Loading ...Alan Wake's American Nightmare: Hands On Preview
Last week, we caught up with Remedy at CES to spend some quality time with Alan Wake's American Nightmare, the recently announced XBLA based followup to Alan Wake. While the events of this game take place after the original, Remedy was quick to point out that this is not a true sequel. From what we've been told, this game is a standalone adventure in the Alan Wake universe, based upon the Twilight Zone-esque in-game TV Series, Night Springs. For those of you familiar with the first game, this will no doubt invoke memories of our hero's nemesis/shadow, Mr. Scratch. In AWAN, Mr. Scratch is back, as psychotic as ever; wreaking havoc wherever he goes.
Unsurprisingly, story mode was not shown off in this demo. Remedy opted instead to focus upon the new, arcade style "Fight 'Til Dawn" mode. The concept here is simple; survive until the sun rises. Fans of the Gears of War franchise will find obvious parallels to horde mode, with a similar emphasis on survival at all costs. Using the same combat mechanics from the first game, enemies must first be illuminated with a flashlight, before they can be dispatched. The instinctive play here is to simply shoot any and everything that moves; doing that in Fight 'Til Dawn Mode can result in certain death.
As with the Gears of War franchise's Horde Mode, the main focus of Fight 'Til Dawn mode is fast paced action. Enemies attack in waves, and each successive wave gets progressively faster and tougher to kill. Alan Wake will have some new weapons at his disposal in the final game, including the likes of Uzis, Shotguns, and Nailguns. That said, do not expect a walk in the park here. Despite the fact that (in the demo, at least), the player only needs to survive for ten minutes, it's tougher than it sounds. Enemies are unrelenting, and never stand and wait to be killed. Additionally, street lights; which have a healing effect, are not permanently lit. Instead, they take several seconds to recharge, once activated. Should standard Fight 'Til Dawn mode become too easy, there is also an unlockable Nightmare difficulty, guaranteed to keep even the most seasoned of players on their toes.
Beyond the already strong Fight 'Til Dawn mode, keep in mind that Alan Wake's American Nightmare also has a full story as well. Said to be inspired by classic grindhouse style cinema, the 5-6 hour campaign will see Alan Wake taking on Mr. Scratch, all while trying to save his wife in the process. Pricing and release date information has not been formally announced as of this writing, but this game will be a part of the just announced XBLA House Party promotion beginning next month, so expect to see and hear more about this game very soon.
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