Control: Alan Wake Experience

AWE is the third DLC and second paid expansion for Control, Remedy Entertainment's ode to weird fiction and bureaucratic government agencies. While the previous expansion, The Foundation, pushed the narrative forward by exploring the power struggle between Jesse and The Board, AWE takes the story in a surprising direction by bringing Alan Wake, the titular protagonist of Remedy's 2010 action-horror game, into the world of Control. AWE may come across as another shallow attempt to jumpstart a shared universe, but it earns the crossover through clever use of overlapping themes and fresh gameplay that merges both franchises together seamlessly.

The Remedy Connected Universe

In terms of themes and genre, it isn't too hard to see where Control and Alan Wake find common ground. Though Control bends more towards action and Alan Wake towards horror, both games feature heroes fighting alone against similar extra-dimensional threats. As hinted in a bit of lore found in the main story of Control, the events of Alan Wake are framed as Altered World Events, or AWEs, that are known to occur throughout the world and, when discovered, or covered up by the Federal Bureau of Control. What's unexpected about AWE (the expansion) is how much the world and style of Alan Wake (the game) influences the story and gameplay.

A new section of the Oldest House opens up to Jesse at the start of AWE. The investigations Sector is the setting for the entirety of the expansion, and while it's stylistically nearly indistinguishable from the rest of the Oldest House (168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a p🌄ro꧑blem I pointed out in the original review) each section is broken up by a puzzle-style fight that involves exposing a monster to light. The core mechanic of Alan Wake is elegantly adapted for Control throughout AWE and I found myself consistently impressed at how well Remedy was able to translate one game into another. I've never seen anything quite like it.

Alan makes several appearances throughout AWE and he is similarly tied into the world of Control in a fairly seamless way. Trapped in the dimensional gateway called the Oceanview Motel, Alan is framed as the writer/narrator of Jesse's story. It's one of those clever ideas that seems so obvious once you see it, and the execution is absolutely perfect with regards to both games. Something like this really runs the risk of devolving into meaningless fan service, but in this case, the crossover serves the story just as much as it pleases Alan Wake fans.

Scoliosis Slender Man

AWE continues the story of Alan Wake pretty directly, so if you haven't played that game, you may be awfully confused by everything that's happening. Alan's "main" antagonist — other than The Darkness — is the psychologist that lured Alan to Bright Falls in order to study the AWE there: Emil Hartman. Sometime after the events of Alan Wake, Hartman was consumed by The Darkness and brought to The Oldest House for containment and study. At some point, the hiss broke into the Investigations Sector, merged with the Darkness-infused Hartman, and further transformed him into a lanky, freakish monster man that walks around doubled over and pukes darkness.

Hartman has a fantastic design. Stumbling around at a distance, he only becomes a real threat when Jesse steps out of the light into darkness. The Hartman encounters are reminiscent of the Scarecrow sequences in the Arkham series in that they require timing, a bit of stealth, and traversal through light and dark areas. There are half a dozen of these turn-on-the-light sequences and each one feels like a fresh and interesting puzzle to solve. It's impressive how many ways there are to play out the same sequence when ultimately each one of them ends with Jesse flipping a switch and turning on the lights.

Unfortunately, the cat-and-mouse game ends with a pretty basic boss fight. After all the complex light puzzles, it's disappointing that Hartman is nothing more than a damage sponge. Occasionally he'll knock the lights out and start healing, but it only takes a second to turn them back on. I've never loved the combat in Control, but I really liked the clever problem solving of all of the encounters except the last one.

Remote Controlled Grenade Launcher

A🦄WE begins at a crossroads that allows Jesse to choose which half of the expansion to play first. I appreciate this kind of design for my own sense of pacing, but after experiencing the𒉰 exact same thing in The Foundation, it felt a little too familiar.

In The Foundation, there was a new power to collect along each path. There aren't new abilities in AWE, but there is a new form for the service weapon called Surge. Surge launches up to three sticky bombs that can be remotely detonated or automatically detonated on a delay. They're fun to experiment with and it's satisfying to stick them on a nearby wall then bait an enemy into them, but ultimately Charge is just so much more consistent and powerful. I wish there were more enemies that Surge countered because I reverted back to Charge pretty quickly.

Finally, There's a handful of side-quests and optional Objects of Power missions AWE. One of them hinges on remembering where a number of objects are placed throughout the Investigation Sector, while the other is an arcade mode that includes horde, time trial, and boss rush modes. A great extra feature for hardcore fans, but not for me.

AWE's greatest strength is in how cleverly it merges Alan Wake and Control into a singular experience. I wouldn't begrudge Remedy for divulging in a bit of low-brow fanservice for the second expansion of a critically acclaimed game, but they really went the extra mile in delivering a cohesive experience that fits cleanly into both worlds.