| Author | Review |
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N0T PENNYS B0AT
115,638
TA Score for this game: 374
Posted on 23 February 12 at 08:22, Edited on 13 May 13 at 20:47 |
This review has 75 positive votes and 4 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Alan has spent two long years in the Dark Place, both literally and figuratively. Remedy hadn't announced anything new for their cult hit until this past December when we finally learned Alan's return would be available exclusively in digital format on XBLA. This decision was both good and bad for different reasons, and ultimately American Nightmare makes for a very fun game that represents the pinnacle of XBLA, but also exposes the restraints the format still has. When the game begins, we're introduced, or reintroduced, to Alan Wake. The Champion of Light. He's still trapped in the Dark Place, now searching for his sinister doppelganger Mr. Scratch, but he is much better equipped this time around. He's been down this road before and like anything else, practice makes perfect. The developers used this game as practice for themselves, too, but it isn't yet perfect.
Gameplay: The two biggest complaints gamers had with the first Alan Wake were a lack of enemy variety and equally sparse weapon variety. It's very clear early on that the developers sought to address those two issues first and foremost. You will now face a lot of new enemies like the oft-advertised Splitter, who splits into two, a few times over, each time you boost your flashlight on him. It makes for a nice challenge to rethink your approach when faced with a group of Taken and your back is up against the wall (sometimes literally). There are other enemies too, like a humanoid Taken that flies off to become a flock of malicious birds that series vets will be familiar with. There's also a new enemy who will lob grenades of darkness at you, which can be especially frustrating when they end your scoring streak in the arcade mode (more on that in a bit). Besides that, the enemies are made up a few other shadowy figures -- both new and old, poltergeist objects, and of course, the charismatic Mr. Scratch.
Weapon selection has been totally revamped as well. There are now a great number of firearms to choose from. In the first level alone, you'll have access to a new pistol not seen in the first game, a sub-machine gun, a nailgun and a carbine rifle. There are others available too, after you unlock some more manuscript pages, which also make a very vital return to the arcade sequel. The gunplay is tight and responsive, and the gameplay overall is fluid as it ever was. The game plays just like the original, even the controller layout is identical, which is sure to please series vets.
Another minor grievance, Alan's lack of cardiovascular endurance, is also addressed. He can now run at least twice as long, it may have been longer. I'd have to pull out my stopwatch. Those, like myself, who felt his sprinting ability didn't need tweaking need not worry. The way levels are set up now, it almost requires you can run for longer periods of time. There are only three (albeit large) locations in the game -- the motel, observatory, and drive-in theater -- and each location acts as a hub of sorts. You are given an entire area to explore to find manuscript pages, TV shows, radio shows, and the new ammo supply boxes which refill your guns and batteries to capacity. You can activate the next part of the mission by following the objective marker, or you can wander around to find more "stuff". In relation to gameplay, everything about American Nightmare is at least as good as, if not better, than its predecessor.
The new survival mode, Fight Til Dawn, is a fun, deep, and addictive game mode that would have been nice as a side dish to the story mode, but it ends up feeling about as vital to the game's value. There are five maps where you can play out the ten minutes of survival gameplay, boosting your high score, dodging enemies, and changing weapons as needed. The first few minutes are rather manageable for anyone who has played the first game, but at about the halfway point of any map, the action really picks up and it becomes a lot of fun. The inclusion of leaderboards is also a great motivator for you and your friends to compete for the top score. The down side to this mode is that, as I said, it sort of feels like the focus of the game.
Story & Presentation: Where the gameplay has noticeably improved, the story somewhat takes a step back. You're still trapped in an imaginative world filled with interesting characters and weird, intriguing moments, and the story is still better than a lot of games out there. The cutscenese are now done in live-action, but that's actually one of the game's strongest suits. It makes the game feel very unique. However, the developers' decision to change up the tone of this game may leave a sour taste in the mouth of Alan Wake devotees, like myself. The atmosphere of the first game was brilliant and engrossing, but this one doesn't feel that way. Maybe it's because they decided to liven up the color palette more than the first game's blue/gray/black aura. Partly, it is also the lack of locations. The three areas are exciting, but when you realize you'll be backtracking to them a few times each, anyone less than a Wake fanboy will have a hard time justifying the gameplay decision.
It isn't that the developers didn't hit their mark -- They absolutely did. They said they were going for a pick-up-and-play, standalone experience with a pulp action feeling to it, and that's exactly what it is. But sometimes it seems like they really wanted it to be a full continuation, as well. The manuscript pages, for instance, teeter between introducing the game's mythos to new players and teasing new information for returning players.
A lot of the "optional story [continuation] content" Remedy always talked about comes in the form of the collectibles, as well as conversations Alan has with the three women he meets in the game (one in each location). We get some more back story about Alan's life pre-Bright Falls, and we get to find out what the other characters are up to while Alan is still battling the Dark Presence.
The three ladies in the story aren't given enough screen time for us to really care about them, but they are still crucial to the story, as you'll see. Mr. Scratch is probably the game's best character. The evil, twisted version of Alan is always interesting when he pops up on the TVs throughout the game. The writers really made an intriguing villain with him.
Overall, I'm glad the developers didn't exclude a story mode entirely, and really the story itself isn't the issue. It's the presentation of the story. The atmosphere is changed, the format is changed. It's no longer episodic, but rather one episode of the fake TV show Night Springs. These decisions, that were all made to allow new fans to jump on board, may end up alienating the hardcore following that should be credited with this getting this game its green light in the first place.
Graphics & Sound: The decision to use a Rod Serling-like narrator instead of Alan himself again is one of the game's best qualities. The narration is so spot-on with the Twilight Zone impression that you'll feel like you're really watching the show sometimes. The graphics are also improved noticeably. Like I mentioned, for better or worse, the color palette is more vast, and the game definitely feels like the departure from Bright Falls that it is.
All of the original voice actors return, though most characters besides Alan aren't in it much anyways. Another piece of the game's intent on making the series accessible is on display when you search for collectibles. From a good distance, the manuscript pages glimmer like a small light, making the search for them very easy. This may appeal to achievement hunters, but it takes away some of the game's fun.
Licensed music returns and the songs are integrated in clever ways. In the first one, most of the music came on the radio or in the end of episode credits. In American Nightmare, the songs are often played over the gameplay, though still in justifiable ways. Early in the game, after you turn on a CD player with a Kasabian album inside, you have to escape a disaster as the song plays. It makes for a heightened sense of action, like the concert level in the original game.
Achievements: With it being an XBLA title, there's just the small dose of 12 for 200G, but it still provides a good challenge. There are a handful of "beat the story and you can't miss it" achievements, as well as a few more for Fight Til Dawn mode. The last few are of the statistical variety -- kill 2,000 Taken and collect all manuscripts. Overall, the game won't take long, as long as you're good at the survival mode and can hit the necessary scoring parameters.
Conclusion: Like Alan himself, American Nightmare is trapped between two worlds. On one hand, the game offers up one of the most robust, beautiful, and devoted games available on XBLA. But fans of the series have an idea of what the game should be, and it doesn't exactly hit that. As I mentioned, it was deliberate of Remedy to have this game feel different, and there may be some who like this game's tone better. But for fans of the first game's shadows and suspense, this may not be the sequel you're hoping for. The game's accessibility will draw in new fans, for sure, and returning fans will still enjoy their time, but it will leave something (atmosphere) to be desired.
Ultimately, this is a must play for fans of the series and it's a tremendous value at 1200 MSP. It's a fun game, and I can't wait to play it some more. Bound by the 2 GB limit XBLA has, American Nightmare's total package is the best the service has to offer. I just hope that Alan's detour in Arizona is exactly that -- a detour. Let's hope the future of the series can return to its psychological thriller roots. As a game, Alan Wake's American Nightmare is terrific. But as an Alan Wake game, it falls just short of its predecessor's excellence.
(Read my review of the original Alan Wake.)
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flosta32
146,347
TA Score for this game: 374
Posted on 27 February 12 at 09:10, Edited on 29 May 12 at 15:51 |
This review has 27 positive votes and 3 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
I have been impatiently waiting for this game ever since it's been announced and checked for the download every other minute on the day it came out. I'm a real Alan Wake nerd, but I'll try to keep this objective.
Story:
The story of this is decent, but it kind of plays a supporting role in this title.
It takes place two years after Wake's trip to Bright Falls and it's set in Arizona. When I heard about this in the trailers and interviews, I thought I was going to miss the beautiful Pacific Northwest landscape that I loved so much in the original, but now, I must say the desert looks really good and it helps convey the Alan Wake atmosphere.
Alan is still trapped in the Dark Place and trying to find a way to his beloved Alice. This time around, his evil alter ego, Mr. Scratch, who was only mentioned explicitly once in the original game and could already be seen in the TV shows, is now shown in a more sinister light and replaces Barbara Jagger as the game's main antagonist. During our hero's quest, he meets three strange women who help him locate his shady twin.
What I missed most compared to the first title were the daylight interludes. They really made you connect to the town and people of Bright Falls.
The biggest downside is the repetitiveness, though. The story is short enough as it is, but it's actually only a third of what it's made out to be. There are only three different locations and you return to each twice. The problem is, you have to do the exact same thing three times over as well.
All in all, if you're a fanboy, you will like it and be eager for anything new, but to be honest, not many of the open questions from the original are answered and there aren't too many new aspects to it either, other than the new gameplay and setting. If you don' t already love Alan Wake, you may feel a little cheated when the credits roll.
Collectibles:
The collectibles are a lot easier to find compared to the original game. The manuscript pages glow brighter than before and they will show as a question mark on your mini-map when you approach them.
Apart from the pages, there's still the TV and radio shows to find. There isn't an achievement for them like before, though. The other collectibles from the previous game (coffe thermoses, sights, can pyramids, supply chests) don't return.
The manuscript pages tell you a lot about the first game and they are very well-written. The radio shows no longer have Pat Maine as their host, but a new guy named Eddie Rodman.
The TV shows are fun to watch and the actor, Ikka Villi, did a really good job on Mr. Scratch's character, just like in the cutscenes.
What I liked the best about the collectibles, is the fact that you need them to unlock advanced weapons, both in the story and Fight till Dawn mode. That way, people who only play the arcade mode will have a huge disadvantage. I never liked how people just play MP right away, like in CoD. I think you have to earn the right to do so, and apparently, Remedy agree with that.
Graphics:
The graphics have improved since the first game, even though this is just an XBLA title. Like the developers said, they have kind of a pulp-style to them and in my opinion, they even contribute to the classic Alan Wake, "run through the dark with a flashlight"-atmosphere.
Gameplay:
The basics are still the same - you run around in the dark with a flashlight and your loadout and fight off the Taken by flashing away the Dark Presence protecting them and then shoot them.
However, there are a couple of tweaks that make it more enjoyable. For instance, Alan doesn't run out of breath as fast as in Bright Falls. You can sprint for about 10 seconds and even then, you'll recover after panting a couple of times.
Another improvement is the battery refill. It refills completely in the blink of an eye after not boosting for a second, which basically makes your 10 backup batteries pointless.
Weapons:
This is one of the game's biggest improvements. Whereas in Bright Falls, you only had access to a revolver, two shotguns, a hunting rifle, the flare gun, hand-held flares and flashbangs, you can now use a 9mm, a nail gun, an SMG, an M16, a Magnum, a sawed-off shotgun, a combat shotgun, a Carbine rifle, a sniper (can't scope, though) and a crossbow (which lets you kill Taken without light). The flares, flare-gun and flashbangs return, although their offensive effectiveness has decreased.
Enemies:
In addition to the usual Taken, there are five new enemies:
The splitter, an enemy that can be killed without light, but splits into two up to three times when shined upon,
the Grenadier, a Taken that actually runs away and lobs grenades at you from a distance,
the Sawyer, a huge tank that is really slow, but both takes and deals a lof of damage,
the Birdman who, similar to the Warper in Bright Falls, will show & go, this time by transforming into ravens and back (the ravens themselves from the first game will not return as such),
and spiders, that will die when you dazzle them with your flashlight for a moment.
and finally the icing on the cake,
Fight till Dawn mode:
This is definitely the game's core and the ace up its sleeve.
It's Remedy's attempt at their very own horde mode and boy, did they pull it off. It's highly addictive and simply a lot of fun.
As the name suggests, you have to fight off the Taken until dawn breaks after 10 minutes of gameplay.
There are 5 different maps - Cemetery, Ghost Town, Oil Field, Caves and Trailer Park. You will be able to get up to 3 stars for each and unlock more maps with those stars. Once you have gotten enough stars on the normal maps, you will unlock each of them in Nightmare mode as well. Similar to the first game, Nightmare increases the Takens' health and light resistence. Additionally, it will also make them spawn constantly. There won't be any waves.
You start off with a pistol and will find more powerful weapons scattered across the map. Just like in the story, you need a certain amount of manuscript pages to get advanced weapons like the Carbine Rifle or the Combat shotgun.
What I liked the most about this mode is pretty much what I like in Alan Wake in general - the spooky atmosphere, the beautiful surroundings and the creep thart it all gives you. This time around, add all of that to one of the best gameplays I have ever seen.
This mode clearly is the game's focus.
Achievements:
The achievements are awarded for completing certain objectives during the story, collecting all manuscript pages, earning stars and highscores in the arcade mode and killing 2,000 Taken.
The story can be completed in about 2 hours or longer, if you go for the pages.
There are two Fight till Dawn achievements that seem tough at first, but once you're familiar with the maps, they're very doable.
I particularly liked that there are two gamer pics and three avatar awards that come with the game. You get a pic of Alan and Mr. Scratch (the one I'm using atm). The avatar items are a black hoodie with the AW's AM logo for meeting Emma, a Old Gods of Asgard shirt for completing the story and a Night Springs shirt for unlocking one nightmare map.
Conclusion:
While the story might disappoint you a little, the new arcade mode more than makes up for it and sets a milestone for XBLA titles.
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katana409
58,361
TA Score for this game: 374
Posted on 23 February 12 at 13:38, Edited on 25 February 12 at 00:08 |
This review has 17 positive votes and 1 negative vote. Please log in to vote. |
Alan Wake's American Nightmare isn't really a sequel; it's a standalone DLC that works (at least that's the impression that I get) as a midquel between Alan Wake, and Alan Wake 2 (which is supposedly in the works). Surprisingly though, it's an impressively good game that seems to improve on (I'm tempted to say predecessor, but I consider it an expansion pack, therefore nullifying that word) the series' previous installment, yet also falls short on its same flaws.
The Setting:
Alan Wake is a writer, trapped in the (beware, nyctophobes) Dark Place. The thing is, the Dark Place has taken him to Night Springs, in Arizona. Think of it as a Twilight Zone (even the theme song is reminiscent of it). In game though, there's not really a city, town, or even a village; it's basically three small hubs from which you are assigned 'missions' (which are really like fetch quests from WoW), etc etc. Though I personally want to lambast the game for being set on such a small world, my consciousness reminds me (at gunpoint, of course) that this is an *Arcade* game. So, I'm not sure if it's pretty big for an Arcade game, or too small for, well any game. Still, the environment makes sense within the game, and so I will give it 3.8/5 stars.
The Story:
Two years have passed since Alan Wake freed Alice from the (careful nyctophobes) Dark Presence in the Dark Place. But though Alice is free, Alan isn't; he's still working on that. There's a bit less emphasis on story and more on combat than the original, but the developers made that pretty clear when they came up with it. But that doesn't really excuse it; it's not that it was bad, I found it to be a bit lazy, like they could've thrown a bit more effort into it. This isn't to say the story is bad; it's pretty entertaining. It's just that when compared to the original Alan Wake, it's a tad weak. Another flaw I found was that there were supposed to be some Tarantino influences. It might be because I've not seen much of his work, but I didn't really see them, assuming they were there. But it did almost seem like a Twilight Zone episode, from the opening monologue, to the narration, to the creepy music. All in all, it's fun, if a tad disappointing. 3.75/5
Combat/Gameplay:
I was discussing this with a friend of mine after we were done. His words were, "not much has chang—" before I punched him via telephone. Don't ask. Okay, it's still the same process. Focus the flashlight on them, the Darkness leaves, you kill them. But the weapons have been tweaked, and the combat feels a bit more streamlined now. There's weapons like the 9mm pistol, the revolver, pump shotgun, assault rifle, hunting rifle, among others; though they seem repetitious, they aren't. The hunting rifle is powerful, but it's a single shot rifle; you have to wait a ridiculous amount of time to fire again. The pump action shotgun had a power decrease, and the other weapons seemed to absorb the leftover power. One thing I can tell you for sure though, is that the vast majority of the weapons (Assault Rifle needs to go) are well-balanced, moreso than they used to be. The flare gun and the flash bang, for example, don't function like mini-nukes like in the first game; the former works as a simple flare fired from a distance, while the latter will only kill enemies if they're within an AoE, as opposed to the on-screen massacre-verging-on-genocide it originally did. This is a pretty big plus; it balances the game and makes it much more fun (avoid the Assault Rifle).
As for the enemies though, I feel like they should've added at least two or three more bad guys. There's one dude that turns into ravens and back; there's another guy that splits into two when you shine light on him, and there's another one that's just big. That's it. The rest are reskins from the first game. Oh, and there's spiders. Nothing to see there.
Finally, there’s the issue of repetition. You’ll do all three ‘quests’ at least three times, except in a different way. If you want mission variety, it’s not exactly for you. 4.2/5
Characters:
Though there's four characters, only two of them really get fleshed out (by that, I mean they have more than just two repeated lines). That's Alan Wake and Mr. Scratch. Now, I'm just going to focus on Scratch for this one. He's an evil doppelganger of Wake, that’s leaving dead bodies and TV recordings of how he killed them.
Now, I’m going to be honest with you. Ikka Villi’s performance as Mr. Scratch alone makes the game worthwhile. It’s amazing how he can switch between a calm man and a complete psychopath with incredible fluidity. Hell, he’s even cooler as Mr. Scratch than as Alan Wake. Honestly, he deserves an Oscar for it. The rest of the cast however, is lackluster and unmemorable. Perhaps it’s because they only serve as designated quest-givers though, but that’s just me. 6/5 because of Mr. Scratch.
Music/sound:
The original music by Poets of the Fall is pretty awesome, and the inclusion of Kasabian was a nice detail. The battle music was also a lot creepier than the original’s, making the game feel a lot scarier than its predecessor.
As for the guns and bad guys, there’s no real improvement there; maybe it’s because I didn’t pay attention to them, but they didn’t stand out. If you want awesome sound effects, I don’t think this is the game you’re looking for. 4/5
Finally, there’s Fight ‘till Dawn. It’s a single player horde/firefight/space invaders/whatever set within Alan Wake’s universe. You have to survive a full night against taken that are throwing themselves at you like chiggers on roadkill. If you’re into that sort of thing, you will enjoy it. I personally found it to be no big deal though; it was pretty refined, if anything, but it breaks no new ground. I’m glad Alan Wake got one though; I feel it deserved it.
Overall, the game is far from perfect, but far from disappointing. As a writer (yes, I have a book; Divine Avenger, amazon.com; buy now beat the rush), I can’t wonder if some of these criticisms are nitpicks rather than actual criticisms, but really, I think the game improved on most of its old flaws. I still enjoyed the game; I finished it on (or is it ‘in?’) one run. It’s not groundbreaking, but for those of us who enjoyed the first one, I strongly recommend it. 4.25/5
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Mr J Muffin
67,494
TA Score for this game: 149
Posted on 23 February 12 at 07:54 |
This review has 18 positive votes and 4 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
All right, we all knew this game was coming the second Alan Wake ended. Sure, we might not have expected it to be sort of an interquel, but we knew there would be another game. The ending to the final DLC proved so even more. Now I'm going to try and be as unbiased as I possibly can here. But this is a great game.
Alan Wake's American Nightmare placed our favorite moody author, Alan Wake, in the fictional town of Night Springs, which can be anywhere in the country. In this case, the state of Arizona. He's facing hoards of Taken headed by the evil Mr. Scratch (for those of you who have played the first game) who has become a bit more evil than he first appeared. And you've got to stop him.
So, better to get the bad things out of the way first, right? So after thinking long and hard about this, I've only been able to come up with a few. The main one has to be the lack of the horror feel. Now, don't get me wrong. All those other professional reviews that say this is purely an action packed shooter, they aren't fully right. There are actually less fights in this game that you'd expect. But there aren't as many anxiety inducing moments. It's just kind of a kill the enemies and move on, with only a fraction of the scariness. The only other con would have to be the achievements. A lot of them depend on the new Fight Till Dawn mode (I'll get to it later) but two achievements stand out. Survivor and Pile 'Em High. Survivor might be easier to get for the veteran Alan Wake player, but kill 2,000 Taken? Even combining all the Arcade levels plus their Nightmare counterparts as well as the entire Story Mode, and you won't even get close to it. I think Remedy was really counting on people just going to town on Fight Till Dawn for a long period of time. Some of you may, don't get me wrong, but I just think the number is a bit too high.
Onto the good stuff. Many improvements have been made since the previous installment. Now, I think I'm not the only one who's happy about this. But the lip syncing. My lordy, the lip syncing is actually decent! Sorry, just had to get that out there. Now, onto others. This one might be a pro to some, and a con to others. But you now HAVE to boost your flashlight to burn darkness away. But to make up for it, your flashlight is fully recharged in two seconds. I liked that much better. Another pro is more weapon variety. Personally, I think they went overboard with how many automatic weapons you can use, as they bleed ammo super fast and you wind up using your pistol the majority of the time again, but it's still a very nice break from the Revolver-Shotgun/Hunting Rifle combination. You've of course got your Flare Gun, Flares and Flashbangs. Another pro is the ammo boxes. Now, instead of stumbling upon an ammo box down to your last mag just to find that it's for another gun, all ammo boxes go for whatever gun(s) you currently have. There are also full refill centers that will refill themselves a few minutes after use. Another pro would have to be the graphics. They haven't improved anything significant, but they're still somewhat of a step up.
Now, let's look at the new feature, Fight Till Dawn. Now I know what you're thinking "Oh boy, another horde mode" well not quite. Instead of completing 50 or so waves of boring repetitive enemies, Fight Till Dawn has you hold out for ten minutes against waves of enemies that get increasingly stronger. The only difference between this and other horde modes are that you aren't an invincible super soldier. You're an author in grunge clothes with a flashlight. If you're going for a high score, it's a lot tougher than it sounds. That, and you're alone. No buddy to back you up if things get hairy. You've got your flares if things get hairy. That's it.
Now to save the best for last, Story Mode. I was very pleasantly surprised when I finished the story and realized that the supposed 4 or 5 hours of gameplay took me like 9 hours to beat. Sure, it's not as long as the original Alan Wake, but this story really is only a fraction shorter. It doesn't have the suspense of the first game, but Mr. Scratch is definitely a good antagonist compared to the Dark Presence and the evil old woman. He is one messed up dude.
All things considered, they could have sold this game as a 60 dollar retail WITHOUT Fight Till Dawn, and for you Arcade skeptics who don't want to pay 15 bucks for an Arcade game, let me tell you, this is beyond a steal. 15 bucks for something that could have more than easily been put on the market for sixty dollars. If you enjoyed the first game, put aside your doubts and buy this game. You will not regret it. I'm rating this a 4 of 5. It's not perfect, and it's not a full on sequel, but a good length Story Mode with Fight Till Dawn make it a more than acceptable game to keep us occupied until the inevitable Alan Wake 2.
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Tenlo
222,105
TA Score for this game: 149
Posted on 28 February 12 at 10:29, Edited on 28 February 12 at 10:34 |
This review has 14 positive votes and 2 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Originally posted at GamerScoreAddicts.net
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Price: 1200MSP
Alan Wake has been away from consoles for over a year now, since the release of the last DLC episode of the 'first season' of its story. Well now he's finally back and its a version of Alan which is both familiar and enjoyably different.
To avoid any spoilers for the first game (though you all should really go play it as it is one of the best games on Xbox certainly in terms of story), I'll keep the plot simple. Alan arrives in a town called Night Springs in the aim of trying to defeat a new main bad guy called Mr Scratch. It's a nice follow on from the first game and fits well into the canon of the story and hopefully is a good setup to Alan Wake 2.
The game play this time has shifted from the more linear paths of the original to decent sized open areas to explore. You still have to complete various tasks for the inhabitants as well as find clues to the whereabouts of Mr Scratch and if you stick to these you'll get through the different areas quite rapidly. However the game actively encourages you to explore through its manuscript pages, though you'll be glad to know these are the only collectibles in the game. You'll need as many manuscript pages as you can find scattered around these new areas as collecting a certain number opens up weapon cases which give you greater powered weapons to defeat the Taken (the enemies of the series) with. You'll need these too as the Taken are a much bigger threat this time around.
In the first game, the suspense was created from the limited ammo in the game and in a Resident Evil style, you often had to choose between shooting your way through or running. This time around shooting is definitely the preferred option. The actual combat is still the same style as the original with Alan needing to destroy the protective dark barrier on the enemies with light before killing them with shots from his weapons. I found it very difficult to run out of ammo as there was always plentiful supplies as well as respawning refill points. To reflect this the number of different types of weapons have increased too. Flare guns, flares and flashbangs make a return, but you'll find yourself armed with 9mm pistols, nailguns, revolvers, shotguns, assault rifles, crossbows and more as Alan becomes an action star for American Nightmare.
You'll need these too as there are different types of Taken to combat each with unique attacks compared to the generic types of the first games. These range from grenade throwers forcing you to keep moving to guys who split into two when struck by the light from your torch. The downside to this is the suspense has gone from the title somewhat but instead you get to go on killing sprees and have a number of set-pieces to fight through. There may be some who complain it has shifted the tone of the games, but I was a big fan of the original games and in my eyes this is just an evolution of the series, possibly a necessary one due to its Arcade title status.
However this is just the single-player story mode covered. On top of this you also get a arcade survival mode to beat. In this you are tasked with surviving 10 minutes against waves of Taken until the sunrises and you are safe. I'd highly recommend playing this after the main story as the manuscripts collected in the story mode allow access to the power weapons in this mode as well as in the story mode. This certainly adds length to the game as you have to complete each round with the highest score to unlock the next stage and once the five stages are unlocked there are Nightmare versions to complete too. As usual there are friend leaderboards up to compare your friends scores to see who is the best Alan out of you!
Musically the game shines again, with its use of music from Poets of the Fall as well as its continued use of licensed tracks as well (though this time its just one track 'Club Foot' by Kasabian which is put to superb use!). The voice acting is top notch and the combination of FMV within the cutscenes (something which I realised has been sadly underused in recent games) as well as the videos of Mr Scratch and the radio shows which can be found really add to the game and flesh out the story nicely filling in gaps as to what has happened since the last game.
The game itself looks just as good as the retail version if not better which considering this is an XBLA title is impressive and also shows that there is a lot of life in the Arcade market still. As I mentioned earlier the FMV is superb and ties in nicely with the games story, this is certainly one of the most visually strong titles on the XBLA marketplace.
Achievement wise, you'll get about 50% of the achievements just through story mode. There is the inevitable collectibles achievement but with the addition of a minimap which flags up when a manuscript is about this is not really that difficult to get and you'll want to get them all to unlock the powerful weapons. The rest are tied into the survival mode and will probably take a little time and effort to unlock, but will prolong your gaming experience as bit of skill will be needed to net them.
Overall this is certainly one of the best XBLA titles on offer for quite awhile. With a fair sized story mode as well as long arcade survival mode your getting your full points worth. If your a fan of the original game this is a must buy. If you were put off by the slow suspense feel of the original I also recommend you at least give the trial a shot as the change in pace of the game may well win you over. In fact I recommend everyone tries this out as at the moment it has my XBLA Game of the Year already!!
Score - 10/10
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THMSTRCHF
85,721
TA Score for this game: 288
Posted on 04 March 12 at 16:36 |
This review has 8 positive votes and 1 negative vote. Please log in to vote. |
Remedy Entertainment’s critically acclaimed Alan Wake was intended to be the first installment of a planned franchise—the developers referred to it as the “first season” due to the game’s episodic presentation. Initial game sales, however, were less than stellar and there was a great deal of doubt that the franchise would be able to continue. Thankfully for fans of the troubled writer, Remedy was able to bring Alan back for a second outing in a standalone adventure set in the fictional Night Springs.
It’s been two years since the first installment and that time is reflected in-game as Alan finds himself still trapped in the dark place after the events of Alan Wake. Over the years, the writer has seemingly grown more comfortable with his situation and is making another attempt to break out—a seemingly impossible feat.
While it certainly helps to have prior knowledge of the writer and his plight, Remedy made sure that American Nightmare would be easily accessible to potential new players. As in the first game, manuscript pages are hidden throughout the environments and provide insight on the events that surround Alan’s new adventure; this is useful for easing in new players to the lore as well as offering a refresher course to fans who haven’t made their way through Alan’s Bright Falls adventure in some time.
The tale weaved in American Nightmare pits Alan Wake against his evil doppelganger, Mr. Scratch, in a small town in Arizona known as Night Springs. The town gets its name from the Twilight Zone-inspired, fictional television series from the Alan Wake canon—the same television series where Alan got his start as a professional writer. Using his ties to the show as an anchor to reality, Alan hopes to finally find his way out of the dark place. It’s an interesting tale that takes more cues from “grindhouse” features and Quentin Tarantino films than Twin Peaks or the works of Stephen King which served as inspirations for the first game.
This shift in inspiration in story leads to a greater focus on combat than was present in the first game. The two-tiered combat from the first (with a light source being necessary to remove the darkness surrounding the taken and a gun to ultimately dispatch them) is still as satisfying and intense as ever, but ammo and flashlight batteries are much easier to procure as there’s an abundance of infinitely replenishing supply caches in each level. Flashlight batteries also recharge noticeably faster in American Nightmare than they did in Wake’s first outing, but this is balanced requiring that the light be focused in order to damage the darkness. The abundance of ammunition and batteries don’t detract from the intensity, however, as new enemies abound and come in furious waves to hinder Mr. Wake’s progression.
Complimenting the story is a new arcade mode dubbed “Fight Till Dawn.” In this mode, players face off against waves of enemies in various environments in attempts to survive until dawn. This arcade mode is entirely focused on the combat and definitely adds an addictive boost to the game’s replayability.
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is, primarily, a game for the fans; it not only gives hope that the franchise still has life in it, but also answers several questions while asking a thousand more. It takes the existing fiction and builds upon it by expanding the universe in a wonderfully self-aware, pulp fiction romp through an Arizona desert. Sam Lake, the creator of Alan Wake, and the team at Remedy have crafted a worthwhile experience for fans and new players alike. Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is an exhilarating experience with plenty of content to keep players invested for several hours, and one that is surely worth a try.
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare was developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Studios; it is currently available exclusively on Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15).
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ryanlegend95
136,299
TA Score for this game: 149
Posted on 07 October 12 at 16:37, Edited on 07 October 12 at 16:42 |
This review has 9 positive votes and 2 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
The original Alan Wake is one of my favourite games. The only thing that I didn't like about it. Is that it lacked replay value. Will this spin-off beat the original? Well lets find out.
Alan Wake American Nightmare is an Xbox arcade game and is considered to be a spin-off and not a sequel. Does this matter? no. The game plays pretty much the same as the original but this is more action packed than horror based which is disappointing in my view cause I just love horrors. There is also new weapons that you can unlock by collecting manuscripts. And the weapons are great. You can feel the power of the gun and it feels good to shoot your boom stick (shotgun) in the Taken's face. If you haven't played the original the Taken are shadow like zombies. In order to kill them you will have to expose them with light by using your flash light and then gun them down with your weapon.
The game is open world but it's in stages and you will be surprised on how much freedom you have. The stages are small and pretty empty most of the time and can get boring by just walking to your objective when there are no enemies around and looking for manuscripts is pretty easy cause they glow in a distance and since that the world is empty you can easily spot them.
Time for a glowing review.
Graphics:
The graphics is pretty identical to the original. But since that the game is an arcade game the graphics are impressive from such a download. The game runs smoothly and the animations are great. The lighting is also impressive and you can change the brightness of the light which is quite a nice addition. Graphically anyway.
I give the graphics an 8.5/10
Sound:
Even though the voice acting is well done the dialogue is pretty lousy. The characters will say cheesy stuff and some other things that don't make sense. The sound effects are pretty good and quite convincing. Using the Kasabian song for the first level is some how fitting.
I give the sound an 8/10
Gameplay:
Gameplay is pretty much the same as the original. The only difference is, is that the developers have taken away the scares and decided to add more guns which is fine but will disappoint some Alan Wake fans. The action is pretty good because of the cleverly thought out enemy types. There is this one enemy that will duplicate whenever you shine light on it and I think that is pretty cool. The controls are cluncky. The mapping isn't great and movements is wonky. Also it's quite annoying if you want to aim without using your flash light? You will have to press down the left trigger half way instead of pressing it down fully.
The campaign isn't all that good. It's repetitive and quite boring because you will revisit each level 3 times and without change. This will mean the enemies will respawn at the same places and you have to revisit the bosses as well which is kind off annoying and tedious.
The arcade mode is the game's strongest mode. It plays like mercenary's mode in Resident Evil. You will have to kill enemies until you run out of time. Simple. It's pretty thrilling as well cause you are battling hundreds of enemies all by yourself. Unfortunately you can't play with a friend so it does decrease the replay value.
I give the gameplay score a 7.5/10
Storyline:
The story isn't the best. It has a tone of plot holes and sometimes hard to follow but the rivalry between Alan and Mr. (static) Scratch is quite entertaining. Mr. (static) Scratch is Alan's evil doppleganger for those who don't know.
I give the storyline score a 7/10
Is it your cup of tea?
If you liked the first game then this is worth a try. OK it's not the best of spin-offs but it will do. For newcomers however I would pick up the first title before you buy it on the marketplace.
Summary:
Good:
-Great graphics for an arcade game.
-The Arcade mode.
-Great weapons and enemies.
Bad:
-Confusing story.
-Boring campaign.
-Lacks replay value.
Overall I think it's a decent game. Could've done better with the campaign and story but what you get is what you get.
I give it an overall score of 7.5/10
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inspectorpj
57,360
TA Score for this game: 104
Posted on 24 May 13 at 14:29, Edited on 31 May 13 at 21:28 |
This review has 2 positive votes and 1 negative vote. Please log in to vote. |
Playing Max Payne in the dark, aka Alan Wake, made me feel tense, uneasy, because the game was suspenseful, ammo was somewhat scarce (on the higher difficulties), enemies were actually able to kill me and also because I didn't know exactly what was going to happen next because the game DIDN'T REPEAT ITSELF!
So Remedy Entertainment said to themselves, "Hey, Alan Payne...sorry, Alan Wake still doesn't feel quite like a Max Payne game! Let's fix that! Oh, but we don't have another five years to create it... no problem, blame Alan Wake's writing and create three scenarios and repeat them a few times, yup, that will do the job!", and hence, Alan Wake's American Nightmare was born.
Now that I got that out of my system, Alan Wake's American Nightmare is not a bad game, it's just too easy. The dark and suspenseful theme is gone, replaced with a more lot more action sequences, which can be a good thing if you're looking for something different from the original game.
Story
This latest entry in the series is staged in a different universe, even though it has a lot of references to the original game, American Nightmare takes place in Arizona USA, or maybe it happens inside Night Springs (fictional tv show), the actual game leaves that in the open, kinda like it was done in the "Twilight Zone".
Anyway, this latest entry in the series depicts a somewhat comical and over the top battle between Alan Wake and his (awesome) evil twin Mr. Scratch, or a battle between the champion of light and the herald of darkness as the narrator of the game puts it.
Alan Wake was able to escape Cauldron Lake, but it's now stuck in a time loop somehow controlled by Mr. Scratch even though the loop was written by Alan. Yeah, it's kinda confusing. Also, the so called herald of darkness aka awesome evil twin can move freely between the dark place and the real world for some reason.
To get out of the loop, Alan Wake aka party pooper must keep going through the loop, each time getting closer to the true reality.
In the game's many interactions between the two protagonists - through live action short tv snuff videos - Mr. Scratch keeps teasing Alan, giving him news about "their" wife, explaining what he is going to do to Barry, etc. These are definitely some of the game's best moments!
Gameplay
This is the area where the greatest improvements over the original game were done, Remedy was able to introduce in a much shorter game - I finished it in one sitting - a lot more enemy types and a lot more guns to shoot.
The new enemy types mean that you have to change your usual "flashlight until no shield then shoot" killing tactic on some of them, they are not that hard to kill, but the change of pace is always nice and keeps the game combat from feeling as repetitive.
Even though the combat got improved, the easy nature of the game might be a buzz killer for some, ammo seems to be the new thing in Arizona, since it's basically everywhere! The same thing goes for batteries!
This makes you feel almost like...well...Max Payne, since you don't have to run, conserve ammo or batteries at any point during the game and you also have a slow time thingy when you dodge like a pro...yeah, pretty much like Max Payne.
I only died one time during the whole five hours or so that it took me to complete the game, this is a shame since there were some action sequences towards the end of the game that were really well done, they were somewhat harder and death was a possibility, but since I had more ammo than Russia and the US combined nothing actually posed much of a threat. Even the biggest enemies that the game threw at me were nothing compared to the 10 flare gun rounds I seemed to be carrying at all times.
Maybe in the Arcade mode (yes, it has one) of the game I can get a better challenge, but I wanted that challenge in the main game, not some tacked on mode.
Graphics
At the time of its release, February 2012 if I'm not mistaken, American Nightmare was probably the best 3d looking game on the xbla market, but since then Far Cry: Blood Dragon took the crown. Still, Alan Wake is a very good looking game, well above the average when it comes to xbla games.
The lighting is still superb, the game left the gritty, almost black and white look of the original and replaced it with more colorful tones, ranging in-between oranges, yellows and reds. Nice decision on Remedy's part, it simply fits the mood of the story a whole lot better.
The new enemy models look cool, even if they are still always dressed the same, the character animations are well done and the transition between the live action scenes and the actual game are pretty smooth.
You also encounter other humans during the game and almost all of them look good, except for Mr.Scratch, why does he look so bad in-game?! I know that we only see him in-game a few times but it's no excuse, maybe in the PC version he looks a little better, but still, why? You can't blame Wake's writing for that one Remedy...or maybe they can, who knows.
Sound
Wow...what a disappointment. The game starts up and almost instantly you are presented to one of Kasabian's best tracks, and then it is used another three times during the game for like ten seconds and that's it, also I was introduced to another awesome track from Poets of the Fall near the end of the game that played only once for about fifteen seconds and that's it. What a waste....that's all I have to say.
Oh, the voice actors did a decent job, congratulations to Matthew Porreta for standing out among the crowd as both Alan Wake and Mr.Scratch.
Even in the live action scenes he was perfect, except in the last one as Alan Wake, oh boy, was that forced.
Conclusion
At the end of the game I felt I had played a completely different game than I was expecting, the action sequences were presented in much more generous doses, the colors and mood of the story were completely different and the extra action sequences were a really nice addition. Is it a scary game? No. Does it kinda drag toward the end because of the repetitive nature of the story? Yes. Was it fun? Hell yeah!
Even if Alan Wake as a character feels a lot less inspired in this one, there is Mr.Scratch that quickly made it to my top ten list of villains, hopefully in the future we will see him again.
7 out of 10
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