So why not the OG?
I asked myself when I originally bought the Alan Wake bundle pack on Steam for something really silly (less than $5). I realized that I had only played Alan Wake on the 360 when it came out nearly 3 years ago and never had the chance to play the DLC Remedy Studios released 2 years after the original game, Alan Wake.
If you are looking for a completely new experience from the original game Alan Wake, American Nightmare delivers to a point.
GAMEPLAY:
American Nightmare did not destroy any of the fundamental aspects that made the first game so enjoyable. While I never really had any problems conserving ammo or batteries, the new gameplay elements served as a welcomed addition to the franchise.
2 new enemies were introduced to the game light splitter thing & crow man. both of which freaked me out quite often until I figured out their predictable shenanigans. That doesn't mean they still don't get me when I play in the arcade mode.
If you liked Alan Wake you should be pleasantly surprised with the gameplay in American Nightmare, but if you are like me, the story will become tiring and repetitive. At times the story feels more like a chore to follow rather than a worthwhile adventure.
While the story mode in American Nightmare does not match the original game, it more delivers in the additional game mode. The horde-esque/survive until sunrise mode is the gem in this DLC. While the game-mode offers additional levels and access to various guns (sawed-offs, assault rifles, etc), in order to truly play the game in the Nightmare mode you need to have collected enough Manuscript pages during the story mode. If you can bare it through story mode and can unlock enough pages to open each of the crates on the level you will have a great time trying to rack up combos. If you, like me do not have enough patience to run through the game again will be stuck running out of ammo and not being able to open enough crates to survive. This was truly horrifying that developers would force players to play a story mode that has no replay value just in order to fully enjoy an above average mini-game.
TL;DR: Watch my video review
