Alan Wake's American Nightmare

Working as a Stand Alone DLC of the game, even Sam Lake calls it that way, this is a huge narrative downgrade compared to the first game. You can see it how the game was made in much less time and money, the first game was a Stephen King thriller game while this is a sexualized small narrative after the first game.
The reason I am recommending? Simply because the villain development is great and it seems to setting a good psycological ground for the rest of the games.

I like Alan Wake but I really can't recommend this, unless it's like $5 or something cheap.
Basically 3 areas that you play through 3 / 4 times. I get it, it's a time loop story but it also feels incredibly cheap and lazy - this should absolutely have been a DLC as it's certainly not enough to warrant calling a full game.

If you are a fan of Alan Wake, it is worth playing, just to enhance the story of the other games. By itself though, it is not a very good game.

Mr.Scratch and Wake's fight in the NIGHT SPRING was Awesome. Mr.Scratch's insanity is beyond anything i have ever seen. Ilkka Villi's performance as Mr.Scratch was mind blowing and felt very real.

The writing in these games is great and even though I generally avoid this genre, I could not put these down. Bummer that Remedy decided to move to Epic and then play dumb about why their game flopped. I would've hopped on board if it were on the platform I bought all the other games in the series on.... *shrug*

After many years, I finally finished it. Remedy Entertainment is one of my favorite developers, and yet I couldn't finish this game when it came out. It felt off, but now, after finishing Alan Wake 2, Control and other of their games, I came back to finally finish this one, and what can I say, it was pretty fun. I can't recommend this game as a stand-alone experience, but for someone who enjoyed other games from this developer - I sure do recommend it. In my opinion, it aged pretty well, even the silly mechanics, like "collect X amount of pages to open a new weapon." I enjoyed the story, the music and the gameplay over all.

dawg what a fun game

If you liked Alan Wake, you will probably like this one.

This was great, I felt alan wake 1 was pretty good but extremely lacking with the antagonist, message it was trying to deliver and the gameplay just got way to repetitive way too quickly and just entirely left me feeling disappointed for more even if a few aspects held it high enough that I wouldn't say it's a terrible game, but only something worth a bit of a poke before moving on.

American Nightmare is amazing in comparison, they hard lean into characterizing the darkness, playing with concepts that weren't really touched on in the first game to some real fun results as well as introducing a variety of new enemies and weapons that were sorely missing from the first game. Having the assault rifle especially felt amazing after playing the slow and steady first game.

Mr. Scratch was just a really fun addition to the game offering a really fun campy element to the intended spookiness which I appreciate, but may detract from someone wanting a little more horror to their game, but honestly alan wake 1 still felt a bit like a schlocky horror regardless so it still feels like a net bonus.

What's even more fantastic is how they utilize a time loop for this game in order to make the most of the limited map. Even though it's not really open and you're retreading the same linear path 3 times total, it doesn't feel boring since they change up your interactions with character, the types of enemies and streamline the path until it feels like a speedrun in the third loop. I do wish they played more with maybe having a greater variety of puzzles that would also change each loop instead of doing a bit of a bare minimum job with turning on the power and matching the script.

Overall I'd say the only thing that was a real problem was npc interaction since I'd rather they just dedicate dialogue to cutscenes or intentional scenes instead of having you repeatedly press a button while you stand there waiting for them to go through all their lines which also don't really add much.

However if all the aspects I enjoyed and want improved upon are the things that are used for alan wake 2 I can't wait to play it! After I go through control and quantum break though.

This is more of a DLC than it is a game in and of itself. It's okay, but it isn't particularly special. If you want something special, go ahead and play the actual Alan Wake 2.

Surprisingly this game is super short and seems to just cash in on the first game. Better off skipping this one, sale game only if its cheap.

This was a fun little one shot campaign of Alan Wake. Never finished, but they did some cool shit with this one.

if its cheap enough and ya really just want more alan wake... sure get it. but it really does nothing for the over all story, very short, repetitive and not nearly as engaging as the others. an the story is ok. its not terrible but not good either.

my biggest flaw with the original Alan wake was the game play being not nearly as interesting as the story and here they seem to have made the game play more fluid in exchange for gutting any semblance of a story and having extremely repetitive objectives to complete. If you loved the first game this one is tolerable, if you are playing these games just to get to Alan wake 2 just grit your teeth and rush through this one, and if you haven't played any other games in the series do yourself a favor and not start with this one.

The game is super short, but in my opinion some of the most significant character development for Wake happens in this little story. It's like an epilogue to AW1 and I do feel it overall enhances the lore and stories of subsequent games, but then I might just be a dork who is into this game world.

great episode of Twilight Zone..i mean Night Springs

IF YOU'RE READING THIS PLAY ALAN WAKE 2 RIGHT NOW!

The main reason I would recommend: it is CANON to the Alan Wake franchise, it is not a spin-off.
Unfortunately, the game isn't anywhere near Remedy's usual level.
In terms of atmosphere, gameplay, dialogues, and attention to details overall, it's rather disappointing.
I'd give it 5/10.

This is a very short game that should not be played unless you've finished Alan Wake and its DLC.
There are a number of combat improvements, from more weapon variety to increased stamina, so the game feels significantly better than Alan Wake. I've been replaying Alan Wake recently and if took a while to get used to how sluggish the original game feels after playing this.
The story is not nearly as good as the main stories in Alan Wake and Alan Wake 2, but if you enjoyed your time with Alan Wake and can get this really cheap it's a pretty good time. Mr Scratch is a very fun villain, and is probably the best part of the game.

Best Alan Wake Game

cant imagine it not being a dlc. anyway is still fun if you are a fan of alan wakes story, but lacks remedy's original vision to it.

best horror many dark+ ghost

The game keeps crashing. I've tried changing my setting but no luck with that.

It's no sequel, but it's a fun addition to the little world that Remedy's created for Alan Wake.

Some may call it repetitive but for me it was short enough to not be that just yet.

The only purpose of this game is to explain the ending of Alan Wake. The combat is improved, but it's very noticeable how tiny Remedy is, since they just use 3 maps for a DLC.

I got this game for two dollars and I feel ripped off

Amazing Alan Wake Experience

Interesting take on the "Stuck in a time loop" trope.

Also contains more action.

Also also love Mr. Scratch.

Exactly what it needed to be - Good fun, an okay story and gameplay which has aged better than its predecessor

I had a fun time playing this. Plenty of ammo, kinda fastpaced, just overall enjoyable.

Mr. Scratch best waifu

Continuation to Alan Wake 1 story wise. Short campagin but gives a little bit of insight to the main storyline after the end of the original game. Game mechanics are similar to the original game. No great sound tracks like the original one. The manuscripts weren't that interesting either. Not a bad game but not that great either.

I absolutely adore remedy entertainment!!! Although this game has its downsides with repetitive gameplay and such it’s still fun! To me at least. I love the Alan wake franchise and I love the remedy connected universe all together.

Short Version
+ Interesting idea
- Not a very good execution

This is pretty much "CoD Zombies" for Alan Wake

Long Version
Apparently this is what was supposed to be Alan Wake 2, but they scrapped the idea and released this. The idea is interesting, but the gameplay itself is meh at best and laughable at worst. Going through the story in a Groundhog day style loop is interesting. I even thought there was going to be some sort of "if you don't figure this out you will keep looping" sort of situation going on (there was not). The way the loop is solved is actually very clever and commendable. Characters remember issues faced during the previous loops and already act to solve them in advance to help you along.
Where it falls apart for me is the actual gameplay. Which means shooting. A lot of shooting. And that's literally it. It's a shooter. And with none of the dramatic flair or intensity of the original where you often really struggled and needed to pull out all the tricks. In this one you take the crossbow and literally one shot everything in the game. Even CoD Zombies has more tension.

It's worth checking out for the novelty and for the Alan Wake story, but if you're looking for a game, skip this.

I guess it's fine if you are really into Alan Wake lore. Besides of that the game is ok..

A nice epilogue to the first Alan Wake game. 8.0-10

Wel. . . it's something alright, it's not gret but not terrible
it's just. . . ok i guess

just feels off with how the narrator sounds so intence but the game is not even close to that.

Another peak Alan Wake game from the top 3 best developers Remedy

Standalone dlc to Alan Wake
More action than base Alan wake
I only really just fucked around with weapons
Still good but not as good as main game

Recommended for: If you enjoyed the first Alan Wake, then this is definitely a fun game to play. The focus is now more on combat, although the story remains the most important aspect. This is accompanied by excellent voice acting and dialogues. However, the game is relatively short and can probably be completed within a few hours.

If you haven’t played the first Alan Wake but find American Nightmare interesting, I would strongly recommend playing Alan Wake first. Technically, it is possible to play this game as a standalone experience, but since the story plays such a crucial role in the Alan Wake games, that doesn’t seem very logical to me. You would simply miss a lot of references to the previous game.

Although the combat has improved compared to the first Alan Wake, I wouldn’t recommend this game to players looking solely for action. In my opinion, you play Alan Wake primarily for the story, and the same applies to American Nightmare. If you're looking for pure third-person action, there are better titles out there.

My experience: I found American Nightmare to be a fun addition to the first Alan Wake. If I were to compare the first Alan Wake to a great Stephen King movie, American Nightmare feels more like a good episode of The Twilight Zone. I just don’t quite understand why this wasn’t released as DLC. Maybe for technical reasons due to all the combat adjustments? I couldn’t find a clear answer to that online.

Technical: The game crashed once while loading a level. Other than that, I had no issues.

Personal rating: 3/5

classic

This is not a sequel or even really a side game, it's more like a fun little arcade game with some lore tidbits and it's great for anyone who loved Alan Wake and wanted more of it. Don't go into it expecting to be blown away, it's just meant to be a fun time

This was panned when it came out but XBOX arcade games are now cool again. had a lot of fun with this one

Highly recommended!

The game still holds up well in 2025. I'm playing it as it is not included in the remastered Alan Wake version.

Worth playing it if you liked the other games

A Great spin-off for the original Alan wake.

While quite short, it's still a sweet little adventure from the minds of Sam Lake and company. However, the arcade mode addition is completely redundant for me. As such, I don't think it's worth 9$ but at around 5$ or 3$? Sure.

Mr. Scratch is a lot of fun, gameplay loop feels weaker than in regular Alan Wake, worth giving a shot since it's so short.

a decent side adventure