What is Control?

Control is an action-adventure game set in the dystopian and supernatural Federal Bureau of Control, a clandestine government agency whose goal is to contain, study and control objects and phenomena which defy scientific law. In the FBC, found within the skyscraper nicknamed the Oldest House, the world constantly shifts into new realms and realities. In the game, you play as Jesse Faden, a civilian who arrives at the FBC in the hope to find her brother Dylan who had been kidnapped by supernatural forces during their childhood. Soon after arriving at FBC, Jesse becomes the new Director and learns that the building has been infested by a hostile force called the Hiss. With an ever-shifting Service Weapon and supernatural powers, Jesse decides to take on the role of leader in her attempt to cleanse the Oldest House of the Hiss corruption and learn more about the disappearance of her brother. Will Jesse succeed in her quest and restoring order? ^(Source)

Finally getting to start this game

Ever since I downloaded this game for free (thanks to PS Plus) at the beginning of February, I have been itching to play it. I’ve been busy playing Destruction AllStars for the last few weeks. Now that I’ve decided to move on to a new game, it is time that to see what Control is all about.

This is the Ultimate Edition of Control, which comes with the Foundation and Awe DLC. Along with that I was able to download the PS5 Upgrade version, which can only be had if you have the Ultimate Edition of Control.

Graphic settings on PS5

Before starting the game, the first thing I did was go check out the settings to see what my options were for running this upgraded version of the game. It sucks having to choose between high quality lighting/textures and better framerates. Sadly that is the current situation with most last-gen games being upgraded to the next-gen consoles.

So I was left with choosing between 60fps (performance) or ray-tracing with 30fps (graphics). I started with 60fps since I’ve already grown used to the smoothness in other games. Once playing I did switch between the two to get a better comparison. I found I just couldn’t deal with the slowed down frames, although the environments do look a whole lot prettier with the graphics version.

Both trippy and creepy

As soon as I entered the main menu of this game, I got an eerie vibe and was totally into the trance like portal that was looping in the background.

Upon first playing Control, I was greeted by a giant building that was seemingly empty. There wasn’t much sound besides my own footsteps and doors opening and slamming shut. No music really, I think the point the developers were driving across was that the place was not functioning like usual and had been abandoned to a certain extent. I was on edge because I wasn’t sure when I was going to run into my first enemy.

Eventually I ran into a lone janitor with a heavy accent. He was able to direct me towards an elevator and I was headed towards my objective.

The service weapon

Upon exploring the Oldest House a bit, I came to the office of the former director of the FBC. It was there I found him lying dead on the floor, next to him was a gun. There was blood all over the place and all signs pointed to his death being from a self inflicted gunshot to the head.

So I did what any living human being would do in that situation, I picked up the gun. Once I picked up the gun I began communicating with the now dead director. I knew things were about to get interesting.

Welcome to the astral plane

Shortly after picking up the gun, I was informed that it was called the service weapon and I was teleported to the astral plane. It was there that I was given a challenge, which functioned as a tutorial. I was choosing to be the chosen one, the one who would be the next director.

My responsibility would be to cleanse the Old House of the otherworldly invaders known as the Hiss. The odd sounds that they make would drive anyone mad in a relatively short amount of time.

Looking forward to a supernatural experience

I was so happy to realize that this game actually takes advantage of the PS5’s DualSense capabilities. When walking, each footstep vibrates in a realistic manner thanks to the haptic feedback. When shooting the service weapon, the adaptive triggers have actual weight to this. These two things alone make the experience much more immersive. I’m curious if I will encounter any more unique features like this the more I play the game.

So far I do not have any cool abilities. I’m not able to levitate nor make other objects float. Soon I will unlock that capability and many other supernatural techniques. I am excited to see what all will happen. Plus evidently the service weapon will be seeing many different forms as well. This game has me super curious and I will be sure to report back here on my blog once I get to play Contol more.