Control: AWE
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Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Control: AWE
AWE is an enjoyable few hours back in the world of the Bureau and a great first step into Remedy's Connected Universe.
AWE is full of fun lore tidbits linking Control to Alan Wake, but it underwhelms as an addition to both the latter's universe and the former's weird game world.
Smaller and more focused than The Foundation, Control: AWE is sold entirely on the return and crossover with a certain Mr. Wake.
Control: AWE brings back Alan Wake and Bright Falls while smartly integrating the fiction of Control with Remedy's connected universe.
I finished AWE with a yearning for more Alan Wake and a yearning for more Control. Remedy has more or less confirmed we'll get more of both at some point in the future, although they might be presented through the lens of yet another series. That's the reality of the Remedy Connected Universe. As a trial run, AWE manages to be a great double-dip on some beloved narratives, even though it's not necessarily a great representation of either Control or Alan Wake individually. Sometimes the sum is greater than the parts, sometimes the lake is really an ocean.
AWE is an awesome, wondrous expansion with an Alan Wake experience that appropriately weds earlier Remedy titles with Control.
Control: AWE is good in that it's more Control. But it feels like it was leaning a little bit too hard on being a teaser for its Alan Wake connections and the Remedy Connected Universe, which hurt its ability to be a really fun and engaging expansion for the Control side of things. For as brief as the expansion is, much of the runtime feels like it's just spinning its wheels and never really going anywhere. I'm always happy to step into the shoes of Director Jesse Faden again, but AWE never gains its own identity as anything more than an interactive MCU-style post-credits scene; a lot of set up that we'll need to wait years to see payoff. But hey, now you can replay the Ashtray Maze while you wait.
Control's AWE Expansion will satisfy a lot of Alan Wake fans who have been theorizing for nearly a decade about what happened to the writer. While it does introduce some great ideas, you'll ultimately have to wait for whatever Remedy does next to get real resolution.
Industry Coverage
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