Remedy Entertainment have made a name for themselves for developing story-driven experiences that tend to garnish a cult following. While Max Payne was a critical and commercial success, Alan Wake’s mystery soap-opera-esque (ie. Twin Peaks) narrative catered to a more niche audience and only grew in popularity long after its initial release. The psychological thriller game was built as a TV show, with levels ending on a cliff-hangars and recaps of previous events introducing each new chapter. Remedy had crafted an interesting universe for players to explore; a universe whose lore was expanded upon by meta radio dramas and television serials within it. American Nightmare, an expansion styled follow-up to Alan Wake, was more action-focused but featured an interested time-loop based narrative.



Then came the time themed Quantum Break, which took the idea of a videogame presented as a TV series and included live-action episodes as interjections between chapters, allowing players to experience the events surrounding the story from other characters perspectives. These episodes featured alternating narratives which were driven through player choice within the gameplay experience, third person action featuring the manipulation of time. All this was packaged in a Fringe (the popular TV show) styled narrative, with players taking on a modern corporation with various pseudo-science research divisions, to prevent the collapse of time itself.

Between the various titles you can see the impact that pop-culture and cult classic media have had on the studio, but also how gameplay systems affect future projects, with smaller ideas often evolving into fully fledged titles. Storytelling is often off-beat and referential, never feeling like it is copying but rather paying homage to other works of fiction. The world-building within their games make them a stand-out developer in my eyes, by creating game worlds I want to spend time in and get to know more about.

It feels like the developers have done what they do, and really mastered it.

How does this all apply to Control, you may ask? Well Control, for what I have experienced of it thus far, feels like the prefect balance of these various narrative styles, expanded game systems, and mechanics. Third-person action which features environmental manipulation, check, mysterious organisation with research into the unknown, check, well-crafted and interesting universe to explore, double-check. It feels like the developers have done what they do, and really mastered it.

Third person combat is fluid and fun, and the progression of abilities adds an element of personalisation to your play style. This is great, however, it’s the universe in which the story set, as well as the story itself, that really has me engaged.

You play as Jesse Faden, the recently appointed Director of the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC), a clandestine government agency researching powerful objects that can manipulate the world around them. The agency has been infiltrated by a mysterious and hostel threat, and it is your job to restore order to the bureau. Of course, there is more than first meets the eye, as the story expands to reveal more of events and characters pertaining to this threat. It all this feels very The Lost Room (another great TV series to check out) mixed with other pop-culture classics, such as the aforementioned Twin Peaks and Fringe, but also The X-Files.



As with previous projects, the studio has placed meta media within the game, radio and TV shows expanding upon the lore, and an evolving story which motivates exploration to discover all the secrets the FBC has locked away. It’s all very Remedy, which is why I am loving playing the game, because it feels like a Remedy title - something mysterious around every corner, and a lore relevant event/object that pulls you into the universe. Be sure to check out Lynley’s review as it drops in the next few days, but until then, we have an awesome fifteen-minute gameplay video you can check out below: