Control | Xbox One | Review

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Remedy Entertainment has a particular brand of storytelling in its games. Since Alan Wake, and even Max Payne (whose voice actor James McCaffrey returns here in a supporting role), they have done things a bit differently, holding live-action scenes in high regard and treating the experience more like a film rather than a game with some story bits thrown in.

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 by James
 Michael
​ Parry

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@James_Parry

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Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Publisher: 505 Games
Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC
Players: 1

The balance feels more finely tuned in Control than in Remedy's last venture, Quantum Break, where gameplay was broken up by extended live-action sections. Instead, Control’s live-action parts are limited to videos playing on screens around the world, or found in multimedia or messages that are used to drip feed obscure morsels of lore to the player.

You are Jesse Faden, a fairly plain protagonist looking for her brother who disappeared 17 years ago in mysterious and supernatural circumstances. Her story begins at the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC), which resides in an X-Files-themed mystery box called The Oldest House. The establishment collects seemingly mundane objects that are imbued with otherworldly powers, for example causing people standing near them to freeze in place.

After a ritual that saw Faden named the new director of the FBC by The Board, an extradimensional power, she’s transported back into the agency’s building to find it has been decimated by an otherworldly and hostile force known as the Hiss, which has corrupted all but a handful of the building’s employees. With The Oldest House on lockdown until the Hiss are eradicated, it’s up to Faden, along with the few survivors and a tenuous connection to former FBC director Trench (voiced by McCaffrey), to rid the building of its unwelcome guests and track down her brother.

​Gameplay features a blend of third-person shooter mechanics (you’re armed with a morphing multi-use gun known as the Service Weapon) and a range of telekinetic abilities that you’ll put to good use against an increasing number of zombie-like enemies. While combat only becomes bigger and more frantic, rather than more elaborate or encouraging you to use your powers in any special way, the simple joy of picking up a bit of floor with your mind and flinging it at enemies can't be overstated.

There are downsides to the more bombastic action sequences, however. The initial visual impression of former office workers floating lifelessly in the air, repeating the odd phrase to themselves, is extremely effective at building a creeping sense of dread, but the moment combat begins you're quickly pulled back into the fact this is a game, which lessens the impact of the otherwise excellent and foreboding atmosphere at times.

Exploration in Control is non-linear, with new areas of The Oldest House opening up to players in a Metroidvania-style fashion as they progress through the story and gain new abilities. Disappointingly, the structural changes repeatedly referred to in the lore dumps strewn throughout the building aren’t as extreme or as frequent as hinted, with the player only really getting to read about them rather than experience them.

Besides the usual gating off of sections using doors of ever increasing clearance levels, there are environmental puzzles which call on you to put your telekinetic abilities to the test to activate switches or navigate certain areas. One particular brain-teaser called The Astray Maze requires some out-of-the-box thinking, while frequent trips to the Oceanview Motel allow you to pass through the astral plane and access otherwise out-of-reach areas.

The game’s setting is deliberately bland, its harsh, brutalist architecture contrasted by the bizarre happenings taking place within its walls. As the story reveals itself, some of the initial opening intrigue dulls a little, and the vague perspective of the internal monologue from Jesse begins to grate as she's consistently nonplussed by the weirdness of the situation unfolding around her, while a few of the more interesting elements of the game seem to suffer from happening off-screen rather in front of the player.

From a technical perspective Control often struggles, even when running on Xbox One X, with substantial slowdown any time you hop in and out of menus - a frequent occurrence given the lore heavy nature of the game and the number of upgrades available to the player - and even more so when battles get hectic. While performance may suffer, Control is still a very visually impressive game, especially on PC thanks to newfangled ray tracing support.

In all, even with the performance issues, the journey is ultimately very satisfying, and a definite step up from Quantum Break, but if you weren't sold on Remedy's style beforehand then Control is unlikely to do much change your mind. Still, in these days of games as a service and battle royale bandwagoning, a strong, narrative-driven single-player experience is a rare thing, particularly if you’re a fan of Xbox, and it's one which is unlike anything else out there right now.

Pros

• A concept that feels fresh, executed well
• Well-paced Metroidvania with high production values
• Throwing stuff about with your mind is so satisfying

Cons

• Performance stutters frequently, even on Xbox One X
• Story and gameplay feel tonally divided
• Map isn't very useful

9/10