Surreal mayhem – review of the game “Control”

Remedy is able to combine action with narration like hardly anyone, trying to make it stand out. Max Payne  is immediately associated with the effective bullet-time mechanics  and noir films. Alan Wake  , on the other hand, is a great script, reminiscent of King and Lovecraft’s novels or the Twin Peaks series . The last title –  Quantum Break  – can be praised for beautiful graphics and experimenting with the series design in cooperation with famous actors.  

Control  tries to take the best elements from its predecessors. This is a third-person action game full of absorbing combat with the use of special weapons and spectacular abilities. Everything is decorated with an intriguing atmosphere and a story on the border of horror and science fiction. As in previous productions, it does not lack high-quality visuals. Unfortunately, the plot, which could have sparkling the most, is a bit disappointing.

Where is my mind?

Flying objects, magic gates or creatures from another dimension. Imagine that such phenomena are not only figments of human imagination, but quite real peculiarities. The Federal Bureau of Control is responsible for keeping everything secret and protecting unaware citizens. Its purpose is to investigate, control or neutralize any abnormal situation.

The protagonist arrives at their headquarters, located in a skyscraper in New York, and this is where our adventure begins. Jesse – because that’s the name of the red-haired heroine – experienced traumatic, supernatural events in her childhood. To make matters worse, in these unfortunate circumstances her brother was kidnapped. As you can guess, the aforementioned office was involved in this.

As a result of a strange combination of events, we become the new director of the organization. We also come into possession of a shape-shifting pistol, called the Servobronia. We’ll try the giver quickly, as the office is attacked by a Hiss – an unidentified force. It wreaks havoc in the building and takes over the minds of most workers, making them our enemies. So we try to survive, control the crisis situation and get answers to important questions. Above all, however, we try to find out the true intentions and origins of the mysterious antagonist.

When Lynch meets Kubrick

I love puzzling stories, leaving a lot of understatement and room for my own interpretation. It has its undoubted charm and is the hallmark of games or movies kept in a similar convention. You just have to do it skillfully, and here – despite the visible efforts – it did not always work for the creators who probably wanted to implement too many ideas at once.

The plot is enigmatic, but too chaotic at times. It can be likened to a puzzle – we gradually discover new pieces of the puzzle, slowly putting them together. However, some threads become blurry or are sometimes shrouded in a too dense fog of mystery – which makes us feel that a few pieces are missing, often in important places.

I also missed a more engaging narrative. I felt a bit like someone distracting me from reading a book every now and then, and then telling me to read random parts of it or look for what page I ended up on. After all, discovering new secrets is a pleasure, and the story is followed most of the time with curiosity, although its ending leaves a certain lack of satisfaction.

A lot of additional information can be obtained from the documents and recordings scattered here and there that can be interesting. Especially those about the astral plane, Hiss and all kinds of supernatural phenomena. Helpful hints are also provided by other sane employees. Speaking of NPCs, it must be admitted that the matter has also been mocked. Most of them are exploited and poorly exposed archetypes. Nevertheless, there are exceptions, such as the caretaker Ahti (a great role by Martti Suosalo).

It was really hard for me to get attached to the main character. There were no key moments that would trigger stronger emotions. While Jesse’s motives are clearly drawn from the beginning, I didn’t feel particularly committed to helping her achieve the goals she wanted. In addition, she usually utters clichéd and shallow lines, which makes us indifferent. Anyway, most of the dialogues are moderately emotional and do not bring much, so we rarely come across a more interesting exchange of views.

Fortunately, the game makes up for a lot with its atmosphere, which makes it immersive. When visiting the oldest seat – as the place of action is called – we are accompanied by anxiety and tension. The incantations of levitating wretches in the background, repeated like a mantra, specific colors and lighting, extinct rooms – all this builds an amazing atmosphere. Delving into the presented world, we sink more and more into this unreal vision of the writers, literally drowning in a dense and unique atmosphere.

The plot and style bring to mind many pop culture creations. Paranormal themes and the Federal Bureau of Control are, print, paint, marriage of  MIB  with The X- Files . The creators openly admitted that they were inspired, among others, by the films of Stanley Kubrick, Andrei Tarkowski or David Lynch. The result is a surreal shell with a hint of onirism, perfectly resonating with the enigmatic plot. The trained eye of pop culture lovers will find many more flavors and references here.

Out of control

Control  does not deceive in the context of the game, and the addictive combat system is – next to the climate – by far the strongest point of the game. While playing, we explore successive sectors of the cavernous building, looking for hidden collectibles and fighting frequent clashes with indoctrinated office employees. Sometimes we solve relatively easy puzzles and try to push the story forward.

Some areas are cleared of Hiss’s power, which unlocks checkpoints. Thanks to them, we can use fast travel, develop the character and improve equipment, as well as accept additional tasks in the form of challenges. We have more freedom of movement here than in previous studio productions. The construction of the location resembles metroidvania  – some rooms are unlocked over time, thanks to the appropriate items or acquired abilities.

So you will do a lot of backtracking  for secrets. Unfortunately, it is easy to get lost in the tangle of similar rooms and corridors, and the navigation is not helped by a moderately intuitive map. An annoying matter is also resurgent, stronger and stronger enemies. True, you can practice them and get valuable resources, but their constant presence while freely exploring the area can get on your nerves.

The side quests in this case are not only meant to artificially extend the game time and are mostly well designed. We get extra skill points for them, so it’s worth investing some time in them. Especially that several missions surprise with their ingenious execution, and access to some of them is cleverly hidden. Some of them are a real test of our skills, especially when we face a demanding boss. On top of that, there are various challenges that give you a few extra hours of fun.

May the force be with you

Let’s move on to the main course, which is undoubtedly a fight. The battles are frequent and the opponents are varied and demanding. They are possessed office workers, differing in weapons and special abilities. Some people can disappear or heal allies, while others throw anything at us with the help of telekinesis. However, we are also not defenseless – after all, we wield a powerful tool of destruction.

A servo weapon is a normal pistol on the surface, but don’t be fooled. This gem takes several forms (rifle, shotgun, etc.), and the ammunition refills itself when we stop firing for a moment. Gunplay  brings satisfaction, although I miss juicy headshots . Nevertheless, the supernatural powers of Jesse, with both offensive and defensive properties, play the main role here.

In the range of superpowers we have, for example, levitation, shield or – the most effective and spectacular – telekinesis. We can feel like a superhero, straight from Marvel comic book cards, or a Jedi master, crushing opponents with pieces of walls. The fun turns red when we have all the powers, which will turn the clashes into a real concert of explosions and destruction.

The fight is not based on carefree beating, it has some tactics, because we have to adapt to the situation on the battlefield on an ongoing basis. The enemies are trying to surround us or chase us out of our hideout with grenades. They also force the use of different types of power and attacks to get out of trouble. Passivity does not pay off, which is emphasized by the lack of medkits. We replenish our health partially after defeating other opponents. In this way, the game requires from us both the right strategy and risk calculation, as well as making quick decisions, which adds dynamics to the battles.

Brutalistic  surrealism

Accustomed to the quality of previous games from the Finnish studio, we could expect that in Control we  will be treated with a setting at the highest level. This is also the case, although there are several aspects that can be attached to. During the game, we will visit various sectors of the Oldest Residence, pleasing the eye with atmospheric lighting and brutalist architecture, especially exposed during the impressive transformations of the building.

The locations are made with great care, with great attention to detail and flavors. On the other hand, they sometimes spread emptiness and sterility. It is monotonous in the initial hours, but with time we come across more variety. As for the characters, the facial expressions are convincing (but stiff at times), the models are nice and realistic, but the animations are a bit lacking in the ideal. To sum up – in terms of the level of  design  it is uneven, but the overall level of graphics is definitely the top of the current generation.

It is worth mentioning that the PC version uses the benefits of ray tracing , unfortunately HDR support has not been attempted. The game uses the Northlight engine, designed for Quantum Break . I admit that the technology is still impressive, especially when it comes to the effects of explosions and the destruction of the environment.

However, it was not possible to avoid the bane of modern games – the inheritance of animation. The game runs smooth most of the time, but can crunch unexpectedly even when not much is happening on the screen. Falls can be drastic and therefore confusing. I also greeted the black screen a couple of times. Hopefully the developers will get down to business quickly and release patches.

In the context of the musical layer, there is nothing to dwell on too much. All sounds are fine, and unobtrusive music increases the feeling of tension and alienation in a hostile environment. I assume that this is partly dictated by the type and pace of the game, which translates into the narrative, and therefore also the soundtrack. The only moment I remembered was the song accompanying my journey through the Ashtray Labyrinth. By the way, this is probably the best part of the game.

So far, so close

Control  had the makings of a top-notch production. Unfortunately, a smaller budget is visible, which is the aftermath of the separation from Microsoft. One also gets the impression that the creators do not know exactly what to focus on when implementing many ideas, but refine a few of them sufficiently. As a consequence, it was not without technical and design flaws, and above all – which I regret most – the fictional potential was wasted.

On the other hand, it is the essence of a unique atmosphere that will immediately charm every lover of paranormal motifs. Combined with the satisfying game time and addictive combat system, Control makes for a solid title. However, it was a bit short of a real hit.

We would like to thank CDP for making the game available for review on PS4.