The first Alan Wake was a criminally overlooked and underrated gem of a horror game. Unfortunately, it was the victim of a perfect storm of bad decisions that developer Remedy Entertainment had limited say in. In development and delayed for around five long years, it was scheduled for release against Rockstar Games' juggernaut Red Dead Redemption (an eventual Game of the Year award winner from multiple media outlets), and it had practically no marketing campaign attached to it. This combination resulted in some expectedly low retail sales figures, and fans lamented that such a dreary commercial performance would doom hopes for a sequel. 

Luckily, the game garnered enough sales via digital release to garner another entry. Unsurprisingly, rather than a full-on retail release, this standalone chapter is being developed as a 4-5 hour long Xbox LIVE Arcade game. Alan Wake's American Nightmare has the titular character leaving the lush region of the first game's Twin Peaks-inspired Bright Falls in favor of a drier, but no less hostile, Twilight Zone-inspired realm in Arizona.

The first Alan Wake was beautiful, but Alan Wake's American Nightmare's setting offers a fuller, more extensive color palette. In the shift to this new setting, the game's style also changed from the deliberately paced, mind-screwing nature of the first to this entry's outlandish supernatural, cinematic  Pulp Fiction-style adventure. This alteration signifies a reallocation of priorities. 

Whereas the first game was heavily story-driven with simple elements of tense action sprinkled throughout, this installment ups the action to top billing. The core combat remains the same, with light continuing to be a necessary tool to damage the hordes of creepy shadow creatures. The difference comes in the new enemy and weapon types, like a creature that multiplies when shot and a crossbow that does not need the aid of light to fatally wound a foe. 

There is an action mode in Alan Wake's American Nightmare too, appropriately titled "Fight 'Til Dawn", that tasks you with fighting off waves of enemies that become progressively stronger, until a ten-minute counter ends the round. Survive that long, racking up points along the way, and you win. You will be able to upload your scores (from playing through the five arcade maps available at launch) to leaderboards, encouraging ample competition.

The increased focus on action does not mean that the story will be forgotten. Fortunately, it is as head-scratching as ever. In this world, fiction becomes reality, and writer Wake has the unique ability in reshaping reality through his texts. Your adversary is a constantly taunting maniac version of Wake himself, portrayed through live-action video that streams in the game's television sets. Luckily, the wait for Alan Wake's American Nightmare, and the opportunity to wrap your hands around frenetic gameplay and your head around its unhinged story, isn't too far off.

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