Synopsis:
After a secretive agency in New York is invaded by an otherworldly threat, you become the new Director struggling to regain Control in this supernatural 3rd-person action-adventure from Remedy Entertainment and 505 Games.

Publisher: 505 Games
Reviewed on: PS4 (PS4 Pro)
Also available for: Xbox One, Windows
Cast: Courtney Hope, Matthew Porretta, James McCaffrey, Jennifer Armour, Martti Suosalo

Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Concept by: Mikael Kasurinen, Sam Lake
Directed by: Mikael Kasurinen
Story by: Sam Lake
Music by: Petri Alanko, Martin Stig Andersen

Like all good episodes of The X-Files or The Twilight Zone, there is a fantastic mystery at the centre of Control, a game that seems inspired by both the weekly adventures of Scully and Mulder and the tone of The Twilight Zone. Remedy Entertainment are definitely fans of serials (see Quantum Break) and horror as well (see Alan Wake), and now they combine many of these past inspirations into the deep, intriguing and mysterious world of Control.

Jesse Faden has been appointed the new Director of the Federal Bureau of Control, but as she arrives at the rather normal exterior of the FBC building situated in the middle of New York City, something seems off. She makes her way through the lower, desolate levels, only bumping into one maintenance worker the entire time, and when she arrives at the Director’s office, a strange weapon awaits her. It’s a pistol, but its body contorts and changes shape as if it’s alive. Jesse doesn’t have much time to piece together what’s in front of her though as she’s quickly confronted by security workers ominously being controlled by an outside force, and the mysterious gun is put to work.

There is more to Jesse, of course, and the performance from Courtney Hope is nuanced and emotional. I just don’t want to spoil too much, as Control will be much more fun the more you learn as you play.

After you make your way through the first few sections of the inside of the FBC, Jesse will save a few employees and get details on what exactly is going on. Something, a thing Jesse decides to call “the Hiss,” has made its way inside nearly every person and the building has been put on lockdown. Jesse shouldn’t have been able to get in, but she did, somehow. Now the job falls on Jesse, as new Director, to take control of the FBC and find out what the Hiss is, how it’s affecting people and what other secrets lie deep within the FBC.

Combat in Control starts relatively simple for a third-person action game. Her gun — the Service Weapon — fires energy and recharges when not in use. You have infinite ammo, but run it dry and it’ll take several seconds to cool off. There is no cover mechanic in Control, and at first this may seem odd, but this isn’t a traditional third-person shooter; it’s a superhero game, and Jesse is the star.

Jesse starts the game with basic telekinetic powers that can rip cement blocks out of walls to fling at enemies or lift tables, chairs and other objects to throw. Eventually, she’ll unlock other abilities including a fast dash and the ability to levitate, which makes Control feel most like Sucker Punch’s Infamous games.

Jesse is powerful and you can shape the way you want to play, or adapt to the variety of enemies you’ll encounter. Different forms of the Service Weapon can be unlocked by crafting them with materials found, earned and dropped from enemies. A close-range shotgun variation will obliterate lesser enemies in a wide cone in front of Jesse, while a sniper variation allows you to pick off enemies from afar or deal tons of damage with a charged-up shot.

You can modify the Service Weapon’s forms with equippable perks that decrease reload times, increase damage and more. You’ll find these Weapon Mods dropped by enemies or hidden throughout the game in containers. You can also craft them — and upgrade your crafting level to make higher-tier mods. Jesse is also customisable in a similar fashion. She can equip up to three Personal Mods by the end of the game and these can increase your HP, energy, or decrease the time it takes to use certain abilities. The customisation is about being adaptive to the situation you’re facing and it’s often a good fall-back plan, if you’re struggling, to see what mods you have that could help.

Exploring the FBC isn’t scary, but it’s often unsettling. Walking into a giant open room with bodies all floating in the middle is eerie. And Control’s sound design seems to exist solely to keep you on your toes. There is a constant whispering of souls in the distance throughout nearly every section of the game which, as I played entirely with headphones on, was at times disturbing. The original score from Martin Stig Andersen and Petri Alanko adds to the mood as well, ranging from anxiety-increasing drum patterns that signal bad news to string pieces more typical of the horror genre.

Not since Bloodborne have I been so amazed at the intricate world design that features in Control. Its interconnected levels and locations are very smart and I’d often enter a new section only to realise it’s a higher level than I’d been a couple of hours earlier. The design makes the building, as confusing as it can be, feel very tangible and helps ground what is a very sci-fi space.

Eventually, you’ll learn that your weapon, the Service Weapon, is an “Item of Power,” one of many, which the FBC collects, holds and experiments on. You’ll come across others eventually, mostly behind thick glass, but each and every one makes you wonder what it does and what the story behind it is. The FBC has a rich history and I was happy to indulge in every bit of lore I could find with audiotapes and documents hidden around as collectibles.

The FBC building itself is considered a Place of Power and is called the Oldest House, which has deep connections to alternate realities. The deeper you get inside the Oldest House, the weirder — and less likely the laws of physics or reality will have any effect. One second you could be in a rather normal-looking office building, the next, a trip down the rabbit hole.

The art design is fantastical, with some areas you enter inside the FBC being utterly otherworldly. You’ll think you’re in the pits of hell, the depths of space — the ninth circle at times. Control is nothing short of absolute madness, but it’s beautiful, and I want the art book.

While Control’s story is rather simple, it’s the world-building and characters you meet along the way that offer rich tapestries to be explored and provide the most intrigue. It’s an odd game from Remedy, though, as the story is mostly optional. What you get out of Control is going to rely on how much you invest into listening to audio logs, and watching optional video content that plays around the building from the Head of Research at the FBC, Dr. Casper Darling, who is played in live-action by Matthew Porretta.

By the time the credits roll, there is still more to be done and learned inside the FBC, and Remedy has more content planned for post-release. Before that comes though, there’s a substantial endgame between side missions and random FBC alerts to respond to. Some of the side quests I left until I completed the game because they were kicking my ass — several optional bosses were harder than anything seen in story missions. That said, Control is often difficult and requires you to make the most of every ability at your disposal. It does help to spend time doing some side missions when you can to break up the main questline — especially when a really good mod could be the difference between life and death.

I had significant FPS drops a handful of times over my 12–16 hour playthrough. Combat in Control can get very hectic and with so many destructible items and debris, it seems my PS4 Pro struggled to keep up at times, with drops to what felt like the low-teens (~12 fps). I also encountered mild freezes a couple of times and the load times — particularly when you’re dying several times in a row trying to beat a boss — become very tedious. None of this is experience-ruining, but it was annoying any time it happened.

If silhouetted, mysterious, cigarette-smoking characters shrouded in mystique and spouting philosophical nonsense is your kinda afternoon, Control is probably going to be one of your favourite games of 2019. I dove into its world headfirst and came out with an urge to watch The X-Files. Control is my kinda sci-fi trip and easily one of the year’s best games.

(Control code provided for review)