Genre: Action-adventure
Year: 2019
Developed by: Remedy Entertainment
Published by: 505 Games
Platforms: PS4, PC, XBOX One, Luna, Switch, PS5, XBOX Series X, Stadia
#148
Feeling Like: [redacted]
We’re getting to the point now on the 500 where some of the Top 10’s are creeping into the regular rankings. To be honest, I didn’t have a plan for this and I still don’t.
Shuffling around entries on the Almighty Spreadsheet isn’t as fun as I’d hoped. Where do I put in newer games? I started this blog with my very first entry, Osmos, on May 21st, 2016. Since then, I’ve beaten 163 games. Do they all end up on the 500? Some certainly did, but eventually I have to implement a cut-off point. When I’m finally done, which should be sometime next year, I think I’ll just make an incredibly long list of every game ranked and then just add/move games going forward. No more entries or re-ordering the 500 itself, however. I’m not that sadistic.
Control gets in at #148. Here’s what I said at the end of 2019.
The second I walked into a faceless, gargantuan office building with brutalist architecture and nobody at the front desk, I was hooked. It really does feel like a combination of Remedy Entertainment’s previous franchises, Max Payne(s) and Alan Wake. It works far better than it should.
Control, maybe not the best title but an appropriate one, is an outstanding game. It’s got themes present from the X-Files, Lost, Twin Peaks and SCP which means it gives me all the benefits of being creeped out, but didn’t outright terrify me like other horror games. I have a limit, Control finds the sweet spot.
The cutscenes are the star of the show. The alien language, the cryptic voicemails, the disturbing footage, the scientist experiments and the messages from your seemingly dead Director all work in tandem to create a wonderful atmosphere that’s equally thrilling to explore, and dangerous. I also loved how the entire game takes place in one building – it may mean a lack of variety in visuals, but it makes up for it with consistency. I am in the Forgotten House for the entirety of Jesse Faden’s adventure, and you get to know it inside and further inside.
The mundane nature of working in an office is shown off here tremendously. To you, vanishing fridges and levitating objects are the most incredible spectacle. To the workers who have to deal with them, it’s just another 9-5 gig filled with annoyances. You start to adjust to the insanity yourself, until the next surprise pokes its head around the corner.
Traversal, shooting, exploration, backtracking, enemies and powers are all well thought out, and offer a fair level of challenge. The lighting and reflections are supremely impressive, I never got tired of visiting a new boardroom and wondering how the hell anybody, or anything, built this place.
Oh, and more Dr. Darling please. The video diaries with him (not digitized, real life footage) were a treat every time and a trademark of Remedy Entertainment. Special praise should be given to actor Matthew Porretta for bringing this delightful side character to life. No Remedy game would be complete without a hard rock song accompanying the game’s best level; this is a unique, tremendous experience if you’re willing to put up with a few minor annoyances.
Not a ton to add, my feelings for Control haven’t changed in four years. I’ll mention how the in-game map was atrocious, but the signs were actually so helpful at directing me where to go that I stopped using the map altogether. It’s one of the stranger design choices in a very strange game, but that’s about the only blip I can recall.
The Dr. Darling tapes really do stand out, I’m a huge fan when games integrate real life footage and actors. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West may have been my favorite instance of this, but they also used Andy Serkis so that might be cheating. I think because it happens so rarely and I’m a huge fan of sparsely used spectacle that I enjoyed it so much. It helped that the actor Matthew Porretta knocked it out of the park. He’s instantly likeable and provides some measure of exposition in a game that shrouds the truth. Also the seemingly mundane, scientific method of analyzing otherworldly items or apparitions is a humorous dichotomy. Eldritch horrors or ghosts really don’t care for standards and procedures, no matter how much the group in charge of monitoring them tries.
Remedy has been relatively quiet since the launch of Control, but there is a sequel to both this game and Alan Wake on the horizon. I’m more than willing to give both a try, especially if Remedy improves upon their already enormously successful effort I saw in Control. I’m ready to be creeped out all over again, especially if Dr. Darling is involved.
The 500 