▷Control <br> Tear in the sky of paper 🥇

Enigmatic, reflective, an immersive journey into the unknown and into psychology. The “tear in the paper sky” that Machiavelli told us is reinterpreted in a contemporary videogame version: a poster and a hole in the wall. But what is behind this poster? Thus begins the last effort of Remedy Entertainment e 505 Games, immersing ourselves from the very first moment of the game in an atmosphere with dark tones, but strongly involving. Withtrole and the cross-platform thriller we have been waiting for, and call it "only" one third person shooter it would be really an understatement. The opening words spoken by the protagonist are enough for us to understand what awaits us: “It is going to be weirder than usual“. While new content awaits us in the coming months until it crosses over into 2020, let's see in detail what awaits us right now by switching on our gaming platforms from August 27th.

Born from the studio already parent of Quantum Break, Alan Break e Max Payne, this production certainly does not differ from the genres faced and developed with considerable success, starting from premises and promises of a certain caliber, the same as the pistol held by the protagonist of this latter title. The strong-willed jaw of Jesse Faden turns the spotlight on the mystery that surrounds this dark world of Federal Bureau of Control, the place where we find ourselves once we have emerged from the hypnotic green water spiral that accompanies us in the short lines of dialogue of the prologue and from which everything begins.

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The chaotic order of dystopia

New York. Multifaceted metropolis with a thousand facets, with smoking manholes and metropolitan chaos, bright and noisy. Not here. Not in the stand-alone Control dimension. The soft step muffled by the carpet of the Oldest House would leave everything in the white noise of silence, were it not for Jesse's words that accompany us and try to illustrate what surrounds us, despite the still cryptic meaning. If you are choosing Control, here is in brief what does not await you once the game starts: we will have to say no to boredom and relaxation, as well as a relaxed atmosphere and also the possibility to roam freely everywhere.

It is not in fact an open world, indeed it will not be "open" at all: the game takes place inside the building a bit shady which houses the Bureau, but don't be fooled by this apparent limitation. This is a very large setting, constantly changing and really full of secrets explorable thanks to a flexibility never seen before in the titles published by Remedy. In fact, Jesse sets out in search of the deep meaning of a lost past, in particular he wants to find everything about his brother Dylan. Born and raised together with Ordinary, an American citizen of Wisconsin apparently linked to a secret message that we can find in Alan Wake, thus sealing a particular link between the two titles. Did the developers limit themselves to this clue disseminated at the time, or do they have further developments in store for the story?

We cannot say anything with certainty about this matter, but we can instead argue that the disarming beauty of this game is related to complete narrative dystopia we are dealing with. Although it is a story linked to paranormal activities, there are no real splatter scenes or deliberately full of horror elements, as the focus is moved purely onaction and juxtaposition of scenes particularly charged with voltage, accentuated by an apparent lack of fil rouge between these. Even the dialogues play a rather particular role in this function, a trait linked to the condition "et et" established by that mysterious and not very articulated voice that accompanies us in the moments of "switch" between parallel dimensions.

Action rhymes with tension

To make storytelling even more interesting and adrenaline-pumping it is a trait of Jesse's identity, namely his ability to possess and exploit gods telekinetic powers, quite visionary from a narrative point of view as well as technically useful in terms of gameplay, such as levitation, to solve puzzles and defeat opponents. This does not mean that we will be without classic weapons, on the contrary: as we anticipated, we will also have a pistol, which we come into possession of from the beginning. In addition to this, we will be able to count on different types of Service Weapons, divided into five variants, which also include a rifle pomp, one machine gun light, a precision shot it's one explosive.

We will have a lot of information available as we advance in the story, thanks to a menu not without ad hoc windows to detail as many aspects as possible, useful not only to know the potential of the weapons available, but also to view the skills we are going to unlock gradually. There are also several customizable options in the menu, from the more classic ones about subtitles and axis inversion, to the advanced features inherent to the interface and some audio aspects such as silencing copyrighted music, a facility for gameplay recording and game streaming.

Il gameplay therefore it is configured as a real exploration between the levels of the building and supernatural dimensions that lead us to collect several items and objects, as well as observing what surrounds us, moving towards sometimes crazy and visionary scenarios, without forgetting the clashes with the enemies. If it is true that we are equipped with a pistol, alongside our supernatural abilities, it is equally true that we will have to deal with some moments of shortage of ammunition, which however will recharge in a few seconds from the last shot, ready to take aim again. . These actions are fairly simple to perform and well calibrated, although it is sometimes found some burrs in the movementsi of the character, not too fluid or precise, an imprecision on which we can overlook so much we are absorbed by the story.

The gaming realism of Control

La stylistic figure it is clearly that of a television series, dictated by the previous experience of the studio and underlined by the acting of the characters and the shots, not to mention the graphic care of each image, which knows how to go down to every detail. A legacy transmitted by previous productions, as is quite natural it is, although in Control we have arrived at perfect combination, almost, between action and scenography, not only because of the choice to juxtapose moments of gameplay with action, but also for the writing and acting of the character, reached a level where the boundary between serial product and videogame is thinned.

The cinematic world is hardly abandoned again this time, considering the presence of Courtney Hope in the cast of actors who lend their faces to the characters, in the now usual FMV (full motion video) technique. Already Beth Wilder in Quantum Break, once again the American redhead takes on the role of the director of the Bureau, introducing herself to our eyes in absolutely realistic and plausible proportions. Precisely this last dimension is the pivot on which we leverage, creating a really high bond and involvement, such as to make us jump at any twist.

Control: to buy it or not to buy it?

"Control" is exactly the opposite of what we will see in this title: nothing is ordinary, we are not dealing with elements belonging to the natural order of things: nothing is really under control. Corpses floating in the air that dissolve into rainbow nebulae, poetic and disturbing at the same time; voices of mysterious origin that show us the way towards the unclear resolution of an equally dense and difficult to understand mystery. Net of a technique of sure emotional impact, Control leaves us with the constant doubt of having turned off the console without having fully grasped the deep meaning of the basic message of the game, a feeling perhaps due to the objective incompleteness that will be filled only in the near future. .