IGN First concluded their month-long coverage of Control today with a special Control-themed Q&A
In the hot-seat today were Sam Lake (Creative Director), Mikael Kasurinen (Game Director), and Thomas Puha (Communications Director).
The community Q&A covers a lot of topics ranging from story influences to a post-launch photo mode, environmental storytelling and more! We learn more about Jesse's childhood and her motivations as well as the campaign length. You can read the interview in full, HERE.
IGN First's latest exclusive look at Control explores the Black Rock Quarry in an action-packed, combat-filled, eight-minute glimpse into the main story mission.
If you've been following Control's coverage over the past few months, the Black Rock Quarry may be a familiar sight. Housed in the Federal Bureau of Control, the area defies physics with floating rock and a brilliantly clear night sky; it's definitely otherworldly.
Tasked with activating "the explosives to excavate the Black Rock Prism", Jesse must fight through waves of enemies to secure the area. In her fight, the video shows two weapon forms ("Grip" a revolve-like form and "Spin" a machine-gun-like form), and Jesse's abilities to possess enemies and throw objects. While the area may not be the most terrifying, at least not in the eight minutes, compared to some of the other scenes that we've seen, it is undoubtedly unnerving! When the combat dies down, the player can hear a deep groaning voice talking in the background, similar to the Zero State in Quantum Break.
We're also introduced to a new enemy, one which runs up to Jesse mid-combat, with a recognisable howl, and explodes nearby, taking a significant part of her health bar. We're going to need to look out for them!
You can watch the full preview below, or via the website, HERE!
In a recent article by IGN, Joe Skrebels spoke to Control's Narrative Designer, Brooke Maggs, about her recommendations for books, movies, and TV that Remedy fans should check out as we approach August 27th.
"When it comes to games, we’re pretty familiar with the trappings of fantasy, sci-fi or war narratives, but you might be a little less up to date with New Weird," describes Joe Skrebels in the article's introduction. "Coined by author M. John Harrison to describe the work of (among others) China Miéville, it’s a form of speculative fiction that revels in inexplicability - it’s often a bit horror, a bit sci-fi, a bit fantasy, but if you put it up against any of the canon texts in those genres, it wouldn’t look like any of them. It’s telling that many authors who get told they’re part of the New Weird immediately reject it, because they think being defined at all is too limiting."
Specifically targeting the "New Weird" genre, Brooke's list included the recent Twin Peaks series, Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, The X-Files, and more!
You can see her full list of recommendations, HERE!
Continuing their month-long exclusive coverage of Control, IGN has just published a seventeen-minute look at one of the game's side-missions, showcasing Jesse's abilities, various weapon modes, and one of the boss battles.
The video features new content, as well as new enemies and new characters, so if you're avoiding spoilers, you may want to give the teaser a miss. You may also not want to scroll down further as we will be discussing the content in the video.
If you're curious to check it out, and not too bothered about spoilers, you can watch the side mission in full below:
In the mission, Jesse gets pulled aside by a brash researcher, Dr Underhill, whose work in mould expansion is considered, for her, a higher priority over the Hiss invasion. She tasks Jesse with looking for five mould strain samples which will allow the new Director to enter deeper into the threshold and locate the approximate source of the growth. Those strain samples are A) found near fresh corpses, B) found near toilets, C) found near televisions, D) found near staircases, and E) grows near "the Pit".
After locating the strains, Underhills quickly uses them to create a pill that will allow Jesse to venture down to the lower levels, unharmed by the mould spores. She will, however, face the remaining members of Underhill's Ranger team who have been taken over by the fungus and the boss battle waiting at the source.
Transcript
IGN: In Control, side missions are where you’ll find almost all of your unlockable powers as well as some of the hardest boss battles in the game. In this footage, you’ll see us take on the entirety of one of those side missions and it culminates in one of those boss battles as well, and as you’ll see it’s not exactly easy.
UNDERHILL: Do you normally barge into people’s private workspaces?
JESSE (INT): She clearly doesn’t know who she’s talking to.
JESSE: Shouldn’t you be in a safe room?
UNDERHILL: Why? Because of those “Hiss” things the Rangers keep going on about? Haven’t you people sorted that out yet? The situation down here could spell doom for the Bureau.
JESSE: You mean this mould?
UNDERHILL: Correct. Perhaps you could help me? I require samples of various mould strains, and the mould has made the environment far too dangerous for me to fetch them myself.
JESSE: Really? Mould samples? I thought this could spell doom.
UNDERHILL: It could, and it will, whoever you are. The mould is spreading. We need to find the source before it spreads too far.
JESSE: And these samples will do that?
UNDERHILL: No. Samples of five unique strains, when blending properly will allow you to travel deeper into the pit where I can pinpoint the approximate location of the source of the mould.
JESSE: Okay. So what are these samples look like?
UNDERHILL: Similar to the one on my table there. I’ve made a list of the samples I need here. You’ll find them throughout the threshold.
JESSE: I’ll take a look… my name’s Jesse, by the way.
After finding Type A by a corpse by a vine-covered wall: This must be one of the samples.
After finding Type B in the toilet: Gross, Underhill's gonna owe me for this
After finding Type C near a TV on a desk: One of Underhill's samples.
After finding Type D underneath a staircase: Found one!
After finding Type E to the side of a glowing pit: This looks like a good one.
After collecting all five samples: That's all five samples. I should get these back to Underhill.
Once Jesse returns to Dr Underhill:
UNDERHILL: You look like a woman with mould for me.
JESSE: I found all five, but I… kinda wanted to eat them.
UNDERHILL: The mould has that effect on some people, likely due to the fact that it’s not actually mould or even of this dimension. I suspect that it is the result of two incompatible molecular structures, one dominant coming into contact, I call it “mould” or “fungus” because it’s closely related in appearance and behaviour than anything else we know…except perhaps bacteria.
JESSE (INT): She reminds me of my old biology teacher.
UNDERHILL: Did you happen to meet any more members of my Ranger detail?
JESSE: I didn’t see any Rangers, just walking mould people…Unless-
UNDERHILL: Yes, if you found mould people, you’ve found my Rangers. I refer to the creatures as “hosts” they, like other unwary agents, succumb to the appetite. But that’s nothing for you to worry about. The pill I’m about to make with these samples will make the lower levels perfectly safe to traverse. It has the added benefit of immunising you against the Pit’s toxic spores.
JESSE (INT): I feel like I should ask to see her credentials.
UNDERHILL: There! Now that didn’t take too long, did it? Ingest this pill, then go and find the source of the mould; only there can we begin to understand how to stop it.
JESSE (INT): Take a mystery pill because a rude lady in a hazmat suit tells you to. Great idea, Jesse.
JESSE: (Takes pill) Urgh.
UNDERHILL: Honestly, did you want me to wrap it in cheese?
JESSE: Not the taste, the smell. It stinks in here now.
UNDERHILL: Good. That means the pill is working. The worse it smells, the safer you’ll be. Now go, find the source.
After relocating the Pit: This must be the pit that Underhill was talking about.
After defeating Rangers at the bottom of the pit: The Rangers must have come through here.
Threshold Log 1 Recording: Squad Captain Lopez, reporting on expedition 17B. At the formation now. [Audio masked by protagonist using her powers to throw item, the following lines are an approximation of the script] Visually no distinction from the previous visit. Link detectors still standing. One arch has a light flashing- [audio becomes too difficult to hear]. Lopez out.
As Jesse explores deeper into the threshold: Geez, it reaks in here!
After discovering the source: Is that the source? It's... kind of pretty.
IGN: If you want to see more of Control, we've got tonnes of it this month. We've got the first thirteen minutes of the game, as well as a huge hands-on preview, all as part of our IGN First.
On Friday, Simon Cardy (Video Producer at IGN), Alex Simmons (Editor-In-Chief at IGN), and Joe Skrebels (Deputy Editor at IGN) published their latest podcast (episode #495) in which they talked about Control and Man of Medan.
The (mature) podcast lasts almost eighty minutes, and also tackles topics such as Nintendo Switch Lite, Modern Warfare's new mode "Gunfight", Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and deck-building games.
In their section covering Remedy's upcoming game, they talk more in-depth about what they experienced during their eight-hour preview including the mysterious Ahti, environmental storytelling, fiction blending into reality, technical improvements over the past three years, and the FBC. They also clarified that their IGN First coverage has also been careful not to reveal too much about the game ahead of its release, and that the details mentioned in the preview come from the first thirty minutes of the game.
IGN is turning their attention to Control for their next IGN First feature! A little while ago, Joe Skrebels (UK Deputy Editor for IGN) and Simon Cardy (Video Producer for IGN) were given an exclusive sneak peek at what Remedy had in store for their next adventure. Throughout July, the website will be talking more about their eight-hour-long preview, plus releasing regular IGN-only content drops.
[Major spoilers for Control's opening below!]
First up is a video showcasing the first thirteen minutes of Control, which explores Jesse's motivations for being at the FBC, how she becomes the director, Objects of Power, and a little more about who exactly is in control of the organisation. In the same announcement, IGN also released a series of new screenshots. You can view the report in full, HERE.
Starting off the game, we hear Jesse Faden talk about her adventure in retrospect, similar to the start of Max Payne, Max Payne II, Alan Wake, and Quantum Break. The vibe from the dialogue is that it's similar to the 2016 title; potentially part of an interview or one side of a conversation rather than addressing the audience. Given the early introduction to her younger brother, Dylan, and his importance established within the first few minutes, it's possible that she's talking to him. (Although we will know for certain in August.)
Jesse, Internal. "Fair warning. This is going to be weird than usual. Can't be helped. You called me. So here I am. I know I shut you out sometimes. I'm always glad to hear from you. It's just that... I get my hopes up. So many times, it's led to nothing. I found nothing. It's like... we live in a room... and there's a poster on the wall. We stare at it and we think "that's the whole world"; the room and the poster. The picture is something nice, a landscape, a famous person, like in that movie... urgh, what is it call? The prison movie. The room's a cell and the pictures it's different for each of us; it can be beautiful or terrible but we're all transfixed. But it's all a lie; something to distract us from the truth. They're lying to us. We're lying to ourselves. The room's not the world, the world is much bigger and much stranger. There's a hole hidden behind that poster that leads to the real world. We all feel safe in that room. But sometimes, sometimes, something crawls out from behind the poster, and the ones that see it happen freak out and try to forget what they saw. I'm here. Why did you bring me here?"
Throughout the introduction, we see flashes of characters, including one previously not shown, played by actor Sean Durrie (Nick Masters in Quantum Break) who is wearing a prisoner outfit. We also see the FBC's former director dead on the ground, presumably a suicide.
New Control screenshot, posted by IGN. Check out their page HERE for more!
As the gameplay begins, we see Jesse step into the Federal Bureau of Control's reception. Its emptiness prompts her to investigate and try to find someone. In her search, she passes through a security section which appears to have been abandoned in an emergency. Bags are still left in the boxes, and a collectable narrative piece "Prohibited Items Reminder" rests on the machine.
She walks upstairs and gets attracted by a TV which suddenly switches on in the next room; it's static highlighting a folder with the FBC seal on it. Jesse sees the FBC logo “a long time ago” revealing that she sees it in her dreams. In the same room, an expenditure summary for executive sector Q2, reporting mould removal. Outside the room, and lining the corridor are oil paintings of Dr Casper Darling, Ahti, and Director Trench. Beyond is a set of offices and meeting rooms, the corridor is dark, only highlighted by the light spilling out from the meeting rooms and through the glass walls. Further along, Jesse comes across Ahti, the janitor, working in the dark and humming to himself. Interestingly, he is able to respond to her internal monologue. Believing that she is attending a job interview, he provides her with directions. As she enters the lift, the doors close behind her, the Control logo flashes on the screen.
Jesse, Internal. "The cell, and the poster. I was eleven years old when I first saw behind the poster. They told me I imagined it. I've been trying to pull it down ever since. Did I lose you there for a moment? You know what's on my mind. My baby brother. Dylan. Seventeen years since the men of this bureau took him."
She exits the lift and follows the corridor to the Director's Office. The location which is much grander, with a huge seal at the end above the door. As she approaches, she hears a loud bang coming from behind the door. As she opens it, she sees Director Trench dead on the floor surrounded by blood, in what looks to be a suicide.
New Control screenshot, posted by IGN. Check out their page HERE for more!
The Board. "Testing testing testing. We are broadcasting from the Pyramid/Other. Only the Director can wield. The Gun/Sword/Intentionally left blank. Your application will be processed."
Jesse is seen holding the service weapon to her head, mirroring Trench.
Jesse, Internal. "And there goes the poster."
The next few minutes is a series of fragmented scenes; we get shots of Trench, of Jesse, and a video recording of Dr Casper Darling played on a projector.
Dr Darling. "Objects of Power can cause, or be results of, AWE; Altered World Events. Intrusions upon the procedural reality. Now, the service weapon is, of course, a prime example of an OOP, a very powerful one. Ingrained in the bureau's DNA, a key component in our prime candidate program; come out of that Russian Roulette a winner and you, you're it. "
The Board. "Only the Director can bind. The Service Weapon and Live/Die. This is your Ritual/Challenge. You must choose to be the Chosen One."
Jesse is transported to the "Astral Plane", a place made up of light and stone blocks forming a path. She is ordered to follow the Board’s instructions and complete the challenge. Faceless humanoid enemies emerge suddenly and she instinctively punches them. They immediately break apart, as if made of stone or coal. On a ledge she discovers the aforementioned Service Weapon hovering in mid-air, as her hand approach it, she struggles to remove it from its invisible grip, but successfully recovers it.
New Control screenshot, posted by IGN. Check out their page HERE for more!
The Board. "Bubblegum/Polaroid. All/None of the above. These are the Concepts/Tattoos we see in your Minds. The Service Weapon. It has many forms. Like the House/Prison you occupy. Destroy the Copies/Targets.
After shooting the enemies that emerge in the Astral Plane, a combat sequence that lasts several minutes as instructions appears on screen, the Board announces "You/We wield the Gun/You. The Board appoints you. Congratulations, Director."
As Jesse returns to the FBC Director's Office, she hears his voice, "something's coming. This threat. An attack. Duty as Director. Keep the Bureau safe." He remains still, unmoved and very dead on the floor, surrounded by his own blood. His voice is in her head.
Jesse. "Did you hear that? It’s the dead man. Right after the pyramid spoke to me, and it was just noise and.. I understood every word. And this gun's alive. You know what? I'm happy, happy to be here. Things have quieted down outside. Is it safe to go?"
As Jesse leaves the Director's Office, she is transported to another location, another corridor. There is a red hue everywhere, indicating the presence of the Hiss in the area. Bodies of former FBC employees are suspended in midair. A piercing scream sounds and Jesse covers her ears as the demo ends.
