Remedy Entertainment has made a bit of a name for itself in the writing department. With titles like Max Payne, Alan Wake, and Control, Remedy has set a quasi-standard for mystery storytelling in games. Their writing may be too referential to qualify as unique, but it is decidedly ace with its dramatic protagonists and enigmatic settings.
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Price: $15
Platform: Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation, Xbox
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review
I was giddy when it was revealed that Alan Wake was a microcosm of Control’s elaborate, supernatural world. The documents in Control went beyond the references I’m used to in Remedy’s writing. Bright Falls and the Oldest House were in a given proximity to each other.
The relationship existed only in redacted Bureau documents, but it was believable. Even in the peculiar world of Control, Alan Wake fits particularly well. Jesse Faden and Alan have similar inner monologues, and both titles give off a sort-of sci-fi neo-noir vibe.
That shouldn’t be surprising, of course, since Alan Wake and Control have the same lead writer. It was sufficient to say I was eager for what came next – a development promised by Control’s latest expansion, AWE.
AWE tries to add a more tangible element to the games’ relationship. It technically succeeds, but it’s without the elegant and thrilling flourish we’ve come to expect.
Pretty much everything you’ll experience in AWE is tacked-on and more of the same. It’s all an afterthought. That might be an obvious description for any expansion, but Remedy certainly doesn’t deliver the compelling interconnected universe it’s been promising.
From the outset, AWE’s delivery is met with little flair. It begins much like any side mission: The overlay interrupts to let me know there’s something new to do. There’s no explanation for what’s to come, no weight given to what this moment is meant to represent. I’m told to direct Jesse to a new sector of the Oldest House. It’s one Jesse never came across, which seems implausible at this point in her career even with the House’s impossibilities.
Once she’s outside the elevator, Faden sees a vision of Wake. It’s the same sort of vision in which all of Control’s major forces, like Trench and Polaris, appear. It isn’t too coherent, but it’s the only thing making this mission any more urgent than the rest.
Inside the Investigations Sector is standard fare. Unlike Control’s previous expansion, AWE thankfully retains the bureaucratic look. There’s a new enemy, but it’s just a standard Hiss that can fly. There’s also some new (but the same) janitorial missions. Like the rest of the Bureau, the Hiss invasion has left the Investigations Sector in disarray. Emil Hartman, an antagonist in Alan Wake, has broken free of confinement and is also running amok. A violent reaction between the Darkness and Hiss resonance has morphed him into a sort of Cronenbergian nightmare.
Like in Alan Wake, Hartman can only be riddled with bullets after being weakened with a light source. Faden can also use lights to solve puzzles. It’s the most obvious implementation of Alan Wake’s gameplay, but these moments were probably the best of the expansion. But for the most part, AWE is more of the same: Go to a location, slay a few Hiss, rinse, repeat, boss fight.
After Faden inevitably defeats Hartman, we’re made to never think of him again. Faden can go about her life ignorant to everything that’s just happened.
Perhaps I expected too much from what is meant to signify the grand merger of Remedy’s properties. The lore convinced me that Alan Wake had a bigger part to play. After AWE, that all seems like an afterthought. Nothing about what Faden is doing seems to be playing into a greater narrative. Wake only shows himself in cryptic visions, and he’s detached from the events taking place at the Bureau. Everything is just more Control, bundled separately to give the impression that it’s anything but. Alan Wake’s physical insertion into Control isn’t methodical. AWE is just a tacked-on side mission that exists to appease those who simply want more.
More isn’t necessarily bad. Control was one of 2019’s best games, and its side missions are one of the most enjoyable parts of the game. But it seemed like AWE was meant to represent something greater than what it is.
AWE follows on the heels of Control’s earlier expansion, The Foundation. If I were to review it again, I’d give The Foundation a lower score. It was boring and shed too much of Control’s original vision. AWE doesn’t expand that vision enough.
I still welcome the idea that Wake and Faden exist in the same space. It’s implied at the end of AWE that there’s more in store for the two. If it comes more as rehashed and inconsequential content, I’ll pass.
The Final Word
AWE feels less like the beginning of some grand interconnected universe and more like a tacked-on reference to Remedy’s previous work.
– MonsterVine Rating: 3 out of 5 – Average
