Am I the only one to play American Nightmare on these forums. It states explicitly at the end of the game that Alan Wake will return. There shouldn't have been any doubt about this at least for the past few months. Hell it is actually incredibly likely that it is far along in development, because American Nightmare shows signs of being developed in tandem with another title. Basically its production value is much higher then its price tag.

Which brings me to my main point. Perhaps people are interested in the sandbox not just, because it was something the original wasn't able to realize, but because American Nightmare did incorporate sandbox elements. The game was built around three open world areas. I hate to shatter any illusions, but it works pretty well. It is still a bit spartan, but it didn't really detract from the game in any meaningful way.

Honestly I think it has the best potential for making the game better, and more importantly increasing the replay value which is what really detracts from the first game. When a game is too linear it becomes less engaging beyond the initial play through. I well developed hub world though means more ways to approach the game for players. Especially when human interactions are brought into the picture, and those interactions can effect the following segments of the game.

Anyway if you have these set notions, and haven't played American Nightmare. Do yourself a favor by playing that game, because it shows that there isn't just one way to do Alan Wake. I really liked the Twilight Zone / Groundhog day presentation myself.

I beg to differ. Open world with that gorgeous Pacific Northwest setting would be a perfect with AW. True the story telling elements of these cinematics games will be gone, but the exploration of this amazing setting will more than compensate for that.

but that was the major strength of Alan Wake. Why remove it ?
Open World would also mean infinite spawning enemies like in Dead Island and that can be a pain in the arse.

So less story and more combat is basically the exact opposite of what they should do.