SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
Combining exciting psychic combat with an unapologetically weird sci-fi universe, Control makes for a thrilling adventure, albeit one marred by technical issues and poor optimisation on consoles.
For fans of the SCP Foundation like myself, Control is the realisation of a long-time dream. Finally, someone has taken up the premise of a mysterious organisation collecting objects that violate natural law and securing them for protection and study, and just run off with it. This is a game that wears its inspiration proudly on its sleeve. Over the ten hours I spent exploring the seemingly infinite depths of the Oldest House, Control proved its own excellence over and over again, with its fast-paced psychic combat and a willingness to hide a mind-bending set piece in every corner of its world.
After entering the Oldest House, the headquarters of the mysterious Federal Bureau of Control, in search of her brother, Jesse Faden (Courtney Hope) is made the new Director of the Bureau after receiving a powerful gun known as the Service Weapon and passing a trial set by the enigmatic Board. Taking charge of the Bureau, Jesse must use her new supernatural abilities to secure out-of-control artefacts, defeat an invasion by a hostile paranormal entity known as the Hiss, and discover what happened to her brother.
The main story serves as a vehicle for carrying Jesse from one part of the Oldest House to another. The central story does its job without delivering any particularly impactful surprises or revelations; players looking for the complexity of Bioshock Infinite’s dimension-hopping story for example will leave disappointed. Control favours excellent worldbuilding and background storytelling instead. Courtney Hope delivers a strong performance that provides Control with a focal point: this is her story. As an outsider like us, who begins the game unfamiliar with the true scale of the FBC and its operations, we learn as she learns, and we share in her disbelief. Jesse encounters a number of interesting characters, most of whom contribute to the story and add vital sci-fi flavour without seeming one-note, despite appearing only occasionally. My personal favourite is the Finnish janitor Ahti, who appears throughout the building without explanation, casually going about his duties, cassette player in hand.
Control embraces the inherent weirdness in its inspirations. Side quests see Jesse journeying to different parts of the Oldest House to do what this game’s premise cries out for: investigating reality-bending items and securing them for safe-keeping, after engaging in psychic battle set-pieces where reality itself shifts and changes. Helping Jesse do a director’s work was thrilling. Control’s side quests are richly imaginative, offering extra spice and a change of pace without plying the player with unnecessary busywork. Having gone into Control seeing similarities with the stuff of the SCP Foundation, I was compelled to seek out these side quests and wound up satisfied that they weren’t simply afterthoughts, but well-considered, rich and vital parts of this game.
This is a game that prefers worldbuilding. Parts of the Oldest House feel like a typical office, cast in cold light, reflecting the featureless Brutalist architecture of its exterior, and filled with documents and coffee stains. Other parts of it showcase its refusal to conform with reality: secure science labs, a sprawling maintenance complex, heavy-duty containment facilities filled with odd objects kept under observation, and even areas where the FBC had to build around and adapt to inter-dimensional spaces beyond their control. It truly captures the feeling of an impossible world, another dimension, contained within a single building. Scattered throughout are collectibles: documents, videotapes and audio logs that build up a fantastic sense of place, explaining how the staff have created a bureaucratic work environment in the midst of impossibility. Control strives to make even the weirdest things seem believable.
Control’s visceral combat is a joy to experience. Jesse’s powerful Service Weapon can take a variety of different forms, including a pistol, rapid-fire submachine gun, and shotgun, and can be upgraded and modified for her to use in tandem with her psychic powers. Over the course of the game, the player can use a small selection of powers, from Shield, which lets Jesse throw up a barrier of psychic force and debris to block enemy attacks, to my personal favourite, Launch, which allows Jesse to grab nearby objects and fling them at enemies with incredible force. There’s no complicated control scheme to manage either; Control’s limited selection of powers allows for easy access and emphasises the breakneck pace of combat. As the game progresses, Jesse becomes a force of nature, flinging debris at enemies and peppering them with bullets while levitating mid-air. It’s quite possibly the closest you can get to having actual superpowers.
This is unfortunately hampered by poor optimisation. Even on my PS4 Pro, framerate slowed to a crawl in graphically intense sequences and froze entirely without fail whenever a lot was happening at once. I suspect PC players with high-end setup won’t have this problem (and might be able to take advantage of ray tracing too), but it’s something for console players to be aware of.
Other than that, there’s a weird, punchy sci-fi adventure for anyone brave enough to explore the wonderfully limitless depths of the Oldest House. Control is a worthy addition to any science fiction fan’s video game collection.
Comments