I am late to the Alan Wake series. My first experience was with Alan Wake Remastered, and I played that last year. I followed up with Alan Wake: American Nightmare from the Xbox 360 shortly before Alan Wake 2 was released, but I made an executive decision that has prevented me from playing through what everyone has described as Remedy Entertainment's magnum opus.
I wanted to play Control, Remedy's very different, action-oriented title that's set in the same universe as Alan Wake. Just over 40 hours later, I've seen all there is to see in Control; it's not a perfect game, but it has obviously evolved since its initial release and is a truly epic adventure with fantastic visuals, gameplay, and world-building. With the credits rolled on this incredible game, I finally have all the pieces I wanted to experience Alan Wake 2 at its best.
Diving into the Alan Wake universe
I had vaguely heard of Alan Wake before 2023, but I certainly had never played it or engaged with any of its entries. My only experience with Remedy Entertainment (the studio behind Alan Wake and Control) at all was with Quantum Break, a time-bending Xbox One-era console exclusive that I absolutely loved. When I finally experienced Alan Wake via its remastered version, I was immediately struck by the unique take on survival horror and the magnificent world-building, which more than made up for the sometimes-awkward writing.
Gameplay-wise, Alan Wake has just aged wonderfully, making even Alan Wake: American Nightmare (a shorter spin-off title on Xbox 360 and available through backward compatibility) a fun romp through the twisted, darkness-infested recesses of Alan Wake's prison. Alan Wake doesn't count among the scariest games I've played by any measure, but I quickly fell in love with the franchise alongside other series like Resident Evil and The Evil Within.
I played Alan Wake Remastered just in time to become truly excited for its long-awaited sequel, which arrived over 13 years after its predecessor with much fanfare from horror fans all over the world. When Alan Wake 2 was finally released, it was universally praised by critics and players alike thanks to its stunning, mind-breaking visuals and wild narrative. You can read Windows Central's Alan Wake 2 review to see for yourself.
Despite already owning Alan Wake 2, though, I still couldn't quite play it. The perfectionist elements of my brain insisted on having all the puzzle pieces in place before diving into this magnificent horror adventure, and that meant playing Control. Wow, am I glad I did.
The perfect blend of Alan Wake and Quantum Break
Quantum Break didn't enjoy mainstream success, likely due to its release on the then-maligned Xbox One platform, but I and many others consider this action-adventure third-person shooter to be an absolute masterpiece. I 100% Quantum Break when I played it for the first time in 2022 (I know, I'm late to a lot of these games), and it's still one of my favorite Xbox console exclusives of all time. When I booted up Control, I expected something quite similar to Alan Wake, but what I discovered instead was something closer to a spiritual successor to Quantum Break, just wrapped up in the atmosphere and lore of the Alan Wake universe.
Control is an action-oriented third-person shooter, too, and also revolves its frenetic and intense combat around a variety of supernatural abilities. You manipulate your gun, enemies, and even the destructible environment to come out on top, and it never stops being an awesome rush from beginning to end. The powers play more with space than time, but it still shows Remedy's strength to bend the real world into something vaguely recognizable but not quite right.
The mixture of gameplay, visuals, secrets, and even the blend of real-life footage with in-game cinematics all reminded me of the best parts of Quantum Break, and I absolutely loved it. Control is so much fun to play, even without its tie-ins to one of my favorite universes in gaming. Of course, the lore and worldbuilding discovered while exploring the Federal Bureau of Control make it even more worthwhile, with countless ways to dive even further into this world. Control's expansions add on to the base game in all the right ways, with AWE working as a direct lead-in to Alan Wake 2.
If you want to learn more about what I now consider to be the spiritual predecessor to Control, you can read our Quantum Break review. Even better, just go play the game; it's still amazing to this day, and every person who plays it slightly increases the chance we'll one day get a true sequel.
Held back by imperfect writing and boring progression
Let me preface this section by stating that I played the best possible version of Control (the Ultimate Edition) on Xbox Series X, complete with all the fixes, improvements, and additional content Remedy has rolled out since the game's initial release in 2019. Control played almost flawlessly, with great performance and overall stability, few noticeable bugs, and only a handful of visual imperfections. I did experience one crash halfway through my playthrough, but overall, Control feels and looks amazing.
My issues with Control are problems that were never going to be fixed by post-launch updates because they're just critiques of the game. For one, Control's writing never won me over. The writing felt stilted and unnatural, and dialog delivery did little to assuage that opinion. The arching narrative is interesting enough, but it's not my favorite I've experienced from Remedy. The Foundation and AWE expansions did improve on this in my eyes, though, even if AWE, in particular, was very lacking in interesting or meaningful side quests and additional content beyond simply teasing a new adventure with Alan Wake.
More frustrating for me was the lackluster progression. I loved acquiring interesting new abilities that helped me traverse the shifting hallways of The Oldest House (the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Control and the center of everything that happens in Control) or dominate my enemies, but the game was awfully slow to hand them out. More than that, upgrades and character progression in Control just never felt all that interesting. Unlocking new forms for the Service Weapon that you always have was cool enough, but the usefulness of the gun steadily declined during the duration of the campaign; this wasn't helped by the fact that weapon and personal "modules" never really shook up your playstyle in any way.
The main upgrade tree you'll use to power up in Control does include some interesting new abilities and perks that can truly help you, but the vast majority are just simple stat boosts that often aren't even noticeable. This is especially true with health, which always felt extremely limited even when it was fully upgraded. If Control does get a sequel, I hope Remedy completely overhauls this system and experiments more with unique abilities.
An epic adventure well-worth experiencing
Control wasn't just a stepping stone to Alan Wake 2; it's a great game entirely on its own, and I adored my time with it. It took me just over 40 hours to fully explore everything The Oldest House had to offer, and I had a great time doing so and collecting every achievement. The Ultimate Edition is definitely the way to play since it also includes both DLC expansions, but be sure you get the right version for your console. Unfortunately, Remedy and 505 Games split Control into two versions, one for Xbox One and one for Xbox Series X|S. No Smart Delivery here, sadly.
Describing Control as the child of Quantum Break and Alan Wake really isn't a stretch or exaggeration. Loving both of these games; this was an easy win from Remedy. If you've yet to play Control yourself, go do it! It's absolutely one of the best Xbox games for action fans; if you want more convincing, you can read Windows Central's Control review and Control: AWE review (although both of those reviews are more negative than the game deserves, I feel). Control is well-priced now, but it also occasionally goes on sale, so you have no excuse not to dive into this chaotic journey through the world of the paranatural.
Control Ultimate Edition is available for $39.99 at Microsoft for the Xbox Series X|S version (or $39.99 at Microsoft for the Xbox One version), and includes the base game and both DLC expansions.
