CONTROL is a hodgepodge of everything that Remedy or Immersive sim can do without Immersive sim

If, when talking about “CONTROL,” you are asked to explain the essence of the game in a couple of words, then I suggest using a phrase said by Remedy’s narrative designer Anna Megil. She also worked on “CONTROL”, and therefore understands something about this game. So here are her words:

“In CONTROL, unlike other Remedy games, we decided to focus less on the cinematic presentation of the story and more on the presentation of the plot through the environment, using the method of “environmental storytelling”, thanks to which both the gameplay and the story work hand in hand, telling the plot and developing the characters” – very succinct and extremely accurate.

And in this phrase the name “environmental storytelling” immediately catches your eye, doesn’t it?? What is this anyway?? And this is exactly what the title of this blog says: a method that makes “CONTROL” an immersive sim without an immersive sim.

Most of you are obviously aware of what the “immersive simulation” genre is. It’s not so much a genre as it is a unique style of gameplay in which history is intertwined with design, and through design and locations with game mechanics. That is, in such games, the story, or micro-stories, are often told through the environment, through the player’s direct interaction with this very environment. That is why in games of this type the technique of “environmental storytelling” is used to its fullest potential. It is impossible to meaningfully translate this name into Russian. Approximately, this is storytelling through the environment. And that says it all.

This is a technique of presenting a story through an elaborate and detailed environment. Apartment of an infected person in “Dishonored” with one large corpse and two small ones on a leaky mattress. An office covered with yellow stationery sheets in “CONTROL” – both examples use the same technique. Within its framework, no one forces the player to interact with the environment. No. Study more, know more. Reconstruction of events is carried out purely by the player. He looks, analyzes and reflects on how it was and what was. A genre that is based almost entirely on such technology is Immersive sim.

“CONTROL” uses technology to draw the player into an intricate and intimate story that turns out to be something much more. So big that the player does not recognize what is behind the “facade” even at the end. You don’t remind me of anything? And this is already a common technique for the horror and thriller genres in any path of media culture.

G.F.Lovecraft – in person (although who doesn’t know him, K’mon)

If we think about thrillers, then again it’s worth turning to the words of the developers. This time to the comments of the game director Michael Kazurinan:
“…a slow exploration of the world with a character with special powers. Just like in old horror films or thrillers, but through a hero who feels like a superhero” – it doesn’t remind me of anything? Deconstruction of the genre. In this regard – the entire genre layer.

the game “Remedy” allows you to look at an already archaic plot from the other side, endowing the character not only with special mental flexibility, but also with real physical abilities that do not fit into the boundaries of everyday life. And what does the player see?? And the fact that this doesn’t make the game any less tense. It’s just that now we can meet our enemies face to face, we have the strength to fight back, we are able to take everything under our control, and not be in chaos, as was the case with Ripley (Alien) or Sarah Connor (Terminator). But this will not make it easier to complete our task. Why? Because we don’t just have to survive. We must crush everything under ourselves. And this must be done despite the veil of mystery that covers the entire Bureau of Control. Let’s remember the books of Stephen King or Howard Lovecraft, TV series like “The X-Files” or “Twin Peaks” – all of them, within their world, contain hints that the hero is actually fighting or interacting with something incomprehensible to him, with something immense and frightening.

The same wigwam from Lynch’s creations

So that he won’t be able to stand the truth about the whole scale. This is exactly the case with “CONTROL”… And despite this, it is precisely this kind of mystery that captivates. And being “chained” in armor of a clear style, it reflects the structure. A structure you can understand. And the player understands. The player gets into it. The player explores and, constantly stimulated by the rich environment, continues to explore. No matter what the ending will be. Because in this game the ending is not the main thing. The main thing is to be around every minute of the game. This is the environment.

From the very beginning, the authors shaped it so that it clearly conveys to the player the nature of this story being told. For example: let’s take the very beginning. As soon as we get to the Oldest House, Jesse does not experience any particular difficulties in moving into the corridors of the building.

She rushes deeper into the building, where she meets the janitor Khatia, with whom she begins a free dialogue.

Neither she nor the player yet know the location of the action and its nature, but the environment and characters are already warning that the story will unfold, “a”, around something as strange as the janitor we met, and “b” – it will be covered in patches of totalitarianism, control. And at the center of it all will be the mystery of the main character herself. After all, if you look at the words of the authors again, this is what they say about the connecting thread that unites Jesse and the Oldest House:

“… maybe she even already had some emotional contact with this place (the Oldest House)” – these are the words of Michael Kazurinan, already familiar to us.

Here’s what the actress who plays Jessie, Courtney Hope, says:

“There was something more supernatural in her life, why when she comes to the Oldest House she thinks: ‘Okay, I’m not crazy. It’s unusual, but it’s cool’”.

And that’s how it https://gambleonscasino.co.uk/bonus/ is. These comments clearly indicate that there is a connection between the main characters of the game and which hero is given to the player.

Yes: I was not mistaken in essentially calling the building one of the main characters. That’s right, but more on that later.

First we need to finish about Jessie and her image, through the construction of character and history of which the narrative is given. She is initially a hero with her own story. Some of its pages open as you progress. So, for example, the fact that she, spoiler spoiler, first makes the “duck” that she once worked as a cleaner:

But later it turns out that she was in the Oldest House and, moreover, in the place of one of the experimental.

But many pages remain closed. And this brings even more mystery. The entire existence of the main character is a cluster of the supernatural, with which she is forced to cooperate for the sake of some kind of life. And therefore, everything that happens in the Oldest House does not make her dumbfounded. She knows how to work with it, she can manage it. She lives because she can take control of it. That’s why she’s the new director, the ideal candidate. And this is not shown to the player right away, but is told through the narrative, through the reaction of the main character to certain events. Again a trace of Immersive sim.

And since I’m talking about the director, let’s remember the anthropomorphic image of the Oldest House – director Trench. The same man who greets us in the hall with a stern look, asking us to call himself “Big Brother”.

If you compare him, as the image of the Oldest House, and Jesse, then pure duality is visible to the naked eye. The appearance alone is worth it. Here’s what game designer Sam Lake and costume director Hayley Salomaa have to say about it:

“… Jessie is dressed standardly, simply and therefore calmly interacts with the place and architecture in which she finds herself. But at the same time, she is strictly different from what the Oldest House had as a director before her. Director Trench is a very, very strict, cynical head of a huge bureau. So traditional that you clearly know the type.”.

The transition from one type of director to another again reveals the chaos that rules the Oldest House. That is, the essence of the place of action is firmly woven into the plot and it is revealed from the first minutes of the game. The player sees a strict image, as if soldered into the environment in which he works. And so it is, in fact, because the further you go through the story, the more it becomes clear that Director Trench was absorbed in the House and its supernatural nature. He is part of it.

And Jesse is a foreign part. The only one capable of balancing the chaos that has appeared. This is what the whole game is built on. This is the basis. The game doesn’t tell so much as it shows. Presents visually. Not even that: it gives a space for the player to interact with the environment, discovering the history of this environment – this is the first way. Second: the game provides clear images, visual images, the analysis of which is left to the player’s conscience.

As an example – analysis of the image of Trench. What does it contain, if we remember that it represents the Oldest House? It’s simple – brutalism. Originally monumental architectural design intended to become an icon of bureaucracy. This dream took place in the 50s – 60s of the 20th century. And if you look at the documents that reveal the date of the “opening” of the Oldest House, then everything falls into place – the beginning of the 60s:

This is the heyday of the ideas of functionalism and the worship of reinforced concrete. The incredible forms he can take. If you look at the most famous images of architecture of that time, then everything falls into place:

J. Edgar Hoover Building, Washington, USA

This is a clear style with its own history and content. And it is in it that Remedy chains their game, meanwhile forming their original portrait… Here it is already necessary to explain the first part of the name: why is “CONTROL” a hodgepodge of the creative path of “Remedy”.

The fact is that the Finns have never been developers who created purely simple third-person action games. No. Ever since its debut in the form of “Max Payne”, “Remedy” has invented and presented some interesting mechanics in each of its games.

Initially, such mechanics only complemented the gameplay. But with the release of “Alan Wake” everything changed – now the mechanics were directly related to the story. That is, not only in terms of gameplay, it had a place as an exciting element. She complemented the plot, fitting tightly into the narrative.

In addition to this, the Finns have always been distinguished by giving their games a special charm. Made games stylish. From every iron you can hear about the “noir” of “Max Payne” or the “King legacy” of “Alan Wake”.

And it’s just that “Quantum break” somehow didn’t really distinguish itself in this regard. It was stylized as a strong sci-fi thriller. But the problem is that such people are like dirt. And it can be said that “Remedy” created this only because the game again has an interesting gameplay feature, integrated into both the gameplay and the plot.

However, style… There is no style as such. And what a joy it was for me from the first trailers to understand that in “CONTROL” everything is different.

We shouldn’t have expected much from the game, but in the end “CONTROL” turned out to be a whole cluster of all the above-mentioned features of the Finns with whom they create games. This could be a swan song, because that’s exactly what they should be: everything that “Remedy” loves to do, they gathered under one roof, united by a mysterious and not the most understandable story, chained in the concrete framework of brutalism, and gave it to the player for judgment. And if there is still room to go with the plot: the groundwork for sequels is visible to the naked eye. But in terms of design and its ability to independently tell a story, everything is much more unambiguous.

The layout, the exterior of the Oldest House and its interiors, rows of office tables with small details of office utensils, which, like benches in front of a lectern, go somewhere into the shadow of the office space in a merciless line. All this reflects the idea of ​​the game – a certain order, control. The entire building is a panegyric of monumentalism, in which the aspirations and hopes of the people who came here are hidden, because when they come here they cease to be people, they become part of a huge mechanism.

They become one with the Oldest House. All this again reeks of the aesthetics of the previously mentioned “1984”, especially if you remember the work of director Michael Radford and his visual construction of Orwell’s story. This is the aesthetics of iconic hallways in huge offices, in which a person gets lost, and only the clerk is found: an insignificant part of the system. This religious diligence in everything, from suits to stationery and pipes with encapsulated letters. Everything seemed to come from a film adaptation, having encountered one small detail along the way, thanks to which it became less oppressive in terms of its darkness. A small detail is our reality.

Typical office… Hello Fight Club

We built it ourselves, using a printer and a system unit to construct an iconostasis. And what is everything for?? All for the sake of control. Ubiquitous and mandatory control. Remember what I said about the portrait in the hall? Well, his story doesn’t end there. After all, as soon as the player sees this image a la “Big brother watching you”, he is imbued with it. And after a couple of minutes he is perplexed, because instead of the mentioned Trench, it’s the player himself who is looking at the player.

Now he is the building he is in. These two images are discordant. After all, on the one hand, she is quite a young girl with a relaxed but consistent style. And on the other, a cluster of copper pipes for sending letters, which even during times of general alarm do not think of stopping the flow of eternal bureaucracy within themselves. Who sends these fiction capsules? Where are they going? No one will give the player an answer. And he is needed? No.

Such spaciousness immediately makes it clear what the Oldest House is and how it should be treated: beyond the framework of complete control and stability, under the rows of tables trimmed as if under a ruler, irrational and uncontrollable chaos is hiding, with which something needs to be done. But it’s definitely necessary? This dichotomy of choice does not bother the player until the very end, because the function is also given to him from the very beginning. He is the director. However, it is given by whom? Cleaner. And here again one can see the essence of this mysterious place. An entity with which it is very difficult to interact, but extremely attractive. Why? See above: due to the inability to even imagine how large the object with which you want to interact is. How enormous is the chaos that needs to be tamed and taken under control?. Despite everything. Even though it’s impossible. Omnipresent chaos, otherworldly and inexplicable, one with the Oldest House. He is what subjugated the Oldest House. That is, the conflict in the game is simple and global: control versus chaos, human versus non-human. And this is precisely what is expressed not so much in the plot as in the environment.

“Remedy” in each of their games creates a unique fusion of familiar industrial mechanics, contained within a certain genre, and their own personal “zest”. Every game is more than just a third-person shooter. Each game has something of its own and at the same time incorporates something from other genres or even forms of art: in this regard, “Quantum break” with its series distinguished itself the most. “CONTROL” is somewhere in the middle. It itself absorbs something from other genres (RPG, shooter, Immersive sim) and at the same time is enriched by the author’s style in which it is made. It is visible in everything: in a clearly observed design, in the story, in its presentation, in the surroundings. Everything plays into the game’s recognition and originality. An example of a player’s immersion into the world of the game through interaction with this world can be seen in how carefully the creators work out important, or not so important, moments and missions for the story. Like in the next moment:

In one of the side missions, where you need to take control of one of the objects of power, the player is required to unravel the computer password. The password is a geometric figure that the player must draw. What is she and what does she look like? The player will know this if he thoroughly studies the place where he and the locked computer are located. You cannot interact with the object on which the password is depicted in any way except visually. And in the case of “CONTROL” this is not an isolated case.

First of all, the player looks at the world around him and already by the objects located in it, by the way they are located, by the functionality they carry, he learns the history of the place and even helps himself to advance through the plot. “CONTROL” is a whole fusion of styles, enriched by personal taste, which is why it represents the best that the Finns from “Remedy” do.

Here is the noir from “Max Payne”, depicted not only in the dullness of the local location, but also in the staging of the frame of the videos on the game engine, and in the reflections of the main character.

Here is the mysticism from “Alan Wake” – where it lies, I think there is no need to explain.

Here is the classic sci-fi atmosphere “Quantum break”. “CONTROL” is a host of ideas and ideas. Robust and discreet both in what it displays and in its design: discreet in the truest sense. It should be understood that at the same time, “CONTROL” clearly reminds what references the authors used and use to this day. The plot is the purest example of everything phantasmagoric that is in the work of David Lynch. Staging frames in videos on the game engine – if anyone has watched Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”, or any of his other films, then it immediately becomes clear by what means the authors cultivate suspense, “sprinkling” a good amount of neo-noir on top. Thus, the design of the visual style of the game is also holistic, monolithic and conscious. But at the same time, grown from various structures of artistic storytelling, which were invented on a decent scale throughout the history of the not so young art – cinema.

But the game itself is a representative of an even younger art form: video games. And even here there are already established narrative patterns and conditions for luring the player into the story. Remedy has its own approach to them. And “CONTROL” is a chimera that combines many styles and genres, working with them primarily on the basis of what makes a game a game, namely on the basis of the gameplay and its “tricks”, due to which the game is sold. Thus, she exposes her authors: their approach and style.

In addition, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the video version of the essay: