Alan Wake's American Nightmare

Screenshots

Summary

Alan Wake's American Nightmare serves as a standalone expansion to the psychological horror action-adventure title Alan Wake, created by Remedy Entertainment. The plot takes place in an alternate reality where Alan Wake is trapped in a remote Arizona town, where he must confront his sinister doppelgänger, Mr. Scratch, a deadly force determined to erase everything Alan loves. The gameplay centers on exploring the town, fighting both new and returning supernatural foes, and piecing together the story through manuscripts and other hidden clues. The expansion brings in fresh weapons and combat systems while keeping the series' signature use of light as a weapon against the encroaching darkness. The story delves into themes of duality and the nature of reality, delivering a more fast-paced and action-focused experience than the original game.

Storyline

The storyline of *American Nightmare* is presented through the narration of an episode from the fictional TV series *Night Springs*, which mirrors the tone of *The Twilight Zone* and appears on television screens throughout the original *Alan Wake*. Alan Wake’s friend and manager, Barry, is asleep in a motel room. The narration reveals that Alan is pursuing the "herald of darkness," Mr. Scratch, who is Alan's malevolent twin conjured by a shadowy force. Scratch is intent on taking from Alan everything he holds dear, especially his wife, Alice. As the "champion of light," Alan possesses the power to reshape reality, having used it to escape from Cauldron Lake in Washington. He eventually arrives in the small Arizona town of Night Springs, where he learns he has been missing from the real world for almost two years. An oil derrick nearby erupts with enemies under Mr. Scratch’s control. Searching for light, Alan runs to a nearby motel, where he meets Emma Sloan, who initially mistakes him for Mr. Scratch due to their identical appearance. She informs Alan that Scratch was at the motel the previous night and hands him a typewritten page—a tool to alter reality and destroy the derrick and its foes. Alan follows the instructions, causing a meteor to strike an artificial satellite, sending it crashing to Earth and colliding with the oil derrick. While Alan is away, the darkness consumes Emma. Using clues and a set of keys found at the motel, Alan travels to a nearby observatory. There, Dr. Rachel Meadows, who has also encountered Mr. Scratch, is monitoring a strange signal that appeared just before the satellite was destroyed. Rachel tells Alan that Mr. Scratch was deeply interested in the signal, leading Alan to believe it holds the key to defeating the darkness. When the observatory’s telescope is sabotaged by the darkness, Alan becomes even more convinced of its importance. After fixing the damage, a part of the signal is received, translating into a page of a story—a new reality Alan can potentially enact. The page leads Alan to a nearby drive-in theater, where he encounters Serena Valdivia, who is under the influence of the darkness. After restoring power and turning the lights on, Serena tells Alan that Mr. Scratch is trying to stop the sun from ever rising again. She gives him the security code to the projection room, where he can change reality. Alan uses the incomplete message to attempt to set the new reality, but because it is only partial, the change fails. Mr. Scratch appears, taunts Alan, and sends him back in time a few hours. Alan wakes up again near the motel and repeats many of the same actions. Emma and Rachel experience some déjà vu from the previous loop and help with some of Alan’s earlier tasks. Despite his efforts to alter the events this time, Emma is once again consumed by the darkness. Rachel manages to capture a longer portion of the signal, but it is still incomplete. When Alan returns to the drive-in theater, he again fails to complete the new reality and is sent back in time by Mr. Scratch. On his third attempt, Alan is able to save Emma and obtain the full message from Rachel. He sets the correct sequence of events in the projection room, which triggers the projector to play a film made by Alice. Mr. Scratch appears once more, but realizes that Alan has successfully written the new reality and is destroyed by the film’s light. On the screen, Alan reunites with Alice on a sunlit shoreline; however, the narrator suggests this may be just a fantasy, as Alan remains trapped in the Dark Place. During the credits, it is revealed that the episode of *Night Springs* Alan wrote himself into was titled "Return," a nod to the manuscript he began typing at the end of *Special Two: The Writer*. After the credits roll, Barry suddenly wakes up, convinced he has heard Alan’s voice.

Artwork

Supported languages

Similar games

How to Survive 2

Miscreated

Grav

Days Gone

Sky Break

Last Day on Earth: Survival

Immortal: Unchained

Dying Light 2: Stay Human