"Our destinies and inspirations are shaped by lies, myths and fables." So reads a manuscript page hidden in Alan Wake's American Nightmare, explaining humanity's love of a good story. It states that our favorite fictional characters are dearer to us than the real people we pass on the street every day.

It's hard to deny the truth of it. We admire our favorite characters, dream of them, of playing a part in their story. That was the power of the original Alan Wake. It swept players up in its characters and their story, inviting us to help craft it and see it through to the end. American Nightmare attempts to recapture the same magic, flipping the script for something less horror and more sci-fi camp, though the end result is somewhat less elegant.