051director,thingslookdireuntilJesseis
appointed to fill the role and tasked
with rectifying the situation. The
former director is an enigmatic figure
by the name of Zachariah Trench,
played by the voice of Max Payne
himself, James McCaffrey, and while
he’s dead he’s far from completely
gone from the Oldest House.
Taking on the mantle Trench leaves
behind grants you access to the
Director’s Service Weapon. Rather
than carry around a small armoury of
firearms or carefully manage ammo,
you have one shapeshifting gun giving
near-infinite firepower suited to a
variety of situations. In our playing
session we get to grips with a range of
Service Weapon forms, including the
latestaddition,Pierce, whose souped-
up shotgun blasts powers through
enemies and cover alike.
Alongside these new forms, which
you find hidden around the Oldest
House, you can use a variety of mods
to improve the Service Weapon’s
performance, plus similar upgrades for
Jesse herself. Powerful artefacts, of
which the Bureau has squirrelled away
more than its fair share, grant her new
psychic powers like the ability to float.
Levitating by holding q feels oddly
natural and intuitive, though you can’t
glide through the air forever. As you
run low on stamina you can
reintroduce yourself to enemies on the
ground with a devastating slam by
pressing down the right analogue stick.Jesse isn’t necessarily at a serious
disadvantage on her feet, either, thanks
to the Evade ability, which enables her
to dash out of harm’s way.mind over splatter
Exploring the Bureau’s research lobby,
a grey space dominated by two strange
trees, we swim through the air. Heavily
armoured enemies lob explosives at us;
we telekinetically hurl them straight
back, along with whatever furniture
isn’t nailed down, by pressing u.
Creative director Mikael Kasurinen
says, “We want the player to use the
entire space.”
Fights feel frantic and dynamic as,
constantly on the move, you use o to
create cover out of whatever detritus iscontrol
Switching between our
firearm and Jesse’s
psychic abilities feels
completely natural.“enemies lob explosives at
us; we telekinetically hurl
them straight back.”
Welcome to the
houSe of gun
thebuildingputtingthe‘brutal’into‘brutalism’T
hefederalBureauof
control’sofficesare
locatedwithinthe
oldesthouse,a brutalist-
stylebuildingfullofhard
edgesandstraightlines
thatbegintowiggleand
shiftwhenthehissinvade.
creativedirectormikael
Kasurinendescribesthe
architecturalstyleasa
“foundationalelement”in
thegame’svisualidentity.
he describesbrutalism
itselfas“allaboutfinding
kindofa simplicityof
format,anhonestyin
materials,whatyouseeis
whatyougetthere,like
concrete,steel,glass,
wood– youseewhatit is,
youunderstandhowit
works,andthere’ssome
kindofpleasingsimplicity
tothedifferentlocations.”
thesestraight-laced
structuressymbolise
everythingtheBureau
strivesfor.however,in
control,fewclear-cut
thingsremainthatway.
Kasurinenelaborates,
“of course, there are
areas in this world that
deviate from that, andthat’s what the next point
is – transformation. [...]
Yes, you have this
brutalism. But now it’s
beentwisted,and
corruptedintosomething
else[...]to try to revert
that transformation is part
of your goal. But it’s part
of this world as well, that
these things happen.”
Kasurinen says, “You
might think initially that
this is just one place, but
it’s vastly more complex
than that, it infinitely goes
intoalldirections.If you
takeforinstance,Doctor
Who’stArDIS, it’s like the
sameidea– it’sbiggeron
theinside.”
from the near-uniform
concrete slabs of the
research lobby, we run
through shifting red
hallways, foreboding
walkwayscloakedin
shadow,a basement
coveredin atechnicolor
coating of mould, a quarry
of glistening black rock
andanalternatedimension
calledtheAstralPlane.
theoldesthouse is a
world within one location.