Control AWE — How to access bosses with the second arcade machine

One thing that Control was missing for a long while was a way to directly replay boss fights. A new feature introduced with AWE is changing that. Now you can select from a list of bosses and fight them whenever you feel like. Not only that, but you can even replay the Ashtray Maze, which is one of many people’s favorite parts of the game. But how exactly do you access this arcade machine in Control AWE?

When you first find the Shum arcade cabinets, the power is off. When you return with the power back on, only the first machine comes to life. In order to power up the Shum II machine, you’ll need to beat either of the new challenges in the first arcade machine. Specifically, one tasks you with surviving a long bout, while the other has you kill enemies to gain more time. I think the first is more manageable, so that might be your best bet if you just want to get it over with.

That being said, neither is easy. Completing the first will have you fight a large number of dangerous enemies, including brutes with machine guns and those guys with the shields. It’s far from short too, so you’ll need to be mindful of your surroundings in order to stay alive and complete your objective. If you really don’t want to bother, though, you can turn on invulnerability under assists and just steamroll everything in one go.

Quarter muncher

As soon as you beat one of those two challenges, Jesse will be rewarded with some pixelated fireworks. Going back to the real world will reveal that the Shum II arcade machine is now on. You can now refight Control‘s most famously frustrating bosses again, such as The Former, Mold-1, and The Anchor. Or you can just run around the Ashtray Maze while gawking at how awesome that section was. That also works.