Remedy Entertainment hasn't developed a particularly large number of games, but it's always proven itself as a studio that puts quality over quantity. In the early 2000s, Remedy received massive praise for its noir shooter Max Payne. In 2019, Remedy earned acclaim once again for Control, its third-person action-adventure title about Jesse Faden's encounters with mind-bending eldritch forces locked within a secret government organization. However, Control wasn't Remedy's first foray into the supernatural by a long shot. Long before Remedy released Control, it made Alan Wake, in which a writer in a sleep Washington town battles the supernatural as the events of his next novel begin to manifest unnaturally.
It's been a long time since Alan Wake came out in 2010, but he's still got a presence in Remedy's games. Control fans noticed quite quickly that the game had a lot of hidden references to Alan Wake. Remedy later confirmed that Control and Alan Wake take place in the same universe, nailing that down with a Control DLC crossing over with Alan Wake more directly. That lore revelation indicated more things to come in Remedy's gaming universe and drummed up tons of hype among fans of both Control and Alan Wake. Hype always comes with some impatience, which is why it's great that Alan Wake Remastered will be out in October. Fans who are in desperate need of more content in the Remedy Connected Universe will be glad to hear that the remaster is releasing soon.
Control Fans Have Some Waiting To Do
Alan Wake Remastered was only just announced by Remedy, but it couldn't be more timely. Control had a good run in 2019 and through 2020 as the game released for various consoles and received major DLCs. Unfortunately for the Control fanbase, though, the game has seemingly come to the end of its active life with its release for PS5 and Xbox Series X in early 2021. Control is excellent, but it's also a fairly short game, which means that fans don't have much content to tide them over before a sequel comes out.
It is a relief to know that Remedy has plans for a Control sequel, but the fairly vague statements Remedy has made about it suggest it's very far away from release. Condor, the multiplayer Control spinoff, doesn't seem to be much closer. As great as it is to know that Remedy is adding more games to this universe, it's tantalizing to also know that fans have to wait. With that wait in mind, Alan Wake Remastered will be a big help to the Control community. Alan Wake is very much worth revisiting in the newly added context of Control.
Alan Wake Puts Control in Perspective
The Alan Wake remaster is a big boon for all fans of Control. Considering the fact that the two games were first released nearly a decade apart, there are probably quite a few Control fans out there who never got the chance to play Alan Wake. Even longtime Remedy fans who did play Alan Wake back in the day could certainly benefit from the remaster, refreshing their memory of the game's events and thinking more deeply about it. After all, while Control brings Alan Wake into a larger franchise, Alan Wake likewise sheds some light on the events of Control and just how far-reaching the franchise's supernatural forces are.
Remedy could've generated lots of hype for the remaster in advance if it so chose, but in a way, it's best that it announced Alan Wake Remastered only a month before its release date. Between the Control sequel and Condor, fans of the Remedy Connected Universe have enough waiting to do; throwing a third game on the pile would've been agonizing. Instead, Alan Wake Remastered will serve as a prompt means to tide over fans and refresh interest in these mysteriously bonded franchises.
Alan Wake Remastered releases on October 5, 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.