nostalgic one. With some references back to the first game, including some loose ends being tied up, it made me want to go back and give the first game another run through but instead, I dove straight into Arcade mode.

The bare essentials of the arcade mode are waves of enemies coming at you within a 10 minute time limit and you have to wade it out until the ten minutes are up and the sun rises again for another day. Based on your performance, you will get rated on a 3 star system to which you can unlock more levels the more you progress and the more stars you accumulate over time.

Starting off on the first level out of ten, I felt very pressured and again, that on-the-edge-of-your-seat action was happening for yet another time. Arcade mode takes one of the best things out of the story mode – the battles with the taken – and crams as much action as it can throw at you within the ten minutes. With minimal time to breathe and resupply your ammo, you do feel very protective of the ammo you are using and aware of where your next supply of ammo and health will be.

The amount of area you have to play with is great. With wide open areas in graveyards, old towns and oil fields, you can’t help but find yourself exploring the area. Explore in the right places and you might strike you luck with some better weapons, ammo supply and flash bangs. One of the best things that I came across was a crossbow which I could use as a weapon – and I thought the nail gun was the best thing since sliced bread with regards to weapons in this game – but dear lord did I have fun with that crossbow!

I think making the arcade mode the focus for the release of the game was a good idea. It provides a challenging experience but that of which, doesn’t get boring or dull and is different every time you pick up that controller and play it. It’s easy to pick up and play and start trying to beat your friends’ scores that are on the leader boards before you go into a game. One thing I would of liked there to have been for the Arcade mode was co-op. I think it would have benefited a lot by having the ability to get two friends to take on these ten minute challenges , making the game more fun and exciting  than what it already is.

Alan Wake American Nightmare is a definite buy for anyone who loved the first game however, new comers to the game will still find this an enjoyable game and an experience they will not be forgetting for a while. I must add here that the actor, Ilkka Villi who plays Alan Wake and Mr. Scratch, does a very good job with the TV spots that Mr. Scratch has throughout the game – each of which looks like they should be in movies with the amount of peril and emotion that’s being put into each of the shows.

To wrap things up with this review, I was really impressed by American Nightmare and thought it was an excellent game to help fans of the first game not only gain a bit more knowledge and understanding of the world that Alan Wake is in, but to surpass the time before the proper sequel gets released to us. Suggestion to new-comers to the game, pick up the first game before playing American Nightmare and you’ll appreciate it so much more when you do come round to playing it.

I’m giving Alan Wake American Nightmare 9 out of 10, mainly due to the lack of co-op but as a stand-alone arcade game, is a real gem amongst the rocks.

 

 

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