Final Control DLC that merges together the REMEDYVERSEEEEEEEE and will give us closure on shit???
Nah not really.
This DLC set up is pretty damn flimsy - the elevator at the end of the main hub is dark for some reason? Then we get flashes of Alan Wake writing a story and we're off to the races! Of course we've heard plenty about Wake in this game so we know the deal - shit went down in Bright Falls and there are some shadowy entities and of course the Bureau is interested in that. However it seems a new part of the bureau is unearthed and they were VERY interested in what happened in the town and excavated whole chunks of it just like Ordinary... unlike Ordinary however and how it ties to Jesse I'm really not sure what this means for the characters/story rather than the player? Like I'm super excited that the end of the DLC is straight up "There will be a new AW/Ctrl game in a couple years as a new incident is clearly brewing in Bright Falls"but what does this mean for our story going forward? Does this DLC really DO anything other than have some cool levels + telling us to get ready for a new game down the line? Is that worth the money or time?
...I'm not really sure?
What this DLC did well - bringing back all the Darkness enemies and themes from Alan Wake with a creepy as hell new boss/enemy type that is unkillable with all my badass powers and makes me AFRAID of dark areas! That is a damn neat take on things as Jesse is a legit superhero and it is tough to make the player feel vulnerable in that state but they managed it! The new enemy is really damn creepy and while there are DEFINITELY too many fights with it (and in fact the whole damn DLC is just chasing it around until you corner it) each one on its own was quite good. There's a new horde mode + boss rush that gives a new costume and I am a sucker for dress up in my games obviously. The level design is also top-notch still of course and the game's standard art style of 'stark lighting meets insane geometry' is still 11/10.
There's honestly not a ton to say about this DLC and that leaves me pretty meh on it. I've spent a year after finishing Control + Alan Wake being HYPED at the two worlds colliding and our protagonists getting to interact in some way and .... nothing really happens at all? I just complained about this in the Foundation DLC review YESTERDAY but this clearly falls flatly in the 'useless DLC' column story-wise. The devs at Remedy know they can't put anything meaningful in it because otherwise AW2/Ctrl2 players will just be confused as to what the fuck is going on so nothing can really happen! It is great to hear Alan Wake's story ramblings again don't get me wrong but I was really hoping for more from all of this build up.
Nah not really.
This DLC set up is pretty damn flimsy - the elevator at the end of the main hub is dark for some reason? Then we get flashes of Alan Wake writing a story and we're off to the races! Of course we've heard plenty about Wake in this game so we know the deal - shit went down in Bright Falls and there are some shadowy entities and of course the Bureau is interested in that. However it seems a new part of the bureau is unearthed and they were VERY interested in what happened in the town and excavated whole chunks of it just like Ordinary... unlike Ordinary however and how it ties to Jesse I'm really not sure what this means for the characters/story rather than the player? Like I'm super excited that the end of the DLC is straight up "There will be a new AW/Ctrl game in a couple years as a new incident is clearly brewing in Bright Falls"but what does this mean for our story going forward? Does this DLC really DO anything other than have some cool levels + telling us to get ready for a new game down the line? Is that worth the money or time?
...I'm not really sure?
What this DLC did well - bringing back all the Darkness enemies and themes from Alan Wake with a creepy as hell new boss/enemy type that is unkillable with all my badass powers and makes me AFRAID of dark areas! That is a damn neat take on things as Jesse is a legit superhero and it is tough to make the player feel vulnerable in that state but they managed it! The new enemy is really damn creepy and while there are DEFINITELY too many fights with it (and in fact the whole damn DLC is just chasing it around until you corner it) each one on its own was quite good. There's a new horde mode + boss rush that gives a new costume and I am a sucker for dress up in my games obviously. The level design is also top-notch still of course and the game's standard art style of 'stark lighting meets insane geometry' is still 11/10.
There's honestly not a ton to say about this DLC and that leaves me pretty meh on it. I've spent a year after finishing Control + Alan Wake being HYPED at the two worlds colliding and our protagonists getting to interact in some way and .... nothing really happens at all? I just complained about this in the Foundation DLC review YESTERDAY but this clearly falls flatly in the 'useless DLC' column story-wise. The devs at Remedy know they can't put anything meaningful in it because otherwise AW2/Ctrl2 players will just be confused as to what the fuck is going on so nothing can really happen! It is great to hear Alan Wake's story ramblings again don't get me wrong but I was really hoping for more from all of this build up.