Overview (2)

Explore the paranatural phenomena and the Federal Bureau of Control in Control Ultimate Edition. Learn about Jesse Faden's journey as Director.

In the world of Control Ultimate Edition, resonances from higher dimensions interact with a collective unconscious to create paranormal phenomena. The Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) studies these events. Jesse and Dylan Faden were at the center of an Altered World Event (AWE) in Ordinary, Wisconsin, which changed them and caused disappearances. Dylan was taken by the FBC, while Jesse escaped with a guiding voice. This voice leads her to the Oldest House, the FBC headquarters, where she is appointed Director.

The Oldest House is in lockdown due to the Hiss, a higher-dimensional resonance. Bureau employees are hostile, and others are levitating and chanting. As Director, your first task is to resolve this crisis.

Control Ultimate Edition excels in atmospheric world-building. The Oldest House, while strange, resembles government offices with desks, computers (modern technology explodes), filing cabinets, and cafeterias. Bureaucratic jargon like Altered World Events, Altered Items (items changed by higher dimensions), and Objects of Power (powerful Altered Items granting abilities) is prevalent.

Gameplay combines action-adventure with RPG and Metroidvania elements. You start with a gun and soon gain abilities to throw objects like furniture and even forklift trucks, bend enemies to your will, and launch yourself into the air.

Control Ultimate Edition borrows challenging elements from the Soulsborne genre, including sudden-death mechanics and a hostile checkpoint (an auto-save point you restart from on death) system. Dying results in a lengthy loading screen, re-fighting enemies, and losing 10% of your in-game currency. The difficulty is high and non-selectable, and you have a single save file that the game overwrites. Boss fights are described as difficulty spikes.

Ultimate Edition Update

The Control Ultimate Edition includes the Foundation expansion (released June 2020) and the AWE expansion (released August 2020). Foundation is a post-game adventure exploring a sealed area of the Oldest House, noted for weaker world-building and a less engaging story. AWE is an improvement, featuring better world-building and a creepy creature. To fully appreciate AWE, prior knowledge of the game Alan Wake is recommended, as much of its content can be baffling without it.

The Ultimate Edition also added cheat modes to address the difficulty. However, the loot system is considered dismal, with most mods being garbage. AWE introduces a new weapon form but has issues with trophy ties.