I now love Control

You know I’ve been writing reviews for almost seven years now, and during that time span a lot has managed to change. Most notably the quality of my reviews have gone up. What were once brief coverages became more descriptive, thoughtful, and critical. I take my work seriously even though I don’t review games for a living. I care about my work in the same way an artist nurtures their craft. They want to grow and formulate an identity of their own that separates them from all the dozens and dozens of artists trying to compete. Especially now in an AI dominated world. So that’s the notable bit about my work, but as a reviewer there also comes a change in opinion. One’s mind cannot stay the same forever, and my taste for games fluctuates in different directions as I check out titles. There were a lot of games my younger self wrote off as being fine. Games I probably wouldn’t think of when five years passed, but five years have passed and some games stayed memorbale.

One of which being Control by Remedy Entertainment. I never stopped thinking about Control, and I don’t know why. The game was made during a strange point in Remedy’s lifespan. Having separated from Microsoft after Quantum Break failed to meet their high expectations. They then for a while were operating independently. Seeking a new publisher who could promote their games. Then came trying to figure out what game to make next. Alan Wake was supposed to get a sequel, but then it was scrapped as they were unhappy with where direction was going. Instead the team yet again began experimenting with new ideas & properties eventually landing with Control. It was an attempt to not just handle crazier concepts but also to advance with the times. Quantum Break was a demonstration of what their homemade Northlight Engine could do, and Control was the proper test. Pushing the physics, lighting, reactivity, and details their games could run. The result, while not properly optimized, was at least better than what Quantum Break had done. They got 505 Games to publish as at the time they were indie. Control was the next step forward, but at the same time it was a small-scale title. Remedy wanted to see if this was a series worth investing in unlike Quantum Break, and thankfully it was as it's not getting sequel.

Back then I didn’t care about Remedy in the same way I love them now. Control was weird, but unlike anything I played up until that point. A peculiar story put in a world that did and didn’t make sense at the same time. It was an uncanny experience, but maybe that’s why it still sticks out in my memory. The Oldest House being a mass facility constantly shifting about. Invaded by an otherworldly threat transforming this already peculiar place into an even more uncanny realm. The game being an action shooter combined with metroidvania design, and somehow nailing the mixture hard. The story may not have been tightly woven, but the presentation is so interesting it makes you lie in bed wondering. Piecing together what you have witnessed & try to make sense of it all. Sometimes the pieces do click together, and you can’t help but wonder more in awe. Control was weird, but its weirdness is what defined it. Hence why it remains to be remembered to me six years after playing it. Since then I’ve checked Remedy’s other games. Big two being the Alan Wake games, and they’ve rocketed from being a studio I respect to now being one of my favorite Triple A developers in the industry. Turning ideas and mechanics handled so many times in the past and somehow finding clever ways to make them feel unique.

I love the universe they’ve crafted and how they connected the world of Alan Wake and Control. A world where normal people get thrown into circumstances beyond their comprehension, and must face not just uncanny horrors but who they are as individuals. Alan Wake 2 is a masterpiece and ever since I played it in 2024 my brain has been craving for more Remedy. Control is getting a sequel this year in the form of Control: Resonant, and what better way to prep up for that than to revisit where it all began. Originally I was planning for this to be a simple replay. See how it holds up and go back to covering releases from this year. Then I got the platinum trophy within the span of three days. Realizing the Oldest House had captivated me more than I imagined. My younger brain must’ve been on some drugs back then and thought Control was an average game. This game is not only better than I remember, but has retrospectively become one of my favorite titles of 2019. Capturing everything I love about Remedy and what they’ve been making recently. I’m not saying Control is this underrated gem only smart people will understand. Even now I still think its narrative is a bit messy compared to the Alan Wake games. It was nominated for multiple awards back in 2019 one of which being Game of The Year. A nomination younger me didn’t understand, but looking back I firmly believed it deserved the spot. Today we’re gonna be talking about my newfound love for Control and why it deserves your humble attention. The mind is a maze, and the maze is your life.

Story

The Federal Bureau of Control, one of many government agencies that aim to protect the public. They aren’t the FBI though who handle dangers such as terrorism, hacking, and foreign enemies. No, the Bureau of Control handles monstrosities from beyond our plain. Creatures from other dimensions, or basic contraptions that have managed to possess supernatural capabilities. What they deem as Objects of Power, and their job is to secure and contain them. Sometimes the work is easy. Other times they bust other heavy weaponry, and arrest those who witness what these so called Objects of Power can do. If word breaks out about dimensional threats then society as we know will fall into chaos. The Bureau has been operating under Zachariah Trench for many full moons. A man who clearly cares for his workers and those working with the Oldest House. A tall structure stationed in the middle of New York City. On the surface they try to appear as an office building. Basic people working nine to five jobs, but hidden within their halls are laboratories. Chambers for containment or experimentation on what they’ve secured. Study the anomalies and see if they can either undo their affinities or use them for good. Some people lose their lives, but they signed up for this. They knew clearly what they were heading into, and the Bureau regularly reminds of these dangers. Trench handled one battle after another within the bunker for which he had contained himself.

All was well until one lady entered their halls one faithful day. Jesse Faden, a young woman who grew up in the town of Ordinary and whose childhood trauma torments her. Her younger brother Dylan and her were busy exploring the town junkyard. They found an old projector acting unusual, and turning it on strange things occurred. The Bureau was called in to handle the chaos. Knabbing the projector, the rubble it made contact with, and taking Dylan into custody. Jesse never saw Dylan again, and no one believed the story she told them. A crazy person left to wander this world alone. Jesse knew what she saw, and promised to one day locate where her brother was. Save him from the halls he’s entrapped in, and bring him back into the world. Despite Jesse growing up alone she wasn’t fully by herself. Ever since touching the projector a voice began to speak to her. Not in actual words, but in thoughts and signals ringing through her head. The being’s name was Polaris and it served as the shining star to guide Jesse through times of need. Hence why Jesse ended up being a pretty decent person in life rather than sealed away in an asylum. As an adult Jesse walks in the Oldest House. Hoping to find Dylan easily and demand they take him out. However, things don’t go as planned as she is told to meet the director. That of course being Trench, and upon finding him she finds his body laying dead on the ground.

Laying on the ground and with a clear bullet hole through his head. As if the man had committed suicide minutes earlier, but the gun resonates with Jesse. It doesn’t look like your standard pistol, and it was calling her. Begging to be picked up and wielded. Jesse does just that and the gun then begins to act violently. Moving in directions as if it were a force tugging away, but Jesse gripped hard. Eventually applying enough strength for the gun to start acting like a normal firearm. She’s transported to another realm where she is attacked by demonic creatures. With the gun she blasts them away and is transported back to the Oldest House. The hallways have twisted and the exits became blocked. She found herself trapped within the mega structure, and then came the fiends again. Leaking into reality and taking possession of the staff. Their bodies now floating into the air as if something were trying to take them. Jesse fights once more and is able to cleanse a spot these creatures had taken. Restoring the space to normal and unlocking a bunker survivors had taken hold in. Emily Pope, a former assistant to Trench, states that you have become the newly chosen director. Someone who can wield the Service Weapon (your gun) and chase back the Hiss who are the monsters trying to invade. She even tells Jesse that her younger brother is concealed only a few floors down, and so this gives Jesse a reason to help. Explore the Oldest House, rescue Dylan, and understand how this all happened.

Gameplay

The story is quite a bit to comprehend, but on the gameplay side things are a lot simpler. Control has a design structure similar to metroidvanias or Batman: Arkham Asylum. The world isn’t fully interconnected as each region of the Oldest House is a different map, but the maps themselves have a lot of rooms and hallways that loop back into each other. It’s important to look out for any shortcuts, because you want to cut down how much backtracking you do. Especially since when you die you get sent back to the last Control Point you settled at, which operates similarly to how bonfires from Dark Souls did. Different paths may need keys obtained from progressing through the main story, but sometimes keys aren’t enough. You may need a new power or skill, because the path forward is out of reach. This is why I compare Control to a metroidvania, because once in a while you need to locate an Object of Power in the area. An item that’ll grant you the means to not just unlock the way forward, but also open up new powers you can wield during combat. It’s the type of design approach I love seeing from metrodivanias where one ability isn’t just for one category of thing to do. You go from being normal to being a superpower badass.

Some of these abilities include levitating inamitae objects to launch at enemies. Floating midair to either glide across pits or reach higher areas. A dash to dodge, and when combined with float you can zip across caverns quickly. Creating a rock shield to block incoming projectiles, and if upgraded you can shoot the shield at enemies. A melee attack to stun enemies for a short period, and mind controlling weakened foes to fight by your side. These powers require energy, and it’s a meter that when fully drained has a brief cooldown. Powers aren’t your only means of defense as you also have the Service Weapon. A gun that much like your powers has its own cooldown meter. There’s encouragement to switch between using your gun and powers often as the Hiss will once in a while have shields. Barriers that drain slowly when shot at, but break if a power is used on them. You also have different flavors of enemies such as flying buggers, or tanks who carry heavy weaponry. Health is in the traditional sense rather than being a regenerating shield like in most shooters. You need to pick up health refills to restore lost hit points, and health is only gained from killing enemies. Control and its combat loop is similar to Doom 4, and just as back then I loved this push forward philosophy. It means you can’t always stay in the same place all the time, and you gotta constantly adapt to the terrain you’re fighting. Especially since level design in Control has a ton of verticality to make use of.

As you explore the Oldest House you’re sure to come across a multitude of unlocks. Finishing missions grant the player skill points, and these can be spent to improve stats and abilities. It is at times an RPG, and this is doubled down by how Control handles weapon perks. The Service Weapon starts off as a normal pistol, but through finding materials you can unlock different forms. By the click of a button you can transform it into a shotgun, machine gun, a charged up sniper rifle, and grenade launcher. Gathering more materials lets you upgrade these different forms, and open up a perk slot. Such perks you can slot in may include better accuracy, less recoil, faster cooldown time, and much more. The higher tier a perk, the better a perk’s stats or numbers will be.You can even craft perks yourself with higher tier perks requiring you better your perk crafting abilities. We’ll address my critiques with this later, but overall the design of Control is rock solid in my opinion. This is a world I thoroughly enjoyed venturing through and unraveling secrets. You can find some really cool stuff if you explore hard enough. Equipment to make the main path through Control a more manageable and enjoyable experience. To the point the endgame will become too easy is the most overpowered and exciting way imaginable. These halls contain beasts from the darkest places. Just hope you have the light to push them back.

Thoughts

Having replayed Control made me appreciate what Sam Lake and the folks at Remedy attempted to achieve. It also made me realize what specific players might not vibe with this game, such as myself back in 2020. Like many big budget video games there come essay videos, and one of the earliest I can remember was the one by Whitelight labeled, “A Beautiful Mess.” That phrase is a perfect description of what Control is to a majority of people. It’s good, great even but among all the things the game does splendidly there’s elements that hold it back. Some of which will turn people off from seeing this game as beyond decent. The gameplay is a good example. The core principals are great, but some of the smaller systems around it aren’t good. Such as a few of the RPG aspects. For how skill points are handled I’m completely fine with it. They’re obtained from finishing main story missions, side quests, and finding secret areas. The third option being so hidden you wouldn't find them without a guide, but the other two are handled well. Some of the side quests in Control unlock whole new areas. One was a hole that led down to a cave. Full of mushroom zombies and eventually a boss fight against a giant plant with fun mechanics.

Some people will complain cool side content such as that shouldn’t be missable, but I love how much effort was put into making a side quest about finding mold samples unique. Leveling your stats isn’t too confusing as the numbers and descriptions are made clear. It’s the perk system that I’m not fully on board with. Not because it’s confusing, but it relies on the rarity system a game like Borderlands uses. Where you’re always having new loot dumped onto, and eventually your inventory system clogs up. Forcing you to grind down gear you don’t use into main currency. It’s not all doom and gloom, because at least you can turn it into currency you can buy stuff with, but then you do run out of stuff to buy. As you unlock all upgrades for your different gun forms, and the perk crafting system is useless as better perks are rewarded for exploring and progressing. It really is one of those ideas that is good on paper, but in practice didn’t pan out well. I do have a bit of respect for not leaning so heavily on crafting, so there’s that. The different gun forms are fun to play around with, but it’s best just sticking to two. Trying to manage perks across all five or so gun forms can be annoying, and you can only have two forms equipped at time for quick swapping. Which makes me wonder why they didn’t add a weapon whell to whip out easily, so players don’t always have to open up a menu if they want to swap let’s say the machine gun for the shotgun.You also got the procedurally generated activities I didn’t bother delving into earlier. Such as the Bureau Alerts or Countermeasures, which get disruptive.

I have criticism for games that have elements that are there for the sake of being there. Not just due to poor incorporation, but also the fact some people on the development had to certainly put time and thought into them. Hoping their work on these elements would benefit the game. Only to then realize you could rip them out, and nothing would be lost. These are only minor aspects to me, because overall the core gameplay of Control is really splendid. I’d go as far to say this is one of my favorite action shooters of all time. The combat loop is one of the most unique I seen. Every fight you’re always on the move whether it’s to reposition yourself, get closer to where the action is, or a mad dash to pick up health refills to stay alive. Not to say every idea in Control is original as there have been tons of games from before to do them, but it’s how they’re handled that make Control a solidly designed game. In the same way Hollow Knight isn’t original, but its handling of ideas is what makes it so extraordinary. I like how the gun has a cooldown instead of ammo you need to loot, because it forces you to rethink your approach. Know when to use your powers, or back away from a clusterf*ck. The enemy variety while not large is enough to have you on your toes. An explodey dude needs to be eliminated quickly, so throw hit them with guns that are strong like the shotgun or charge. That or through an object. A flying enemy can move frantically in the air, so use a long range gun like the basic pistol or piercer. That or throw one object then another. Tank have shields, so just thr- 

Okay you can slightly see a pattern going on here. You use your powers a lot. Not a bad thing as I said earlier Control is an amazing superpower video game. Your powers have weight and they just feel so good to use. One of Remedy’s main focuses with Control was improving the physics as every object and piece of the environment can be used as a weapon. The walls and pillars are easily ripped apart as you pull a slate of rock, throw it at an enemy, and watch it fly into dozens of pieces. It’s great technical work albeit not the most stable. One of my critiques for Control all those years ago was how many framerate dips one should experience, and if you’re not playing this game on a high end console or computer like myself then you’re gonna run into problems. It also did not help that Control initially released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Not Cyberpunk levels of being a technical mess, but noticeable. Playing it on a PlayStation 5 now felt great and allowed me to experience it the way Remedy was hoping for back in 2019. The game does have a weird difficulty curve. With the opening hour being kind of cruel, and the late game becoming too easy. As most likely you have explored a bunch, and leveled up all core abilities close to max level. You reach a point where you can chuck debris like crazy and kill and tank within seconds. The opening hour is rough as you face a boss with tons of health, is aggressive, and can kill you within seconds. Yet again, making the game start hard and end easy can be good depending on who you are. It’s a nice showcase of progression and seeing what the player has become. How they went from being an ordinary person to a demigod.

The level design is superb containing the thought process metroidvanias have. The Oldest House is one of my favorite settings in a video game, and it’s not due to the architecture. There’s a ton of verticality to the world, which makes sense as eventually you unlock the ability to fly. There’s rooms and offices you can glide over that in any other video game you’re not normally able to reach. Remedy took the time to make every space in the Oldest House a place you can walk in. It really does feel like a professional office building at times with how it was set up. How rooms lead into each other. Taking an elevator to load into each sector is disjointed at times, and you can tell this was due to the smaller scope and budget they most likely had making Control. It is an issue I hope they improve going in Control: Resonant, and the chance of that happening is high as Alan Wake 2 let you wander around Bright Falls easily and had a whole dark version of New York to crawl your way through. The art direction is immaculate. I don’t know how to fully describe, but something about the brutalist architecture and usage of lighting. Making a building that should feel normal to most people turns uncanny. That you don’t belong here or that you’re unwanted. It’s alien, empty, and atmospherically echoes with awe. You even got these videos by Dr. Darling who is played by the same dude who plays Alan Wake. Filmed with a CRTV filter, and despite being research vids they give this uneasiness. A glimpse into a past before said past came to rip this place a whole new a***ole to sh*t out of. Alan Wake was a multi medium work of art, and Control seems to have some of its DNA poured into it.

My last critique is that I wish the main game had actual boss fights like the side quests. As most of the bosses in the main game are beefed up introductions to enemies you face regularly. How this game ends is a bit anticlimatic with how much was leading into the ending. Alan Wake 2 did not have a final boss like most video games featured by tradition but the way it ended, especially the true ending in the new game plus, felt climatic. This does bring me onto the story of Control. The one aspect everyone is critical of, because compared to Alan Wake and any of the studios’ past work it’s oddly told. Either giving vague descriptions to the player so they either don’t know what is going on or only by a little. However, there is an art in giving vague details as it allows the player’s mind to fill in the gaps. Challenge them to formulate their own interpretations, and Remedy has always been great at this. Control isn’t a horror game like Alan Wake, but it can feel like it with how it handles presentation and the mysteriousness of everything. Jesse Faden in my opinion is a good character, because you get the sense that she’s a normal person trying so hard to prove to others that she’s not insane. That all of this isn’t in her head, and the trauma she went through isn’t a joke. Afraid to let her mind apart, because she does she’s proven how incapable she is at being a human being. Nothing but anxiety floods her mind, and she does not want these dark thoughts to be the only aspects that define her. Control never made sense for the title of this game, but I may understand why these chose it. This isn’t just about reclaiming the House from the Hiss, but Jesse telling reality she has control over her life. That she can be responsible despite all that she has endured as a person.

I love Control as you can tell by now. It’s not a perfect game and if someone told me they think it is a fine game even now I’d believe them. If I were to summarize my thoughts I’d say it’s a work of art that’s great at exploration and action, but not so much on the RPG elements. Which is why Remedy want to make a full on action RPG with Control: Resonant, and I’m really excited to see where that game goes. Who knows, maybe I’ll buy the game full price once it comes out on disc for the PlayStation 5. Yeah, that’s probably what I’m gonna end up doing. Control gets a strong recommendation in my book, and has reminded me why Remedy Entertainment has become one of my favorite big developers in this day and age. In the end I am going to give Control a 9.5/10 for being superb.

9.5/10, Superb