PC Gamer

“One really early inspiration we were

looking at was Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,”

says creative director Sam Lake of

Control’s setting, “And that feel of slight

detachment and control.” Here Lake

points to his face, adopting an

expressionless look. “You need to be in

control all of the time – in control of your

emotions – not let anything slip. That was

one of the starting points.”

I’m told that there’s a level of internal

politics running through the FBC, which I

look forward to seeing play out. After the

relatively straight-faced Quantum Break,

Lake confirms that there will be touches of

Remedy-style tongue-in-cheek humour

throughout Control.

In the demo, in fact, Jesse stumbles

across an employee in a locked cell,

watching a refrigerator. He explains that

nobody came to relieve him and that he

must watch the object at all times or else it

will “deviate”. This, I’m told, is a sidequest.

Depending on Jesse’s actions, she can

help this man, and there will be

consequences depending on that choice.

CROOKED HOUSE

The existence of sidequests is one

example of how Control is less linear than

previous Remedy games. The Oldest

House is a space to be explored, to the

point that Jesse’s abilities will let her reach

new areas. The house, too, is malleable. In

one scene, Jesse performs a ritual that

shifts the house to let her progress. In

another, she pulls a light switch and is

transported to a motel. The demo ends

with the house warping, going through an

MC Escher-style transformation before

opening a pathway to an astral plane.

It’s the weirdness of the demo that

leaves me excited to see more. This brief

look is packed with imaginative imagery,

and I’m left wanting to know more about

the world and the weird shit going on in it.

Phil Savage

IN ONE SCENE,

JESSE PERFORMS A

RITUAL THAT SHIFTS

THE HOUSE

Remedy’s trip through a very

strange house

CONTROL

R

emedy’s seventh game is

the surrealist third-person

shooter Control. You play

as Jesse Faden, who

stumbles into a strange building

called The Oldest House. This

labyrinthine space is the HQ of the

Federal Bureau of Control, and you’ll

explore its many mysteries.

Far from a pleasant office visit, Jesse must

battle a strange force called the Hiss,

which has corrupted many of the Bureau’s

employees. In fact, saving the Bureau is

now her job: after acquiring an ‘object of

power’ – a transforming gun – Jesse is

named the new director of the FBC.

Jesse has abilities she can acquire by

completing quests and finding objects of

power. In a hands-off demo, we see Jesse

levitate rubble to form a shield, and grab

and throw objects in the environments at

the corrupted employees.

RELEASE
2019

DEVELOPER

Remedy

PUBLISHER

505 Games

LINK

http://www.remedygames.com

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LOOK

Control’s environments are

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