Control is set within the Oldest House, a featureless Brutalist skyscraper in New York City, which is referred to in-game as a "Place of Power". The Oldest House's interior is far larger than its exterior, an enormous, constantly shifting supernatural realm that defies the laws of spacetime. Control is built in the Metroidvania format, with a large world map that can be explored at a nonlinear pace, unlike Remedy's previous titles, which were primarily linear. As the player unlocks new abilities and clearance throughout the game, new areas of the Oldest House can be explored, opening various side-quests. Certain areas known as Control Points can be used to fast travel throughout the building after they have been cleared of enemies. A new A.I. system known as the Encounter Director controls interactions with enemies based on the player's level and location in the Oldest House. Enemies in Control are predominantly human agents of the FBC possessed by the Hiss, an otherworldly force. They range from standard humans carrying firearms to heavily mutated variations which possess a variety of superpowers. Some of Jesse's abilities allow her to seize control of enemies' minds temporarily, turning them into her allies, and allowing their abilities to be used for the player's benefit.
Synopsis
Setting
Control revolves around a clandestine U.S. government agency known as the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC), which is responsible for the investigation of "paranatural" phenomena which defy the known laws of reality. These phenomena manifest in the form of Altered World Events (AWEs), intrusions upon perceived reality shaped by the human collective unconscious. These AWEs affect archetypal objects and give them unique properties; referred to as Altered Items by the Bureau, they are contained within their headquarters at the Oldest House, an enormous Brutalist skyscraper in New York City. AWEs produce Objects of Power, which are unique in that they grant certain individuals (referred to as "parautilitarians") paranatural abilities. Objects of Power are connected to the Astral Plane, an alternate dimension housing the Board, a pyramid-shaped entity which ordains the Bureau's leadership through a ritual connected to the Service Weapon, an Object of Power. Whomever the Board chooses to wield the Service Weapon is considered by default to be the Director of the FBC. The Oldest House itself is referred to as a Place of Power by the FBC; on the interior, it is an infinite, constantly shifting paranatural space connected to various alternate dimensions through rooms known as Thresholds.
The protagonist of Control is Jesse Faden, who arrives at the Oldest House seeking the whereabouts of her younger brother, Dylan. Seventeen years prior to the game's events, Jesse and Dylan were involved in an AWE in their hometown of Ordinary, Wisconsin involving a slide projector Object of Power capable of opening portals to other dimensions. After the Slide Projector's paranatural properties resulted in the disappearance of Ordinary's adult population, the FBC apprehended Dylan and the Slide Projector while Jesse fled, burning all but one of the slides. Jesse arrives at the Oldest House through the guidance of Polaris, a paranatural entity which rescued her and Dylan during the Ordinary AWE.
Throughout the game, Jesse encounters various allies in the FBC, including research specialist Emily Pope, security chief Simon Arish, Head of Operations Helen Marshall, and Ahti, a mysterious Finnish janitor. She also learns of the FBC's former Director, Zachariah Trench, and finds various informative videos created by Dr. Casper Darling, the Bureau's missing Head of Research.
Plot
Jesse Faden arrives at the Oldest House under the telepathic guidance of Polaris, finding the building seemingly devoid of people. She bumps into a Finnish janitor, Ahti, who directs her to an elevator for her "interview." Through the elevator, Jesse discovers that the Federal Bureau of Control's Director, Zachariah Trench, has seemingly committed suicide with his own sidearm. Picking it up, Jesse learns that it is an Object of Power known as the Service Weapon, and is transported to the Astral Plane, where she completes a ritual and is selected as the new Director by the Board. Jesse emerges from Trench's office and finds that the Oldest House has been invaded by a hostile force she dubs "the Hiss," which has possessed most of the Bureau's agents and corrupted the building's shifting topography. Jesse uses an Object of Power known as the Hotline to listen to the lingering presence of Trench, who relays that his former management team knows the secrets of the Bureau, and Jesse hopes they may be able to tell her the whereabouts of her brother, Dylan, who was kidnapped by the FBC years prior.
