Alan Wake's American Nightmare: The First Ride In Night Springs

Time to beat: 4.8 Hours

Earlier this year I began my adventure into the Remedy Connected Universe, with 2010's Alan Wake. The second installment leads into Alan Wake's American Nightmare. Again, I chose Normal instead of Nightmare difficulty.

Alan awakes on the edge of a lake reminiscent of Cauldron Lake, the lake upon which he and his wife, Alice, had their cabin on their ill fated vacation in Bright Springs, Washington.

There even seems to be a dilapidated building, resembling his cabin, collapsed in the water. On a ridge across the lake appears to be a large building, overlooking the area, just as Emil Hartman's psychiatric Cauldron Lake Lodge, overlooked Cauldron Lake. This is later revealed to be the Mount Redtooth National Observatory.

Instead of Bright Falls, Alan is in Night Springs, Arizona. If that rings a bell, it's because it's the name of the TV show from Alan Wake, akin to The Twilight Zone.

It's unclear how Alan transitioned fromAlan Wake to American Nightmare. The best explanation; at the end of Alan Wake, Alan frees Alice, but is trapped by the Dark Presence in the Dark Place. Time passes in the real world, and Alan can occasionally glimpse it, but the real world presumes he is dead. The town of Night Springs is a collaborative creation between Alan and the forces of the Dark Place.

In the deserted desert town, which contains a small motel complex, a diner, a gas station, train tracks, and oil derrick, Alan encounters two people, Mr. Scratch and Emma Sloan. The first is Alan's evil doppelganger, an exact opposite created by the Dark Place. The narrator, and Alan, never say his name. Whenever they would say Scratch, it sounds like a hiss, a record scratch, or radio static.

Mr. Scratch, Alan's antagonist in American Nightmare, surpasses the Dark Presence from the preceding game. He appears in the game to send the Taken against Alan. But he also appears to Alan on TV recordings. This is where actor combination of Ilkka Villi and Matthew Porretta shine. These two portray Alan and Mr. Scratch, the former as the body and the later as the voice. Like a David Prowse/James Earl Jones fusion. Three TVs are scattered across American Nightmare. Each shows three videos, for a total of nine. In each Mr. Scratch engages in barbaric behavior, while justifying himself. He speaks directly into the camera, to Alan. These aren't video game graphics, but real footage of the actor.

Mr. Scratch is a charming ladies man, and a seductive, cruel, vicious, and violent abomination. He displays real character unlike the bland vagueness of the Dark Presence in Alan Wake. He adds threat, sexuality, and serious violence to Alan Wake's American Nightmare. One TV shows him kill a woman he is seducing, by cutting her throat. The violence is obscured, no blood or struggle. But because of the real footage, it is startling and horrifying. Mr. Scratch is truly, the Herald of Darkness.

This earns Alan the moniker, Champion of Light, but he is less defined. Is Alan truly the opposite of Mr. Scratch? He doesn't seem to have any defining characteristics except for a general stubbornness to continue on. It would be better to say Mr. Scratch embodies the worst qualities of Alan, a potential for violence, a penchant for brusqueness, and an ability to charm women when he wants to. These negative qualities of Alan are spelled out in the original game.

American Nightmare looks like a better game. The 2012 visuals can't compare to the best of 2024, but even though it released only two years after Alan Wake, the improvement is obvious. Yet, they are also brighter, marred with a faint cartoon aspect. Nor have the faces improved. They are wooden, and as the characters speak they stretch their necks this way and that, making them look like turtles.

In the motel complex, Alan meets Emma. She has already encountered Mr. Scratch, and knows something is awry. He has to convince her that he isn't Mr. Scratch, and explain their strange reality. It's a dull conversation, rehashing what any player of Alan Wake already understands.

Alan ventures out to explore the area, encountering the Taken. American Nightmare employs a nearly identical combat system to Alan Wake. Alan wields a flashlight, small gun, large gun, flares and flash bangs. Here are the differences. In Alan Wake the flashlight had two modes. If the player doesn't use a battery it still slowly peels away the protective shadows of the Taken. Using a battery ups the power and shreds the shadow swiftly. In American Nightmare the uncharged flashlight is merely cosmetic. It does nothing. Only a flashlight with a battery destroys the shadows.

American Nightmare adds new enemies, and removes old ones. Birds don't charge at the player. Instead they flap around, land, and transform into monstrous humanoids. Some enemies, when hit by the flashlight, split into two. There are spiders which can be shot or killed by the flashlight. The most common enemy from Alan Wake, the thrower of axes has been removed. There are very few ranged enemies. One rare enemy throws a grenade at Alan. There are a few other unique looking enemies, but they don't act differently.

Alan finds a wider variety of weapons to pick from, like a crossbow, sawed-off shotgun, and nail-gun, but they don't dramatically alter combat. Unfortunately there isn't a weapon hub for the player to pick from, so they may be stuck with the same weapon for an extended period of time. New weapons are unlocked by collecting manuscript pages.

Like Alan Wake, manuscript pages are scattered around the world. They offer insight into the story, by describing the past, explaining the present, or predicting the future. They are found in all three locations.

At the motel Alan needs to complete a series of tasks. He has to help Emma and ruin Mr. Scratch's plan. To do that he has to explore. American Nightmare trades out the expansive corridors of Alan Wake, for truly large areas, that are vast empty squares, populated with a few scattered buildings. Alan can walk quite a distance in any direction, but it feels vacant and lifeless. While Alan Wake placed the manuscripts on the main path, the player has to explore to discover them. Fortunately American Nightmare gives the player a mini-map, which displays nearby objectives, manuscripts, overhead lights (which function as checkpoints), and ammo boxes.

Quick side notes. Each of the three areas contains an ammo box, which completely fills up Alan's ammunition. The ammo boxes refill themselves. This mechanic means Alan is never short of ammunition, removing the tension of conserving. Like Alan Wake, American Nightmare autosaves, at overhead lights, cinematics, or at various other points in the game. The player can't make a save file.

During his exploring, Emma is capture by the Taken. Alan criticizes himself for failing to protect her. After completing the objectives of the Motel area, Alan jumps in a car and drives to the observatory by cinematic. After fighting his way through some Taken he meets Dr. Meadows. She is conducting late night observations on strange meteorological phenomenon. Alan knows it relates to him (because of course it does). Like Emma, she asks him to perform tasks, and when he completes them he can move on to the third and final area, the Drive-In Movie Theater.