Alan Wake's American Nightmare

It's not as good as the base game, but for the lore and cutscenes alone, I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who loves Alan Wake. The story is pretty lackluster and repetitive, but I'm glad it was short. I finished it on Normal difficulty and it was super easy. It didn't feel like a challenge at all. I only died once and that was because I was too impatient and kept running into electricity. The new, stronger enemies should've added some difficulty, but it was still pretty damn easy. The only two small problems I had with the base game's gameplay were fixed in this DLC. Alan has a lot more stamina and the weapon variety is also great.

Alan Wake somehow finds himself in the Arizona desert and is forced to fight off a horde of monsters. quite a disappointing game consisting basically of just one episode, i.e. very short (around 4 hours). the combat has been greatly improved (much more stamina and ammunition everywhere), but the story is absolutely terrible. it’s more of an arcade-style version, especially as there’s even a dedicated arcade mode. if this game was separate from the Alan Wake universe, it still wouldn’t be good, but within this universe, it’s frankly rubbish. there’s just one map that you run through three times with different objectives. very uninspiring game.

Run perfectly on ROG Ally

Replayed on PC. With this being originally an XBLA game, it's certainly a constrained game compared to Alan Wake 1 as it trades story for gameplay within recycled areas. The story is fine for what it is even if it's fairly short. It's nice to see some of what happens to the cast after Alan Wake 1 as well. The new weapons, refined gameplay loop, arcade mode, and backstory given within the campaign are the best parts about it. The music tracks in the game are also nice with The Happy Song, Balance Slays The Demon, and Kasabian being featured. However, the recycled areas, forgettable side characters, mediocre story, and obvious budget nature of the game all bring it down. Still, it's worth a playthrough even if it may be more of the same. 7.0/10.

Alan Wake's American Nightmare takes the supernatural world of Alan Wake and shifts it toward a faster, more action-heavy experience. It doesn't have the same depth or atmosphere as the original game, but it offers an entertaining continuation of Alan's story with improved combat and one particularly memorable villain. The story follows Alan as he finds himself trapped inside an episode of the fictional television series Night Springs. His enemy is Mr. Scratch, a sinister doppelgänger who looks exactly like Alan but possesses a completely different personality. Alan must pursue him through a strange version of Arizona while attempting to escape another supernatural nightmare. Mr. Scratch is easily one of the highlights. He's charismatic, cruel, and unpredictable, and his recorded messages give the game some of its best moments. Rather than simply presenting another mysterious force from the darkness, American Nightmare gives Alan an antagonist who can directly torment and manipulate him. Combat has been expanded considerably from the original Alan Wake. The familiar flashlight mechanic remains: enemies must first be weakened with light before they can be killed with conventional…

It came in a bundle with the first one, so I unfortunately had a taste of the original Alan Wake. This game is not it. Graphics had a noticeable downgrade, the darkness doesn't feel scary anymore. Storymode is atrocious, forcing you to run through the same moves over and over with barely any variety. No more epic cinematic moments - the best idea they had about replicating the glory of the stage fight from the original was to play epic music over some encounters. Gameplay wise, cmon - enemies pose barely a threat. It's not like the first game, where you need to actually think about encounters even on normal difficulty. Tbh, I wasn't expecting a horror - not with that badass cover of MC with a nailgun, but I'm disappointed to see that this is just a glorified vessel for an arcade mode