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Alan Wake's American Nightmare
A thrilling new storyline, hordes of creepy enemies, serious firepower and beautiful Arizona locations, combined with a fun and challenging new game mode!
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-08-31 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
50 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“[h3][b]A good continuation does not reinvent everything, it just pushes the story one step further[/b][/h3] Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is a more compact and straightforward follow up, with a stronger focus on combat…”
“Alan Wake's American Nightmare is a standalone DLC with a short story and an arcade mode. It's a spin off that is canon, but is not necessary to understand the story as it didn't have much impact on the overall series…”
“To start, let me just say I can totally understand why some people don't like this game. I'm still going to have to disagree though, because Alan Wake's American Nightmare is a really cool game. Though it can feel a tad…”
19 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“3 hour disaster. Only good things about the game is the combat feeling marginally better than AW1, and the main antagonist being an absolute delight to see every time he is on screen. Outside of that, it's a terrible,…”
“Worth picking up on sale due to the limited content, but great standalone story”
“Unlike the original, this one's focus is very clear, arcade survival mode. there is a story here and it is still decent, if insanely quick only being 9 quick levels that only get faster due to the nature of the story,…”
7 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“i actually ♥♥♥♥ with this hard. i think it's almost as good as the main game and i really like that it's just one of the ways that alan is trying to get out of the dark place. it has the same problem as the main game,…”
“This game isn't as polished as the first game, yet I still appreciate it for what it is. I like how Sam Lake describes it as an example of one of Alan's many failed attempts to leave the Dark Place. The pacing is tight,…”
“Completely ignore the strongest aspects of the original game - story and atmosphere - and focus on the least important part - combat. What could possibly go wrong? Play only if you like arcade parodies of great games.…”
3 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“This game isn't as polished as the first game, yet I still appreciate it for what it is. I like how Sam Lake describes it as an example of one of Alan's many failed attempts to leave the Dark Place. The pacing is tight,…”
“5/10 Pretty alright game, def gave me the same vibes as the first Alan Wake, at least the cozy ones. The layout of this game is very simple, you're in a loop and play the same 3 levels 3 times in a row to escape this…”
30 of the 104 reviews raise this · 15 of them still recommend the game.
“story is pretty bad, combat is alright but doesnt make it worth it”
“Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is boring and repetitive. The gameplay feels the same over and over, with little variety or excitement. The story is weak and less engaging than the original, making the whole experience…”
“[h3][b]A good continuation does not reinvent everything, it just pushes the story one step further[/b][/h3] Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is a more compact and straightforward follow up, with a stronger focus on combat…”
30 of the 104 reviews raise this · 10 of them still recommend the game.
“story is pretty bad, combat is alright but doesnt make it worth it”
“Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is boring and repetitive. The gameplay feels the same over and over, with little variety or excitement. The story is weak and less engaging than the original, making the whole experience…”
“3 hour disaster. Only good things about the game is the combat feeling marginally better than AW1, and the main antagonist being an absolute delight to see every time he is on screen. Outside of that, it's a terrible,…”
28 of the 104 reviews raise this · 19 of them still recommend the game.
“Alan Wake's American Nightmare is a standalone DLC with a short story and an arcade mode. It's a spin off that is canon, but is not necessary to understand the story as it didn't have much impact on the overall series…”
“3 hour disaster. Only good things about the game is the combat feeling marginally better than AW1, and the main antagonist being an absolute delight to see every time he is on screen. Outside of that, it's a terrible,…”
“Short and fun, doesn't overstay its welcome. Storywise, I grew into it but not as good as the original. Maintains the weird a$$ Remedy style tho. An imporved gameplay, feel cleaner, and the combat is clearly superior,…”
9 of the 104 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“This game isn't as polished as the first game, yet I still appreciate it for what it is. I like how Sam Lake describes it as an example of one of Alan's many failed attempts to leave the Dark Place. The pacing is tight,…”
“Unlike the original, this one's focus is very clear, arcade survival mode. there is a story here and it is still decent, if insanely quick only being 9 quick levels that only get faster due to the nature of the story,…”
“Please play first part alan wake to understand this game if you played that then this will be nicer . This game consists of 3 stages but you have to re visit all 3 level three times as you need to find the manuscript…”
8 of the 104 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“This is DLC masquerading as a standalone game. It takes three hours max and since the plot is a time loop you repeat the same plot points and locations over and over again with alterations. Not bad, and it adds a couple…”
“Worth picking up on sale due to the limited content, but great standalone story”
“I completed the full story mode gameplay and play some acrade action gameplay then i review this game, Totally worth buying in the steam sale but not worth it in normal price. over all the game is good. story, game…”
Counted across 104 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 74.4% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“At the end of the day it is more Alan Wake with tightened up combat for those who enjoy that. I enjoy Alan Wake combat mechanics very much so it was a fun experience to me. There is not much story there but voice acting is good and psychotic Alan's doppelganger is pretty on…”
— a player, Steam review · 10 hrs played“Played this one purely for the solo experience, focusing on the story and gameplay. Alan Wake's American Nightmare feels more like a compact, arcade-style extension rather than a full sequel. The core gameplay loop is tighter and more repetitive, built around revisiting the same…”
— a player, Steam review · 3 hrs played“I love Remedy, and I love Alan Wake. That being said, I played this for the plot, while I really should've just watched the videos on Youtube. I think American Nightmare is only worth playing if you're a fan of combat and are interested in the Arcade Mode (and even then, buy it…”
— a player, Steam review · 4 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-05.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-10). Relative comparison only.
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Action, Adventure |
| Player tags | Action · Adventure · Horror · Third Person · Singleplayer · Third-Person Shooter · Thriller · Psychological Horror · Mystery · Atmospheric · Arcade · Shooter (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Full controller support · Remote Play on TV · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English * , German, French, Italian, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Russian * |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 12 |
| Official site | http://www.alanwake.com |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows XP SP2 Processor: Dual Core 2GHz Intel or 2.8GHz AMD Memory: 2 GB RAM Graphics: DirectX 10 compatible with 512MB RAM DirectX®: 10 Hard Drive: 8 GB HD space Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible