Release Date: 27/08/2019
Played On: PS4
Available On: PS4 / Win / XBO
Time Played: 24h 57m
Progress: Platinum Trophy / 100% Complete
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Publisher: 505 Games
It wasn't so long ago that I delved into Remedy Entertainment's odd sci-fi experience, Quantum Break, which now seems like an interesting experiment along the way to much better things. In fact it seems like they studio have learned a lot of useful lessons from some of the key successes and failures from this troubled entry in their development history.
I actually quite enjoyed Quantum Break for what it was, even though it had some severe issues that ultimately ruined the whole experience. Not least of which was the inclusion of full motion video "episodes" that broke up the action and spent more time buffering than providing a visceral gaming experience. However, Remedy were able to maintain their unique game-feel that had been established in the Max Payne series, which ended up saving the day.
Control is Remedy's latest outing into a surreal world of science fiction, and there's no denying that this is a team that have improved and refined their craft significantly over time. The flaws of the past have been adapted to better implementations, while the strengths remain prominent and at centre stage. It's clear that Max Payne put this studio on the map, but this impeccable release has shown us just how developed these developers have become.
At the same time, I think half of the appeal of Control will depend on the player's culture and age, as it makes clear references to other media in order to sell its premise. Suffice to say, if you've ever been a fan of The X-Files, Twin Peaks, The Twilight Zone, or anything of their ilk, then you're prepped and ready for Control. Add in a generous dose of SCP Foundation and you've got a good idea about the kind of vibe going on here.
It's hard to avoid these kind of comparisons as the game takes place in a building that's frozen in time and technological advances. Hence, the entire game has an air of the 1960s cold war about it thanks to every environment featuring dated architecture and technologies. Thankfully though, this is far beyond a simple aesthetic designed to evoke a sense of nostalgia, as it forms the foundation for the entire narrative.
The game is set within the walls of a building called "The Oldest House", within which are the offices and laboratories of The Federal Bureau of Control. To put it simply, this organisation is tasked with monitoring and dealing with paranormal activity all over the globe. Turns out there are certain locations and objects that create scenarios and effects that need to be contained and studied, and the FBC is the mob that do it.
In the same way that good literature presents the setting as a character in its own right, The Oldest House acts as something of a House of Usher throughout Control. It's a building that has no fixed location and within its walls the architecture morphs and changes seemingly to its own will. There are portals to other dimensions and previously undiscovered elements to be found within; along with a catalogue of benign and aggressive powers and forces that require containment to protect the world outside.
The real genius behind The Oldest House is that we often only learn about its history through contextual clues and conversations. There are rooms that have been designed for specific purposes, like giant empty expanses that act as fire-breaks between sections of the house. Other areas house vast utilities and offices, while something as simple as a light switch will be cordoned off and plastered in warnings.
We learn that somehow The Oldest House has been stuck in time, as new technology like modern computers won't work within its walls. It's actually a fairly simple conceit, but it's enough to justify a setting where all the computers, telephones, and other technologies are stuck in the past. At times it could seem like a bit of a stretch, but I'm glad there's an attempt to justify the setting, rather than just a shrug and "the 60s were cool".
As we progress through Control's story, different areas of the house are opened up to us in a light metroidvania style of progression. Each new section brings forth new challenges and new environments that are as diverse as the many worlds the house seems to inhabit. This is one of the key masterpieces created in this game, as the setting itself is enough to be struck with awe and intrigue. Thankfully though, there's a lot more to see as well.
The basic plot of Control is that we play as Jesse, who has shown up in the lobby of the FBC only to find that nobody is around. We quickly learn that there is an ethereal entity that is guiding Jesse and helping her along the way, and we soon discover that she is at the bureau to look for her brother who she believes is being held somewhere inside The Oldest House.
After a short look around, Jesse discovers that the FBC has been locked down because a malicious entity called The Hiss has escaped and is infecting everyone in the building. Everyone other than a few remaining staff who were able to equip themselves with protective gear in time. Entire sections of the building are blocked by The Hiss, but Jesse soon discovers that she is immune to their effects and that she is able to cleanse areas to free them from infection.
It's a neat little mechanic that gates progression through the game, as moving from section to section of the sprawling building can be quite confusing. By drip-feeding small areas at a time, we're given enough opportunity to learn the layout of the environment and become familiar with its different (and often surreal) architecture.
Thanks to Jesse's ability to avoid infection by The Hiss, and some other reasons that are worth finding out for yourself, we end up being tasked with cleaning up The Oldest House. At the same time we get to discover more about the experiments and tests they were performing, along with what happened to our brother, and how things got so out of hand in the first place.
Needless to say, this is a story that's filled with mystery and exploration. There are loads of items to find along the way that fill in the lore and backstory to the FBC and its employees. Something as simple as a memo from one worker to another can reveal how normal it was for the FBC to encounter paranormal anomalies in their daily life.
Although, one of the most interesting kind of collectibles in The Oldest House, is also one of the greatest improvements that Control makes on some of the failed ideas in Quantum Break. Namely, the use of full motion video, which has been reduced to videos found on projectors and as tapes that can be played on old televisions. These video diaries feature FMV of actors playing characters that have played key roles in what The Oldest House has become, as well as how The Hiss came to be and essentially what's going on.
The nice thing about these collectibles is that they are often entirely optional, so you can choose to take a deep dive into the game's lore, or equally ignore it and press on to the action. There's enough variety between letters, memos, audio tapes, video recordings, etc; that I never felt like it was a chore to learn as much as I could along the way. Most instances where lore is dumped in abundance, appear in places and at times that make sense, which prevents the pacing from grinding to halt every time there's a new piece of paper to read.
In fact, some of the most interesting parts of Control are found on the pages of files that can be found strewn around the building. These files document the Objects of Power and Altered World Events that are the primary focus of the FBC. What's more, as we progress through the story and explore different areas of The Oldest House, we're bound to run into many of these Objects of Power along the way, so it might be useful to know how to deal with them.
As an example, one of the objects that has escaped its containment warps the environment around itself to appear twisted and far away. The only way to get to it is to travel through the air without touching certain parts of the ground. It's a simple challenge that's easily overcome, but when you've read all about the object and how to control it, reaching it and cleansing it is a lot easier.
Plus, this is probably something you'll want to do throughout the story, as cleansing Objects of Power is how Jesse manages to acquire powers of her own. There are a full range of abilities to discover and unlock, but most of them are not mandatory so it's easy to miss some of the more creative ones. However, there are also areas of The Oldest House that can't be reached without the required combination of powers, such as levitation and dashing, which can be used to float across large gaps and reach out of the way ledges.
There are other abilities to find, but perhaps one of the most useful powers is that of telekinesis. Early on Jesse discovers the ability to levitate objects from the environment and hurl then at enemies. Pretty soon this becomes one of Jesse's most powerful weapons against The Hiss, as more often than not, hurling a lump of concrete at an enemy can be more effective than shooting them.
Speaking of shooting, even Jesse's gun has some paranormal properties. After all, she finds it within The Oldest House near the beginning of the game, but soon learns that it can be upgraded and modified for different uses. While Jesse only has this single weapon throughout the game, it's a weapon that changes its form to become more than a simple pistol. With the press of a button, the gun's form shifts and it becomes a shotgun, then an automatic rifle, then a sniper rifle, and so on.
Each different form of Jesse's weapon needs to be discovered and unlocked by killing enemies. Whenever an enemy dies it drops a number of pickups that can be used to augment and improve Jesse's powers and her weapon. Additionally, enemies drop health pickups when killed, which is the only way for Jesse to recover health along the way, creating some interesting and tense moments during fights.
If I had to find any fault in the game, it might be that Jesse's weapon feels a little unsatisfying at times, compared to some of the other shooting systems we've played with in previous Remedy games. I spent a lot of time talking about the gunplay in Max Payne and Quantum Break, as you tell that each bullet was rendered and travelled through three dimensional space in real time. Guns felt visceral and shot placement mattered, which ended up creating a unique game-feel that was idiosyncratic to games by Remedy Entertainment.
Control loses a little of that game-feel in favour of context, as Jesse's gun feels a little weaker than those in other games. I can't tell if shots are rendered or hit-scan, but even the punchy shotgun form feels a little light and unsatisfying. Then again, I'm the kind of gamer who wants their head blown back every time they fire a powerful weapon, so maybe I'm being a bit harsh.
Either way, while the gunplay in Control is satisfying and fun, it lacks the punch of that unique Remedy game-feel. Although I actually don't mind so much, as the weapons in question are not of this world, and neither are the enemies they're being fired at. With this context in mind, a lot can be excused; leaving the gunplay in Control to be perfectly enjoyable, even if it's not the strongest aspect of the game.
Let's talk mechanics for a second, as this is the other most satisfying and refined aspect of Control that has clearly been learned from past mistakes. While movement felt quite detached from shooting in Quantum Break, the two are wonderfully balanced and complimentary in Control.
Funnily enough, in Quantum Break I never felt like I had full control over special movements like dashing away from enemies. Hence, I didn't use the movement systems as much as I would have liked, but Control actually lives up to its name mechanically. Moving Jesse around becomes second nature and essential for survival in some fights, and I always felt like I was in charge of every movement.
This is a huge improvement to the overall game-feel, as defeat in Control always felt like I had messed it up, not that the game was getting in my way. This was no more apparent than during some of the harder boss fights, which felt a little bit like a Souls game at time.
The Oldest House is divided by "Control Points" which essentially act as bonfires. From these points you can teleport to other points, buy upgrades, and recover health. Thus, during some particularly difficult boss fights I would end up in that rhythm of fighting and dying, only to respawn at the closest control point to run back to the boss and repeat the process.
However, much like the Souls games, I never felt like the game was screwing me over when fighting difficult bosses. It always felt like I either wasn't strong enough yet, or I just need to practice and get good. Thankfully though, the bosses I had a lot of trouble defeating were only optional bosses, so it's easy enough to just finish the game without bashing your head against a hard boss wall.
In fact there's a lot about Control that's ultimately optional, as the path forward is divided into main and side quests, with most content being in the latter. Some of the most creative areas of The Oldest House can only be found via side quests, and it's essential to deviate from the critical path if you want to upgrade abilities beyond an average level.
All of this ends up contributing to Control feeling like an exceptionally well-paced experience, which is a surprise for a game with so much back-tracking and exploration. I particularly dislike metroidvania platformers, as most of the time progression feels arbitrarily gated, which is not fun for me at all. Thankfully though, Control has the world-building and story to back up everything that's happening along the way. I feel like the importance of this kind of game design can't be understated, as it allows for the most mundane tasks to feel compelling and important.
Of course the story goes a lot deeper and further into unknown territory than I would ever want to spoil here, but I found it very rewarding to explore every aspect of Control that was open to me. I even spent extra time exploring where I could go with Jesse's movement abilities, and every time I found a new nook to explore I was rewarded.
This only furthers my point that The Oldest House is a genius setting for this game, as it has been built with every inch of its environment in mind. There are loads of little out-of-the-way locations that can only be reached with some creative use of abilities, but are always worth the effort. I mean, I'm not the kind of person who wants to Platinum every game I play, but I took the time and effort to achieve everything I could in Control, because it was so much fun to do so.
I've been avoiding too much talk about the story in Control, but I have to point out that it's one of the game's strongest features - in a game with a lot of strong features. Jesse is an interesting character who has vulnerabilities as well as determination. She's often reluctant to jump into the "hero" role and often attempts to find the fastest path to her goals without getting all crazy like a cliché protagonist.
The other characters we meet in The Oldest House are each fascinating in their own right. From the disgruntled jerk who runs the containment facility, to the enigmatic janitor who is one of the most interesting side characters I've encountered in a game for a long time.
I shouldn't be surprised by decent characterisations, as everything about the world and its inhabitants has been fleshed out and written superbly. What's more, the voice acting is some of the best in the industry and there's just enough balance between raising questions and trying to answer them.
I love it when I'm left to infer meaning instead of just reading it, or being told directly. Perhaps this is why I love how much The Oldest House plays such a strong role from start to finish, or how there's lore to be found and absorbed, but I never felt like I had a complete picture of everything that went on at the FBC. This kind of mystery is fiercely compelling for fans of conspiracy science fiction like X-Files, and it's beautifully realised in Control.
It may be no surprise then that Control is my front-runner for my 2019 GOTY, as it manages to do just about everything right. I actually find it hard to fault Control at all, which is surprising to me, as it's a game that created many possibilities to stumble.
The difficulty is challenging enough on Normal, while some bosses will test all of your capabilities. The story is fascinating and never fails to motivate further exploration and discovery as you traverse the world of multiple dimensions and surrealism. The writing is strong and the voice acting is great; even the FMVs that frequently find their way onto the screen are well produced and actually makes sense in the world.
This feels like Remedy Entertainment have finally come full circle and created one of the most satisfying and original games of its time. Sure there are loads of obvious inspirations taken from other mediums, but they're so elegantly wound together into the world of Control, that it never feels pastiche or lazily derivative.
Instead what we have here is a masterpiece of sorts, that shows how important it is to spend time and energy on every aspect of a science fiction world. Control would be significantly hurt if any one of its fine aspects had been ignored and left to be average. If the world wasn't so rich with detail, or the characters so diverse and interesting, the entire experience would suffer as a result.
This is ultimately as close to flawless as a game could possibly get. Of course you have to be interested in the premise and enjoy the third-person action gameplay, but that's true for any genre we encounter as gamers. At the end of the day though, Control might just be the game I tell everyone else to play when they're looking for something interesting and unique to sink their teeth into.
I mean, I didn't bother getting the Platinum trophy for God Of War (2018), and I absolutely adored that game. So I guess that says all anyone needs to know about how much I enjoyed playing Control.