The guys of Remedy Entertainment they're genius when it comes to messing up plots (in a good way) - we've seen it with Max Payne, one of the most interesting noirs ever, we lived with Alan Wake, and already with the story of Control we had guessed that the title did not offer the usual dull plot. The real genius however turns up with AWE, the second DLC that adds four hours of story, many additional missions and an unoriginal but quite interesting gameplay mechanic. The software house also plays a lot with acronyms: with the acronym AWE, in Control those events that have altered reality in a heavy way are classified. Going through the main plot we can see a couple of them, including the one that happened to Thread. AWE, however, could also stand as an acronym for Alan Wake experience, since this DLC inserts the beloved writer seen in the homonymous game dedicated to him. We've gotten rid of this additional content, and here we are at the review.
Above you will find the reviews of the full game, as well as the first DLC, while in another article we will certainly talk about the plot of this content, how it connects to Alan Wake and its meanings.
Light and Darkness
One of the things that is immediately highlighted in the game is the lack, unlike the previous time, of new powers: the work offers something different, a DLC that is not a real addition to the plot of Control but more a bridge of link between the game and Alan Wake. Obviously, being connected to the events that occurred a Bright Falls, this time the enemy will be made of darkness, and to defeat him we will have to use the light. Then the much-loved generators return, to be used for electric current, as well as real spotlights to be moved with telekinesis to point them at areas of darkness, in order to dissipate it. Apart from this dynamic, the rest exploits all the gameplay of the classic game (also forgetting the powers taken in the DLC "Le Foundations“) And leads us to discover a new area of the Oldest Home, the one that houses many reconstructions related to AWE.
As in the previous one DLC, the command of the Jesse it is vital, since you will not have a tutorial to be able to resume the hand: despite this, Control: AWE is much simpler, with the exception of the final boss who instead requires - as well as attention and precision - also considerable speed. From a technical point of view, nothing changes from the main game, but we find a Alan Wake in full form: taking advantage of new technologies, the character (who still bears the features of the actor Ilkka Villi) rekindles the love for that game almost instantly. Instead, what you will struggle to understand will be the connection between everything, but we will talk about this separately, and what really happens in the title.
The right attention
It must be said that this time, in this Control: AWE the attention was definitely focused on the plot and on how it connects with Alan Wake, even going so far as to give information related to what happened after the end of the game (and doing sense the arrival of a new episode in the next few years). This affects the level design, now more repetitive, as well as in the fighting and in the boss fight. On the other hand, the use of light and dark makes the game even closer to horror, with some phases really almost in the dark it's a final boss capable of playing some tricks on you.
The construction of the levels is actually quite "classic", as it again focuses on a slight backtracking and scenarios connected by a central area. On the other hand, what seems really interesting are the new secondary missions: going from those of Ahti up to other goals to be achieved, this part represents more or less the real challenge of the game, which otherwise will never make you scream in rage for losing a fight.
