Lost in Control!

I'm not much of a gamer. I play them occasionally to blow off some steam. An escape attempt of sort. So choosing the game to play itself can become challenging sometimes.

Control was made free about a week ago in the Epic Games store and being an Unreal Engine newbie, I usually get the notifications. Without much thought, I grabbed it. But then, watching the trailer on youtube, I was much impressed! It looked like a fun game and a refreshing one at that.

I've been playing the Far Cry series for the last few months and was quite bored with them. So such a change in the gameplay and overall mood of the game was a welcomed one.

I wasn't wrong in my speculations and the game surprised me with its level designs and gameplay mechanics. I've played some quite good hours already through the weekend and progressed half the game. I think I have fair ideas about the game and how it works already.

I start the game as Jesse Faden. A young woman in her late 20s. She enters a massive building that seems kind of out of place, and it appears to be an office building belonging to a bureau. Federal Bureau of Control. I chuckled, what is this? The FBI but with a name change? But something is not right. Jesse confirms through a monologue that there's a whole other world behind the hanged photo of the director, which is something she's wondering about all her life. She came to the bureau to find her brother, whom the bureau took many years ago.

Apparently, this fictional bureau works much like what you'd expect, and paranaturally boosted one at that, not everyone is aware of the Bureau even when they are right beside them.

As the protagonist Jesse, I first, meet Ahti the janitor. He looks like a weird fellow you can't be sure about. Like they can do way more than they show and are adapted to do peculiar things. The guy gives me the creep but Jesse looks quite okay with it. This speaks more for Jesse than about the janitor. Leaving the janitor we progress farther into the office to talk to the director of the bureau.

As I'm about to enter the director's office, he commits suicide. And I pick up the gun. Classic way to land our arses in jail, Jesse!

But the gun is no mere gun, it is an object of power. Only the director of the bureau can wield it. And by wielding it, I, a stranger, a civilian, become the new director of the bureau! That's something. My mother would be proud!

And this is how the game starts.

I didn't realize then, the entire game is in that building. But it is massive with lots of open spaces, and many different sectors. And each of the sectors can be massive as a medieval castle. Moreover, it's a place of power. The layouts of the building also are not fixed, they change based on whatever power is in control. The entire infrastructure is aptly named "the oldest house", as I traverse the different sectors of the building, I often lose my way! The darn place is like a massive maze!

So what happens in the game conceptually is this — Federal Bureau of Control has been doing all sorts of extra-dimensional experients. And when they probed too far into the paranormal, they paranormal probed back. A powerful entity entered through the dimensional hole and spread throughout The Oldest House, corrupting its architecture and the inhabitants as well as theobjects of power the bureau has been collecting over the years.

This triggered an infrastructure-wise lockdown, so nothing can leave or enter the oldest house, including the foreign force they're trying to contain.
But Jesse enters during the lockdown and turns out she has a helping friend, who is not all that powerless.

This is all in the beginning, then starts the journey of Jesse to unwrap the mysteries of the oldest house and find her brother. And in her journey, as the director, she picks up powerful abilities. She can levitate (fly essentially), throw objects telekinetically, shoot the power-infused gun in many forms, and so on. And I'm there with her, all the while, perhaps as a silent guardian!

Jesse is very much a likable woman. A head full of auburn hair, and a chestful of courage. She acts like she doesn't care much about what happens in the bureau, as the directorship was literally forced upon her, yet she readily takes on the responsibilities that come her way. Jesse is played by Courtney Hope, I don't think I know her much, but I've become fond of the character she plays in Control.

There are many things I loved in Control. It's attention to detail for example. Every object you see in the game is interactable. If you bump into a bookshelf, all the books will fall. The level designs are extremely well done. Massive deserted places, quite distinct from each other, yet haunted with echoes of loneliness and potential danger! They look really beautiful!

Take a look.

Finally, a game that mixes the action and aesthetics pretty well!

And the foreign entity, commonly referred to as "The Hiss", makes the affected utter gibberish continuously. These sound effects make the game quite nightmarish sometimes. Imagine yourself walking through a mass office floor and people are hanging on the ceiling, mumbling gibberish!
That's exactly what happens in the game!

The exploration aspects of the game is quite important and it rewards you accordingly.
I haven't finished the game yet, already I can see why the community loves it so much. It is absolutely replayable.

Easily a 9/10 game.

Here, take a look at the trailer to see if it's for you.

The attached photos are screenshot from the game.