Synopsis:
The Astral Plane is colliding with our reality. Jesse Faden, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Control, must travel through the caverns of the Foundation to prevent the Astral Plane from consuming the Oldest House. The missing Head of Operations, Helen Marshall, may hold some answers to the mysteries surrounding this threat…

Publisher: 505 Games
Reviewed on: PS4 (Pro unit)
Also available for: PC, Xbox One (June 25th)

Cast: Courtney Hope, Matthew Porretta, Antonia Bernath, Martti Suosalo, Brig Bennett

Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Writers: Sam Lake, Anna Megill, Brooke Maggs

You can find an audiotape in Control’s first expansion that states employees of the Federal Bureau of Control should close their eyes and run if they see a window, because the FBC building doesn’t contain windows. I never picked up on that fact when playing the core game, but it’s this world-building and humour that had me hooked quickly once again as I dove head-first back into the weird and wonderful world Remedy Entertainment has made within Control.

I loved the core game and I’ve been super excited for the expansions since they were announced shortly after release. The Foundation is the first expansion for Control, and it’s everything I could have wanted and more as it continues the wonderful world-building of this strange sci-fi universe and strengthens Jesse Faden as our protagonist.

This DLC picks up sometime after the end of the base game — and you have to have beaten the core game to play — with some slight changes around the FBC to show the passage of time. Employees comment on the job Jesse is doing as Director and there are new files tossed about with similar employee details and stories. Similarly, once you beat the DLC it’s worth stopping by Dylan’s bed for a surprising little detail that sells the time jump.

Assuming you have beaten the game, you’ll get a quest to visit the Hotline and then be sent to the strange area you tracked Ahti to in the main game. Once there, you’ll head deeper into the Oldest House than ever before — to the foundation of the building itself — on a mission to find Helen Marshall, who disappeared about halfway through the main game.

The Foundation features a Crait-like (the salt planet from Star Wars: The Last Jedi) red floor and rocky passages, as if you’re exploring a massive labyrinthine mine — drastically different from the main FBC building’s office spaces and shiny white floors. The scope often feels like you’re on another planet entirely, and the mood is no less off-putting than in the main game.

As you explore, you’ll learn the Astral Plane is creeping in and combining with the real world, which can cause dramatic changes around you and could have devastating effects on the world at large if Jesse doesn’t handle the situation. At one stage you can walk into a toilet and find nothing but the Astral Plane with toilets floating in the air. Jesse makes a funny quip about the FBC’s plumbing that made me laugh out loud.

Jesse’s mission to stop the Hiss from creeping in from the Oldest House’s basement sends her to several locations. Along the way, you’ll bump into a new, super-aggressive Hiss that rushes you with a pickaxe and will throw it from afar. They hit hard, and their design makes the colour scheme and rocky terrain meld together in The Foundation to create a really different vibe from the main game.

Although the main story here is interesting, much like the core game I found the most compelling stuff happening on the way — or in side missions. Seeing Jesse in the Directorial role properly for the first time, and not chasing after her brother in one way or another, stood out straight away. She sounds confident in herself, which is great to hear, and she’s making strides to be the best Director she can be, avoiding the mistakes her predecessors may have made — and you’ll learn more about them in The Foundation as well.

Throughout the DLC, you’ll butt heads with the Board and, as I’ve felt since the core game, they’re bad news. I’m now super confident we’re going to end up fighting them eventually.

There are two Object-of-Power-related side missions here, and they’re two of the best in the game overall. I don’t want to spoil either, but both feature unique mission structures and one includes a fantastic boss fight that’s much better than the campaign’s end boss.

Jesse gets two new powers in The Foundation and although neither is useful outside the DLC, they might be in future content. One powers up your Service Weapon to destroy a special type of rock; the other lets you use abilities to pull these rocks from the ground in marked locations for both platforming and combat.

Somehow the PS4 technical issues have gotten worse for me in this DLC. I never had many while playing on my PS4 Pro with the main game, but in The Foundation I saw increased load times and shocking FPS drops coming out of menus. It’s not a big enough deal to ruin the game — it weirdly never happens in combat, just menus — but it’s annoying either way.

You can probably blast through the main story content in a couple of hours, but doing everything — and you’ll want to do everything — will take you closer to six. I could have easily shaved thirty minutes off my time if one optional boss didn’t have a ridiculous walk from the closest checkpoint as well, which is my only major gripe with The Foundation.

The Foundation is a fantastic piece of content for Control. It’s everything a fan of the core game could want and more, with lots of story content to dig into and many secrets to find. I can’t wait for the next one, and to see Remedy continue to build out this universe into something really special.

(Control Expansion Pass code provided for review)