Alan Wake's American Nightmare
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Estimated FPS across quality settings and resolutions
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Alan Wake's American Nightmare FPS by GPU
Estimated framerates for 14 reference GPUs · pick a resolution and quality
Full benchmark grid · 14 GPUs × 4 qualities × 3 resolutions
1080p performance
| GPU | low | medium | high | ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 5090 | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps |
| RTX 4090 | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps |
| RX 7900 XTX | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps |
| RTX 5080 | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps |
| RTX 4080 Super | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps |
| RTX 4070 Ti | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps | 901 fps |
| RTX 4070 | 999 fps | 999 fps | 951 fps | 773 fps |
| RX 7800 XT | 999 fps | 999 fps | 838 fps | 681 fps |
| RTX 3080 | 999 fps | 999 fps | 815 fps | 662 fps |
| RTX 4060 Ti | 999 fps | 962 fps | 770 fps | 625 fps |
| RTX 3070 | 999 fps | 877 fps | 702 fps | 570 fps |
| RTX 4060 | 991 fps | 792 fps | 634 fps | 515 fps |
| RTX 3060 | 849 fps | 679 fps | 543 fps | 442 fps |
| GTX 1660 Super | 616 fps | 492 fps | 394 fps | 320 fps |
1440p performance
| GPU | low | medium | high | ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 5090 | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps |
| RTX 4090 | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps |
| RX 7900 XTX | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps | 966 fps |
| RTX 5080 | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps | 911 fps |
| RTX 4080 Super | 999 fps | 999 fps | 999 fps | 855 fps |
| RTX 4070 Ti | 999 fps | 999 fps | 832 fps | 676 fps |
| RTX 4070 | 999 fps | 892 fps | 713 fps | 579 fps |
| RX 7800 XT | 982 fps | 785 fps | 628 fps | 510 fps |
| RTX 3080 | 955 fps | 764 fps | 611 fps | 497 fps |
| RTX 4060 Ti | 902 fps | 722 fps | 577 fps | 469 fps |
| RTX 3070 | 823 fps | 658 fps | 526 fps | 428 fps |
| RTX 4060 | 743 fps | 594 fps | 475 fps | 386 fps |
| RTX 3060 | 637 fps | 509 fps | 408 fps | 331 fps |
| GTX 1660 Super | 462 fps | 369 fps | 295 fps | 240 fps |
4K performance
| GPU | low | medium | high | ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 5090 | 999 fps | 951 fps | 761 fps | 618 fps |
| RTX 4090 | 999 fps | 883 fps | 706 fps | 574 fps |
| RX 7900 XTX | 991 fps | 792 fps | 634 fps | 515 fps |
| RTX 5080 | 934 fps | 747 fps | 598 fps | 486 fps |
| RTX 4080 Super | 877 fps | 702 fps | 562 fps | 456 fps |
| RTX 4070 Ti | 693 fps | 555 fps | 444 fps | 361 fps |
| RTX 4070 | 594 fps | 475 fps | 380 fps | 309 fps |
| RX 7800 XT | 524 fps | 419 fps | 335 fps | 272 fps |
| RTX 3080 | 509 fps | 408 fps | 326 fps | 265 fps |
| RTX 4060 Ti | 481 fps | 385 fps | 308 fps | 250 fps |
| RTX 3070 | 439 fps | 351 fps | 281 fps | 228 fps |
| RTX 4060 | 396 fps | 317 fps | 254 fps | 206 fps |
| RTX 3060 | 340 fps | 272 fps | 217 fps | 177 fps |
| GTX 1660 Super | 246 fps | 197 fps | 158 fps | 128 fps |
Where to buy
Alan Wake's American Nightmare
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$8.99
$0.89
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Genres
About
Alan Wake's American Nightmare is a standalone action-adventure spin-off from 2012 that drops the protagonist into an alternate Arizona reality where he battles his murderous doppelgänger, Mr. Scratch. This psychological horror game combines combat, puzzle-solving, and exploration as you navigate between the real world and dark alternate dimensions. The gameplay loop of weakening enemies with light before unleashing gunfire creates a unique hook that sets it apart from typical action games of its era.
The game is quite accessible by modern standards and doesn't demand cutting-edge hardware to run smoothly. Most mid-range GPUs from the last decade can deliver solid FPS performance at 1080p with high graphics settings, making it an excellent title for benchmarking older or budget systems. You're looking at 60+ FPS on GTX 960-level hardware and above, though even integrated graphics can manage playable framerates at lower resolutions. Its modest system requirements make it ideal for testing PC performance across a wide range of configurations.
With a respectable 69/100 rating, American Nightmare offers a compelling experience for action-adventure fans, though it's best suited for those who enjoyed the original Alan Wake. If you appreciate psychological horror with engaging combat mechanics and don't mind slightly dated visuals, this spin-off is worth your time.
Performance profile
February 2012 release. Alan Wake's American Nightmare targets mid-2000s-to-early-2010s hardware — any modern entry-level GPU (GTX 1650 tier or newer integrated graphics) handles it at 1080p Ultra without breaking a sweat.
Alan Wake's American Nightmare is a narrative-driven experience — a rock-solid 60 FPS is plenty. Prioritise resolution and image quality (AA, anisotropic filtering) over chasing high-refresh framerates.
Extremely light — Alan Wake's American Nightmare runs at 60 FPS 1080p on any integrated GPU (Intel Iris Xe, AMD Radeon Graphics) or a decade-old discrete card like the GTX 1050. A current-gen RTX 4060 pushes 4K Ultra without effort.
Storyline
The plot of American Nightmare is framed by the narration of an episode of the fictional TV show, "Night Springs," which follows the style of The Twilight Zone and appeared on television screens throughout the original Alan Wake. Alan Wake's friend and manager, Barry, is asleep in a motel room. The narration explains that Alan is attempting to chase down the "herald of darkness", Mr. Scratch, who is Alan's evil doppelganger created by a dark force. Scratch is determined to take away everything Alan loves, including his wife, Alice. Alan, as the "champion of light," has the ability to rewrite reality, and was able to write his escape from Cauldron Lake in Washington. He ends up near the small town of Night Springs, Arizona, and learns that he has been missing from the real world for nearly two years. A nearby oil derrick erupts with several foes controlled by Mr. Scratch. Seeking light, Alan runs to a nearby motel, where he encounters Emma Sloan, who at first thinks he is Mr. Scratch, since they look identical. She tells Alan that Scratch was at the motel the night before, and provides Alan with a typewritten page, a way to alter reality to destroy the derrick and stop the foes. Alan follows its instructions, which causes a meteor to collide with an artificial satellite, sending it hurtling towards the ground, where it then collides with the oil derrick. While Alan is away performing this task, the dark forces consume Emma. Following clues he found at the motel, along with a set of keys, Alan heads to a nearby observatory. There, Dr. Rachel Meadows, who also met Mr. Scratch previously, is tracking a mysterious signal sent just before the satellite was knocked out of orbit. Rachel tells Alan that Mr. Scratch was very interested in this signal, and Alan surmises that it must contain the key to fighting the darkness. While attempting to obtain the complete signal, the observatory's telescope is sabotaged by the darkness, which reinforces Alan's belief that the signal contains something he needs. After repairing the damage, a portion of the signal comes through that translates into a page of a story: a new reality that Alan can presumably implement. The page points him to a nearby drive-in theater, where he meets Serena Valdivia, who is under the influence of the darkness. After freeing her by restoring power and switching the lights on, Serena tells Alan that Mr. Scratch is trying to prevent the sun from ever rising again. She gives Alan the security code to the projection room where he can change reality. Alan uses the incomplete message to try to set the new reality. However, as the message is only partial, the new reality does not take effect. Mr. Scratch appears, gloating, and sends Alan back in time to a few hours before. Waking up again near the motel, Alan repeats many of the same motions. Emma and Rachel still have some deja vu of the previous loop's events, and have helped perform some of Alan's previous tasks for him. Despite his efforts to change events this time around, Emma is nevertheless consumed again by the darkness. Rachel is able to capture a longer portion of the signal this time, but it is still incomplete. When Alan returns to the drive-in theater, he is again unable to complete the new reality and is sent back in time again by Mr. Scratch. Alan repeats his actions for a third time, but this time, he is able to save Emma and gain the complete message from Rachel. He sets the correct series of events in the projection room, which triggers the projector to show a film made by Alice. Mr. Scratch appears again, but discovers that Alan has successfully written the new reality, and he is burned out of existence by the film. On the screen, Alan appears to reunite with Alice along a sun-lit shoreline; however, the narrator notes that this could quite possibly be just a figment of Alan's imagination, since he is still trapped in the Dark Place. During the credits, it is revealed that the name of the episode of Night Springs that Alan wrote himself into was titled "Return", a reference to the manuscript he began to type at the end of Special Two: The Writer. After completion of the game's credits, Barry wakes up suddenly, believing he has heard Alan's voice.
