Alan Wake's American Nightmare started as survival mode

Alan Wake's American Nightmare is ostensibly the continuation of the Alan Wake story, but it wasn't always that way. A Remedy Entertainment developer diary talks about the game's humble beginnings as the game's action-heavy Survival mode, and how it spiraled into a fully-fledged story.

American Nightmare began by testing out a more action-focused game with the core concepts of Alan Wake, and Remedy was internally playing a more arcade-action game with scoreboards. "Pretty soon after that we started to talk that, wouldn't it be cool to add just a little bit of story in there," said creative director Sam Lake. "So we added a story mode into the game, and it kept growing bigger." The result, he says, is a "hefty amount of content."

Alan Wake's American Nightmare is coming to Xbox Live Arcade on February 22 for $15 (1200 MSP). Check out the dev diary below.