CONTROL: A Mind-Bending Journey Through Reality's Fractures
Control plunges you into a secret agency in crisis as Jesse Faden. With a shape-shifting weapon and telekinetic powers, battle possessed agents while unraveling supernatural mysteries in this mind-bending masterpiece of paranormal action.
TL;DR:
Hey folks, welcome back to another deep dive here at 2tonwaffle. Today I'm tackling a game that's been sitting in my digital backlog since Epic gave it away a couple years back – Control. This supernatural action-adventure from Remedy Entertainment has developed quite the cult following, with some (like one of our community members) even calling it their favorite game of all time. After spending significant time with it, I can finally see why this bizarre title has commanded such devotion.
Setting the Scene: What the Hell Is Going On?
Control throws you headfirst into a world that immediately feels... off. You play as Jesse Faden, a woman who arrives at the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) seeking answers about her past, only to find herself suddenly appointed as the organization's new Director after the previous one apparently commits suicide. Oh, and there's a supernatural crisis unfolding, with possessed employees floating in the air and whispering creepy things. You know, just your average Monday at the office.
The game's opening moments are deliberately disorienting. A mysterious janitor named Ahti (who quickly became one of my favorite NPCs) directs you through the seemingly abandoned halls of the Oldest House – the FBC's bizarre headquarters that defies architectural logic and basic physics. Nothing is explained. There are strict rules about what objects are allowed inside (no rubber ducks or number two pencils, apparently). Documents are heavily redacted. The sense that something is profoundly wrong permeates everything.
And then you find a gun. Not just any gun, but a transforming "Service Weapon" that's somehow alive and linked to your consciousness. After a trippy sequence in an astral plane (yes, really), you're officially the Director with a supernatural weapon and vague instructions to save the Bureau from an invasive force called "The Hiss."
If all that sounds completely bonkers, well... it absolutely is. Control revels in its weirdness, throwing concepts like Objects of Power, Altered World Events, and inter-dimensional entities at you with minimal explanation. The game trusts you to piece things together as you go, which I found refreshingly respectful of player intelligence, if occasionally frustrating.
Gameplay: Supernatural Destruction as an Art Form
Let's get to the meat and potatoes – how does Control actually play? In short: magnificently. The third-person combat starts relatively simple with basic shooting mechanics, but quickly evolves into something special as Jesse gains paranormal abilities. Telekinesis lets you hurl chunks of concrete, office furniture, and even enemies themselves across rooms with devastating force. The simple joy of ripping a fire extinguisher off the wall and launching it into a Hiss agent never gets old.
Movement feels incredibly fluid, especially once you unlock the levitation ability. Dodging between cover, launching objects, and firing your morphing weapon creates combat encounters that are equal parts chaotic and balletic. The Service Weapon itself deserves special mention – it transforms between different "forms" that function as distinct weapon types, from a standard pistol to a shotgun-like spread, a charged precision mode, and more.
The difficulty curve is well-balanced, though there were moments where I found myself overwhelmed by swarms of enemies, especially when facing those annoying floating Hiss that throw what amount to grenades. Death comes quickly if you're not careful, and the game's checkpoint system occasionally forced me to replay sections I'd rather not revisit. That said, the combat is so satisfying that I rarely minded getting another chance to telekinetically demolish an office space.
Visual Design: Architectural Nightmare Fuel
Control's setting, the Oldest House, deserves to be recognized as one of gaming's most distinctive and memorable locations. The brutalist architecture creates an oppressive, institutional feel that perfectly matches the government agency setting, while also providing plenty of concrete chunks to telekinetically hurl at enemies.
What makes the Oldest House truly special, though, is how it shifts and transforms. Areas warp and fold into impossible configurations. Sometimes you'll enter a room only to find it's completely different when you turn around. The boundaries between our reality and others blur constantly, creating genuinely unsettling moments where you can't trust your own perception.
Even on my modest 2060 GPU with settings tuned down, the game looks fantastic. The lighting effects create moody, atmospheric spaces, and the contrast between the sterile office environments and the crimson corruption of the Hiss creates effective visual tension. The floating bodies suspended in air, contorted into unnatural poses while whispering their haunting mantra, are genuinely disturbing in the best possible way.
Remedy's decision to incorporate live-action footage into the game's storytelling deserves special mention. These FMV sequences could have felt cheesy or dated, but instead add to the uncanny valley feel of the world. They're strategically used for the most surreal moments, creating a dissonance that perfectly matches the game's themes of reality breaking down.
Narrative: Scratching at the Wall of Reality
Control's story is simultaneously its greatest strength and potentially its biggest barrier to entry. This is not a game that holds your hand or even bothers to introduce concepts before throwing them at you. The opening hours can feel disorienting as you try to piece together what's happening from fragmented conversations and heavily redacted documents.
But that confusion is intentional, and for those willing to push through, immensely rewarding. Jesse's search for her brother Dylan, who was taken by the FBC after a childhood incident involving an Object of Power, serves as the emotional anchor. Around this relatively straightforward quest, Control weaves an intricate web of governmental conspiracy, inter-dimensional threats, and philosophical questions about perception and reality.
The storytelling is primarily environmental, with countless documents, audio logs, and video files scattered throughout the Oldest House. Some of my favorite moments came from discovering bizarre experiments the Bureau had conducted, like studies on a refrigerator that causes harm to anyone not directly observing it, or a rubber duck that... well, I won't spoil that one.
The writing strikes a perfect balance between deadpan bureaucratic tone and cosmic horror. The FBC treats world-ending paranormal phenomena with the same matter-of-fact procedure as filing quarterly reports, which creates a darkly comic undertone that prevents the game from becoming too self-serious.
Audio Design: The Whispers in the Walls
Control's sound design deserves special recognition for creating an atmosphere of constant unease. The Hiss incantation – a disjointed, repeating monologue delivered in whispers – burrows into your brain like "an infuriating melody," as one in-game document describes it. The sound of concrete cracking as you tear chunks from walls with telekinesis is satisfyingly weighty, and the transformation of your Service Weapon has a distinctive mechanical click that never gets old.
The voice acting is uniformly excellent, with Courtney Hope's performance as Jesse striking the perfect balance between determined and bewildered. Her internal monologues provide necessary context without feeling like exposition dumps. The supporting cast delivers their often bizarre dialogue with conviction, particularly the aforementioned janitor Ahti, whose Finnish-accented philosophical musings and sinister metaphors make for some of the game's most memorable lines.
(Note: The game offers an option to mute copyrighted music, which I enabled for streaming purposes, but I'd recommend experiencing the full audio package if you can. The selected music adds significantly to key moments.)
The Paranatural Deep End: DLC and Expanded Universe
While my first two hours only scratched the surface, it's worth mentioning that Control has expanded significantly through DLC. The Foundation and AWE expansions add substantial new areas and story content, with the latter forming explicit connections to Remedy's earlier game, Alan Wake. These connections have sparked endless fan theories and discussions about Remedy's "Connected Universe," adding another layer of meta-narrative for those who want to dive deeper.
This interconnectedness feels fitting for a game so concerned with the ways reality can be manipulated, fractured, and reimagined. Control isn't just a self-contained story; it's part of something larger, with boundaries that extend beyond the game itself – much like the Oldest House and its shifting dimensions.
Technical Performance: A Few Hitches in the Matrix
On my setup with a 2060 GPU, Control ran smoothly at 1080p with most settings tuned down. The game is notably demanding, especially with ray tracing enabled (which I didn't use). A few performance hiccups occurred during particularly chaotic combat scenes with multiple enemies and destructible objects flying around, but nothing that significantly impacted my enjoyment.
The controls felt responsive whether using keyboard/mouse or controller, though precision aiming is naturally easier with a mouse. The game's interface is clean and unobtrusive, with an easily accessible map that can be viewed while moving – a small but appreciated quality-of-life feature.
Final Thoughts: Stepping Behind the Poster
Control is not a game for everyone. Its deliberate narrative obfuscation, steep learning curve, and unabashed weirdness will undoubtedly alienate players looking for more straightforward action or clearly explained stories. But for those willing to embrace its peculiarities, Control offers one of the most distinctive and memorable gaming experiences of recent years.
As Jesse says in the opening monologue, "The world is much bigger and much stranger" than we realize, and there's a "hole hidden behind that poster that leads to the real world." Control is that hole – a glimpse into something larger and more bizarre than conventional games typically dare to be.
What Remedy has created here is a masterclass in atmosphere, world building, and environmental storytelling. It combines satisfying combat mechanics with a setting and narrative that continuously surprise and unsettle. I find myself thinking about the implications of its story and the secrets still hidden within the Oldest House.
For gamers tired of predictable narratives and familiar settings, Control represents a bold step into uncharted territory. It's a game that respects your intelligence while challenging your perception, creating an experience that lingers in your thoughts long after you've put down the controller.
And really, what more could you ask from a journey into the unknown?
Rating: 4.25/5 Waffles – A mind-bending masterpiece of paranormal action that dares to be different, even if it occasionally overwhelms with its complexity.
This review was based on playing Control on PC via Steam, using an NVIDIA RTX 2060 GPU.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What kind of game is Control?
Control is a third-person action-adventure with supernatural elements. It combines shooting mechanics with paranormal abilities like telekinesis in a strange, shape-shifting government facility dealing with an inter-dimensional threat.
2. Do I need to play Alan Wake or other Remedy games first?
No, Control stands perfectly well on its own. There are connections to Alan Wake (especially in the AWE DLC), but they enhance rather than require knowledge of previous games.
3. How difficult is Control?
The difficulty is moderate with occasional difficulty spikes, especially in boss battles. Combat requires strategic use of abilities and staying mobile, as Jesse can be quickly overwhelmed if cornered.
4. How long does it take to complete Control?
The main story takes approximately 12-15 hours, while completionists looking to finish all side content can expect around 20-25 hours. The DLCs add another 4-8 hours of gameplay.
5. Is Control scary?
Control is more unsettling than traditionally scary. It creates an atmosphere of constant unease through environmental design and the bizarre Hiss enemies, but doesn't rely on jump scares. It's best described as supernatural/cosmic horror.
6. Does Control have multiple endings?
The base game has a single ending, though some side missions have their own conclusions. The DLCs expand the story rather than providing alternate endings.
7. What are the system requirements for PC players?
Control is fairly demanding, especially with ray tracing enabled. At minimum, you'll need a GTX 1060/RX 580, but a RTX card is recommended for optimal performance. The game runs well on current-gen consoles.
8. Is there a photo mode?
Yes, Control features a robust photo mode that allows players to capture the game's striking visual design with various filters and camera options.
9. What's with all the floating bodies and whispering?
These are Bureau employees possessed by the Hiss - the game's main antagonistic force. Their suspended animation and repeating incantation are central to the game's eerie atmosphere and narrative.
10. Is the game appropriate for younger players?
Control is rated M (17+) and contains violence, blood, and strong language. The psychological horror elements and complex narrative are also geared toward mature audiences.
