Madden NFL 21 is a tale of two games, really. It introduces The Yard, the best new Madden game mode in more than a decade, situating itself nicely alongside the breezy and fun Superstar KO mode that arrived last year. But outside of these exciting inclusions that are well-suited for short sessions, Madden NFL 21 feels all too familiar, even for an annual sports sim. The tentpole modes that require a deep investment haven't received meaningful updates, and the on-the-field gameplay doesn't do much to move the series forward and is hampered by surprising technical issues.

EA Sports has done well as of late with recognizing that not every player wants to sink a dizzying number of hours into Franchise or Ultimate Team. With Madden NFL 20, EA added Superstar KO, a sudden death overtime mode where each player gets one possession. It returns in Madden NFL 21 largely unchanged, retaining its excellent high-stakes matches. With Madden NFL 21, EA has added a second casual game mode that is even better than Superstar KO.

The Yard is easily the most over-the-top game mode to ever appear in Madden. Inspired by backyard football, teams of six compete on an 80-yard field, getting three possessions each to try and score. You can play against the computer, team up with one or two friends, or see how you stack up online against other players. While it doesn't feature NFL Blitz-esque hits, you can get really imaginative with the stripped-down playbooks. You're allowed to throw unlimited forward passes behind the line of scrimmage, and many of the plays are set up to encourage this. Adding to this mechanic is the ability to snap the ball to any of your teammates. The Yard hinges on extravagant plays, as it requires you to move the ball 20 yards for a first down. Due to the limited number of blockers, there's a delay before the defense can pass the line of scrimmage.

Alan Wake had a problem. He'd been teased as being a big part of the final DLC expansion of Control, dubbed AWE, and with that came expectations. Fans of Remedy Entertainment's 2010 psychological horror/thriller shooter had been waiting about a decade for the next phase of his tale. Wake worked furiously to make himself part of the AWE story, appearing in twisted cutscenes that captured his fractured mental state. But in the end, it wasn't enough. Though his writing had the power to alter the very nature of reality, not even Wake could make AWE more than an unsatisfying addition to both his story and that of the game he'd invaded.

Control's AWE expansion ultimately is an underwhelming addition and a thin follow-up to the Remedy cult hit it's invoking. Especially following The Foundation, a DLC drop that added a lot of variety to Control with new powers and a new location that felt very different from everything else in the game, AWE comes off as more of a slightly tweaked rehash of the vanilla Control. AWE tries to tap into some of Alan Wake's spooky suspense underpinnings, and while it sometimes succeeds, it can't quite maintain them for very long.

It's a bit of a whimper for a great game to go out on, as AWE feels more like a teaser for another game you'll have to buy at a later date, rather than a satisfying expansion of (or conclusion to) what we've seen in Control so far.