Have you ever played a game in one IP largely for its ties to another?
I’ve been on a bit of an Alan Wake binge in the buildup to the release of its long awaited sequel. I knew that one of the expansions to Control had major ties to Alan Wake, and with Remedys psychological thriller being one of my all time favorites, it was only a matter of time before I gave Remedys new IP a shot. Little did I expect to find a world, narrative, characters, and gameplay as engaging as what I was playing this to build up to.
This story is set in the Oldest House, the mysterious and ever shifting HQ of the FBC, or Federal Bureau of Control, an American government agency set up to investigate paranormal activity. Jesse Faden, equally mysterious protagonist who appears to talk as if to a distant entity, arrives looking for someone only to quickly find the Director of the FBC shoot himself and, through her being able to wield the gun dubbed the Service Weapon, the title of Director relinquished to her. While Jesse is the playable protag, the FBC and Oldest House are absolutely the stars of the show and main driving forces of the narrative. Learning about the House and its inhabitants is endlessly fascinating, from the eagerly helpful researcher Emily Pope, to the eccentric and cryptic janitor Ahti, I grew to enjoy every chance I got to encounter new characters. Jesse herself is a bit of a dork, not a standard action hero by any stretch, making her a fun protag.
Shortly after becoming the Director, you’ll encounter the hostile forces of the Hiss, a force of some kind that more or less zombifies those it encounters if unprotected. This is where combat comes in, where Jesse puts that newfound Service Weapon to use, as well as a selection of powers granted by a mysterious paranormal entity simply named the “Board”. It plays out as a third person shooter with a gun that changes form to mostly standard shooter archetypes, pistol, shotgun, sniper, etc., and gain powers useful for both traversal and combat, such as telekinesis to throw objects, levitation to reach new areas, a shield to block attacks, and others. Combat can get fairly hectic, and as most small objects can be used as a weapon, there’s plenty of physics at play with computers, chairs, and lamps all being equally valid options to cave Hiss faces in. It can be quite a sight gazing at the aftermath of a fight with random debris strewn about paired with chunks missing out of nearby support beams.
Exploring the Oldest House is heavily encouraged, both for the many, many collectibles (a Remedy staple) scattered around that detail the day to day operations of the FBC, and for useful mods or crafting materials to improve your combat capabilities. This is unfortunately where the game falters most. Exploring is generally enjoyable, as the level design is interesting and learning about the games world is worthwhile, but it’s let down somewhat by a terrible map system and aggressive enemy spawns. The game has a bit of a Metroidvania or Zelda like structure, encouraging a fair amount of backtracking to reach new areas. The map doesn’t easily distinguish between different floors of an area, making it a pain to use while spawning multiple waves of enemies in areas you’ve already been through, making just getting where you need to go a bit of a slog at times. A fast travel system certainly helps, but doesn’t completely mitigate the issues.
While I’m criticizing, I’ll also touch on the bosses and ending. The bosses are hit or miss. Many of them are creative and engaging to fight, an optional fight against a possessed anchor that attacks by spewing clocks at you being a personal highlight, while others boil down to being souped versions of regular enemies with larger health pools, or otherwise being annoying or awkward to fight. Meanwhile there’s functionally no final boss, with an ending that sort of but doesn’t really tie up Jesse’s reason for being here or the Hiss threat. A sequel was announced, which isn’t surprising, but I would’ve preferred a more satisfying ending for the game I was currently playing, rather than just hoping things to be more thoroughly resolved in the future.
Speaking of the future, we got a taste of it for both Control and Remedy as a whole with its two expansions, The Foundation and AWE, bundled together here. While releasing in that order, narratively I’d say it’s far more cohesive to play them in reverse. The Foundation shines light on the history of the Oldest House, ending with stronger implications towards its future than the original game does, even having an actual final boss! Meanwhile AWE has little to no ties to Controls narrative, taking place in an abandoned section of the House never once mentioned in the main game. Both expansions have similarly fun combat and level design as the base game, but AWE exists near exclusively to build up to Remedys next title, Alan Wake II. It does not tie up any loose ends from Control whatsoever, so can be a bit jarring narratively as an extension to the game. However, if you’re interested in the devs wider work, it gives you plenty to be excited for.
I’ll admit I mainly jumped into this game for the ties to Alan Wake, but I ended up falling in love with it aside from that. With a fascinating setting and Remedys standard brand of weird paired with engaging level design and compelling combat, Remedy hsa quickly become one of my favorite developers, and I eagerly await the continuation of the tale of Jesse and the Oldest House.
I’ve been on a bit of an Alan Wake binge in the buildup to the release of its long awaited sequel. I knew that one of the expansions to Control had major ties to Alan Wake, and with Remedys psychological thriller being one of my all time favorites, it was only a matter of time before I gave Remedys new IP a shot. Little did I expect to find a world, narrative, characters, and gameplay as engaging as what I was playing this to build up to.
This story is set in the Oldest House, the mysterious and ever shifting HQ of the FBC, or Federal Bureau of Control, an American government agency set up to investigate paranormal activity. Jesse Faden, equally mysterious protagonist who appears to talk as if to a distant entity, arrives looking for someone only to quickly find the Director of the FBC shoot himself and, through her being able to wield the gun dubbed the Service Weapon, the title of Director relinquished to her. While Jesse is the playable protag, the FBC and Oldest House are absolutely the stars of the show and main driving forces of the narrative. Learning about the House and its inhabitants is endlessly fascinating, from the eagerly helpful researcher Emily Pope, to the eccentric and cryptic janitor Ahti, I grew to enjoy every chance I got to encounter new characters. Jesse herself is a bit of a dork, not a standard action hero by any stretch, making her a fun protag.
Shortly after becoming the Director, you’ll encounter the hostile forces of the Hiss, a force of some kind that more or less zombifies those it encounters if unprotected. This is where combat comes in, where Jesse puts that newfound Service Weapon to use, as well as a selection of powers granted by a mysterious paranormal entity simply named the “Board”. It plays out as a third person shooter with a gun that changes form to mostly standard shooter archetypes, pistol, shotgun, sniper, etc., and gain powers useful for both traversal and combat, such as telekinesis to throw objects, levitation to reach new areas, a shield to block attacks, and others. Combat can get fairly hectic, and as most small objects can be used as a weapon, there’s plenty of physics at play with computers, chairs, and lamps all being equally valid options to cave Hiss faces in. It can be quite a sight gazing at the aftermath of a fight with random debris strewn about paired with chunks missing out of nearby support beams.
Exploring the Oldest House is heavily encouraged, both for the many, many collectibles (a Remedy staple) scattered around that detail the day to day operations of the FBC, and for useful mods or crafting materials to improve your combat capabilities. This is unfortunately where the game falters most. Exploring is generally enjoyable, as the level design is interesting and learning about the games world is worthwhile, but it’s let down somewhat by a terrible map system and aggressive enemy spawns. The game has a bit of a Metroidvania or Zelda like structure, encouraging a fair amount of backtracking to reach new areas. The map doesn’t easily distinguish between different floors of an area, making it a pain to use while spawning multiple waves of enemies in areas you’ve already been through, making just getting where you need to go a bit of a slog at times. A fast travel system certainly helps, but doesn’t completely mitigate the issues.
While I’m criticizing, I’ll also touch on the bosses and ending. The bosses are hit or miss. Many of them are creative and engaging to fight, an optional fight against a possessed anchor that attacks by spewing clocks at you being a personal highlight, while others boil down to being souped versions of regular enemies with larger health pools, or otherwise being annoying or awkward to fight. Meanwhile there’s functionally no final boss, with an ending that sort of but doesn’t really tie up Jesse’s reason for being here or the Hiss threat. A sequel was announced, which isn’t surprising, but I would’ve preferred a more satisfying ending for the game I was currently playing, rather than just hoping things to be more thoroughly resolved in the future.
Speaking of the future, we got a taste of it for both Control and Remedy as a whole with its two expansions, The Foundation and AWE, bundled together here. While releasing in that order, narratively I’d say it’s far more cohesive to play them in reverse. The Foundation shines light on the history of the Oldest House, ending with stronger implications towards its future than the original game does, even having an actual final boss! Meanwhile AWE has little to no ties to Controls narrative, taking place in an abandoned section of the House never once mentioned in the main game. Both expansions have similarly fun combat and level design as the base game, but AWE exists near exclusively to build up to Remedys next title, Alan Wake II. It does not tie up any loose ends from Control whatsoever, so can be a bit jarring narratively as an extension to the game. However, if you’re interested in the devs wider work, it gives you plenty to be excited for.
I’ll admit I mainly jumped into this game for the ties to Alan Wake, but I ended up falling in love with it aside from that. With a fascinating setting and Remedys standard brand of weird paired with engaging level design and compelling combat, Remedy hsa quickly become one of my favorite developers, and I eagerly await the continuation of the tale of Jesse and the Oldest House.