Now Is The Perfect Time To Remaster Alan Wake’s American Nightmare

Last year, Remedy Entertainment teamed up with Epic Games to release a surprise remaster of its beloved 2010 action game Alan Wake in the form of Alan Wake Remastered. The remaster polished up the now 12-year-old game’s visuals on top of adding enhanced motion capture performances and sneaking in some hints regarding the series’ future, all of which culminated in the announcement of Alan Wake 2 at The Game Awards 2021. While the remaster has been well received and has introduced many new fans to the Remedy Connected Universe and the world of Bright Falls, there is one part of the Alan Wake story that has not yet received the same treatment.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is a standalone expansion to the original Alan Wake released in 2012, two years after the release of the original game. Despite its importance in the story, however, Remedy has not expressed any plans to remaster this title, stranding it on Xbox and PC platforms indefinitely. Despite this, 2022 is the perfect year to remaster Alan Wake’s American Nightmare.

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American Nightmare’s Importance Heading Into Alan Wake 2

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare follows novelist Alan Wake as he is trapped in the ‘Dark Place’ after the events of the first game, taking the form of a fictional Twilight Zone-esque TV show titled Bright Falls. Alan is being haunted by a sinister manifestation of himself known as Mr. Scratch, who is threatening to take everything he loves from him, including his wife.

This side story not only expands on the world introduced in the original Alan Wake, updating players on the whereabouts of much of the original game’s cast, but also introduces Mr. Scratch, a character that promises to be a major part of the upcoming sequel. Remedy has confirmed that Alan Wake 2 will be more horror-oriented than the original. However, it can be argued that while the original Alan Wake leaned into its horror elements with its Twin Peaks and Stephen King inspiration, American Nightmare is where the series really grew into itself and set the stage for a full survival horror sequel.

Throughout the game, Alan is constantly taunted by Mr. Scratch through eerie recordings displayed on TVs around the levels. The character appears to be a genuinely disturbing recreation of the negative stories that circled about Alan’s disappearance after his visit to Bright Falls. In AWE, Control’s second expansion, it is mentioned that Mr. Scratch might have taken Alan’s physical form in the real world while Alan is trapped in Caldron Lake, similar to the story regarding Dale Cooper and Mr. C from Twin Peaks: The Return. If it’s anything like its inspiration, this is the key piece of setup for Alan Wake 2’s likely disturbing story, making American Nightmare a must-play entry in the series.

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Where Is Alan Wake’s American Nightmare Remastered?

Last year, while promoting Alan Wake Remastered, Remedy Entertainment clarified that it had no desire to remaster Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, claiming that it felt the released version of Alan Wake Remastered, which included the original game and its DLC, made for a “sensible package.” While this may make sense for a more focused remaster project, American Nightmare remains an important piece of the story heading into the game’s sequel, arguably more important than Control and its DLCs which include many of the elements setting up the next game.

2022 is the perfect year to remaster Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, with the game celebrating its 10th anniversary last February. With Alan Wake 2 slated to release in 2023, and Remedy so dedicated to this release date that it delayed releasing information this summer so as to not interrupt development, an American Nightmare remaster would fill the gap in years between 2021’s Alan Wake Remastered and 2023’s Alan Wake 2.

Alan Wake Remastered is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A Nintendo Switch port is currently in development.

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