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 shooterMax Payne.In 2019, Remedy earned acclaim once again forControl,its third-person action-adventure title aboutJesse Faden’s encounters with mind-bending eldritch forceslocked within a secret government organization. However,Controlwasn’t Remedy’s first foray into the supernatural by a long shot. Long before Remedy releasedControl,it madeAlan 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 sinceAlan Wakecame out in 2010, but he’s still got a presence in Remedy’s games.Controlfans noticed quite quickly that the game had a lot of hidden references toAlan Wake.Remedy later confirmed thatControlandAlan Waketake place in the same universe, nailing that down with aControlDLC crossing over withAlan Wakemore directly. That lore revelation indicated more things to come in Remedy’s gaming universe and drummed up tons of hype among fans of bothControlandAlan Wake.Hype always comes with some impatience, which is why it’s great thatAlan Wake Remasteredwill 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.
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Control Fans Have Some Waiting To Do
Alan Wake Remasteredwas only just announced by Remedy, but it couldn’t be more timely.Controlhad a good run in 2019and through 2020 as the game released for various consoles and received major DLCs. Unfortunately for theControlfanbase, 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.Controlis 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 aControlsequel, but the fairly vague statements Remedy has made about it suggest it’s very far away from release.Condor,the multiplayerControlspinoff, 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 Remasteredwill be a big help to theControlcommunity.Alan Wakeis very much worth revisiting in the newly added context of Control.
Alan Wake Puts Control in Perspective
TheAlan Wakeremaster is a big boonfor all fans ofControl.Considering the fact that the two games were first released nearly a decade apart, there are probably quite a fewControlfans out there who never got the chance to playAlan Wake.Even longtime Remedy fans who did playAlan Wakeback 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, whileControlbringsAlan Wakeinto a larger franchise,Alan Wakelikewise sheds some light on the events ofControland 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 announcedAlan Wake Remasteredonly a month before its release date.Between theControlsequel andCondor,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 Remasteredwill serve as a prompt means to tide over fans and refresh interest in these mysteriously bonded franchises.
Alan Wake Remasteredreleases on May 16, 2025 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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