2019 was a strange year for a number of reasons, one of which was that for a brief moment, I kind of fell out of video games. My biggest hobby, one that I’ve had for decades, became unexciting and boring. I tried numerous new releases but nothing grabbed my attention for more than a few hours. Everything felt the same and I wasn’t having as much fun as I was in the past. Where was that big, new experience I was longing for?
Turns out, I just had to wait until August to play it.
Control was the first game of 2019 to completely take over my free time and the first game in I don’t know how long to surprise me. Control is an third-person action game from Remedy Entertainment, best known for the first two Max Payne games as well as Quantum Break and Alan Wake, the latter of which is one of my all-time favorites. Control has just what you’d expect from a Remedy game: a great narrative, tight shooting, and a unique setting. Except this time they added in an extra healthy dosage of weird.
Control takes place within The Oldest House, the mysterious home of the Federal Bureau of Control, a secret government organization that houses, studies, and protects the world from supernatural objects and occurrences. As Jesse Faden, you arrive at the FBC in search of your long-lost brother, and inadvertently become entangled in a battle against an interdimensional threat called The Hiss. To delve more into the plot would be a disservice to the game and ruin the surprise of it. Just imagine a cross between The Twilight Zone and Twin Peaks, with a dash of The X-Files thrown in for good measure.
What makes Control so memorable for me is how challenging it is, both in its gameplay and its narrative. Juggling shooting with the numerous supernatural powers at your disposal (flight, telekinesis, mind control) can be tricky, especially when fighting multiple enemies. But once things click, you feel truly powerful. Each battle feels destructive and dynamic thanks in part to the excellent level design. And I can’t tell you just how satisfying the woooosh sound effect when using telekinesis is.
Narratively, Control is bonkers. It’s weird, scary, and often hilarious. It takes itself seriously but never becomes pretentious. Most importantly, it trusts its audience. It delves into some really strange and complex territory but never handfeeds or overexplains anything, nor does it ever feel overwhelming. It leaves enough breadcrumbs to allow the player to piece things together themselves. This is a game that has you fighting a giant bug-like monster that's trapped within a killer refrigerator and you just ... accept it.
Audio logs and collectible documents flesh things out as well, making the world feel grounded and lived-in. The characters you encounter are unusual and richly entertaining, and all have unique stories to tell. But The Oldest House is the biggest star, and its twisting and shape-shifting environments make it one of the most memorable and detail-rich settings in gaming.
Control is big, weird, frightening, and very, very funny. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever played and it’s my favorite game of 2019.
