Observer and Alan Wake's American Nightmare the next free games on Epic's store Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Observer and Alan Wake's American Nightmare the next free games on Epic's store Available later today. News by Matt Wales Reporter Updated on 17 Oct 2019 6 comments Epic continues to frisbee out the free games, as backlogs around the globe grow so unwieldy they're liable to topple over and squish their owners flat. But should you be willing to risk your chances against Death itself, then, hey, why not add Observer and Alan Wake's American Nightmare to your library later today? Both games, of course, paddle in the wading pool of blood that is the horror genre (appropriately enough, given the season), with Bloober Team's Observer taking the surreal sci-fi approach, while Alan Wake's American Nightmare offers up a Twilight-Zone-inspired slice of small-town terror. They're both good! Observer time-travels players to 2084, and a dilapidated apartment building in a dystopian version of Kraków, Poland. Here, they take on the role of Daniel Lazarski (voiced by Rutger Hauer), a so-called Observer detective attempting to track down his estranged son. Half the game is a wonderfully atmospheric and deliberately slow-paced mood piece, focussed on meticulous investigation as players roam the mouldering apartment block for clues, questioning its strange procession of tenants from the other side of their closed doors. The other half though sees Bloober returning to the sort of electrifying, disorientating set-pieces that served Layers of Fear's haunted house horror so well, plunging players into visually astonishing dreamscapes, as they hack into suspects' brains to relive their memories. Eurogamer contributor Edwin Evans-Thirlwell enjoyed Observer enough to slap it with a Recommended badge when he reviewed it in 2017, saying, "As an excavation of an environment that is writhing with the internet's effluence, a space that manages to feel at once suffocating and vast, ornate and putrid, it has few equals". As for American Nightmare, developer Remedy's stand-alone sort-of-spin-off, sort-of-sequel to the original Alan Wake once again pits everybody's favourite incessantly monologuing horror author against the forces of darkness in bouts of torchlight-infused gunplay. American Nightmare, though, is a somewhat more upbeat affair, framing its pulpier, darkly comedic narrative as an episode of the fictional in-universe TV show, Night Springs. "[Alan Wake] himself simply feels more at home in this shorter, punchier, less laboured and self-regarding form," wrote Johnny Minkley in his 7/10 Eurogamer review back in 2012. "Freed from the weight of expectation that accompanies a full retail release in this genre," he continued, "the experience - while lacking the set-piece spectacle and spookiness of the original - is less forced and more comfortably pitched." Those wishing to swell their gaming backlogs still further can add Observer and Alan Wake's American Nightmare to their Epic Games Store library for free later today, and they've got until next Thursday, 24th October to do so. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Modder dives into Demon's Souls files following PS5 jailbreak, discovers fabled Ring of the Chieftain Who knows what's nexus? 4 Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 11 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Sennheiser's legendary HD 599 open-back headphones are just £70 at Amazon in the Prime Early Access Sale Comfortable with neutral sound and a wide sound stage. Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store