Alan Wake's American Nightmare

Moderate overall intensity
Highest flag: Dark themes — intense
AdventureHorrorShooter

What's in it

Violence realistic
Moderate

The player shoots human-shaped enemies (the possessed 'Taken') with realistic firearms after weakening them with a flashlight; blood effects appear and the enemies dissolve into shadow, with no dismemberment or gore.

Dark themes intense
Moderate

The plot centers on Alan's evil doppelganger, Mr. Scratch, who murders people and threatens Alan's wife; death and a sinister supernatural force drive the story.

Horror & psychological frightening
Moderate

A survival-horror atmosphere of dark, isolated locations where waves of shadowy Taken hunt the player, with tense combat and unsettling imagery.

Language moderate
Moderate

Dialogue, especially from the taunting villain Mr. Scratch, carries moderate profanity.

Crime & lawlessness crime depicted
Low

Mr. Scratch murders civilians as part of the story; the player does not commit crimes.

Who can reach your kid

What it is

Alan Wake's American Nightmare is a third-person action-horror shooter and a shorter spin-off of Alan Wake. Playing as writer Alan Wake, you fight through dark Arizona locations against shadow-possessed humans called the Taken, first burning away their protective darkness with a flashlight and then shooting them with a range of firearms. The story pits Alan against Mr. Scratch, his sinister doppelganger who murders people and menaces Alan's wife. Content is centered on gun combat with blood effects (no gore or dismemberment), a persistent horror atmosphere of being hunted in the dark, and dark subject matter around death and an evil double. It also includes a wave-based arcade mode. The game is single-player with no chat, purchases, or online interaction.

How it's framed

The game frames Alan as a 'champion of light' resisting a supernatural darkness that corrupts and kills; violence is directed at monsters that were once people, and the villain's cruelty is presented as the threat to overcome rather than something to emulate.

Details

Developer
Remedy Entertainment
Publisher
Remedy Entertainment
Released
May 22, 2012
Metacritic 73critic score (third-party) · out of 100

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