Along with new pre-order details, it looks like a press embargo has lifted today with a number of publications posting new interviews and previews taking a closer look at Control.
A number of media outlets appear to have gotten an exclusive hands-on preview at GDC, whereas others made the trip to snowy Espoo to check out the demo at the studio. A series of new screenshots have also been released today, showcasing new sections of the FBC yet unshown to the public, they can be found in the articles below.
Here's a wrap up of the articles and interviews released today:
[INTERVIEW] Relinquishing Control: Remedy's paradigm shift
Interview with Mikael Kasurinen (Game Director)
GameIndustry.biz
Showing off a two-year-old internal presentation on the basic themes and ideas of Control to GamesIndustry.biz, game director Mikael Kasurinen highlights the concepts and pillars that its world, visual identity, and gameplay are based on. A common thread through Kasurinen's presentation is how Control differs from past Remedy titles such as Quantum Break or Alan Wake, and why the studio finds itself taking a different trajectory with Control in the first place -- one that requires letting go of some of its most tested design approaches.
Click HERE to read the full interview!
[INTERVIEW] What to Read, Play, and Watch Before Playing Control
Interview with Mikael Kasurinen (Game Director)
USgamer
USgamer
The setting is somewhere called The Oldest House, the Brutalist headquarters of the FBC. Inside the new FBC director, Jesse Faden, tries to uncover the mysteries of what exactly happened at the Oldest House which turned its inhabitants into supernatural entities. Using Jesse's own supernatural abilities, players must explore The Oldest House for answers. But what is Weird Fiction, and how does it feed into Control? To answer that we asked Control director Mikael Kasurinen to create a syllabus of what players should read, watch, and play in order to understand Control's tone and atmosphere.Click HERE to check out the full article on USgamer!
RockPaperShotgun
You play as Jesse Fadens, an outsider who stumbles into the Bureau (an agency dedicated to controlling supernatural phenomena) and instantly becomes its boss. She does this by picking up the last boss’s gun, in a scene I wasn’t shown but did have real-life director of Control Mikael Kasurinen explain to me. “The service weapon has a lot of meaning to the Bureau – whoever is able to wield the service weapon is the director,” he said. “It’s like the sword in the stone, except the consequences are more brutal. If you’re not worthy, then the gun will kill you.”
Click HERE to read the full preview!
Eurogamer
Control's world isn't just filled with enemies, however - there are staff still alive in the bureau to meet, chat with and receive missions from. Some of these relate to Control's overall story - how the current crisis began, how it can be resolved - while others are side-missions designed to give Remedy's world a little more colour. Back at E3 last year, for example, we saw poor Phillip, a forgotten staff member left looking after an "altered", deviant fridge. In Control, seemingly mundane items must continually be observed or they will, Weeping Angel-like, devour those who look away.
[PREVIEW] Control First Hands-On Preview: Wrecking Government Shop
IGN
Remedy Entertainment – makers of Max Payne, Alan Wake, and Quantum Break – has never made a bad game, and if my first hands-on with their latest, Control, is any indication, they’re not in jeopardy of breaking that streak. In the same way that Max Payne basically forced you to always keep moving, Control does the same – but adds in a bunch of superpowers, a bizarre and compelling setting, and gleefully rips the environment to shreds in the process. My first hands-on with it was everything I hoped for.Click HERE to check out the full preview on IGN!
Remedy’s unsettling supernatural thriller Control won’t hold your hand
The Verge
Control is slated to launch in August, and the supernatural thriller represents a big departure for the studio. Whereas games like Quantum Break and Alan Wake took a more cinematic approach to storytelling, with plenty of exposition and cutscenes, Control moves in a different direction. It’s a more open adventure, one that uses the environment, character dialogue, and optional lore to tell its story; during a short hands-on demo with the game last week at GDC, I didn’t see a single cutscene. From what I played, it feels less like a story that’s told to you, and more like one you’re uncovering yourself. “You have to pay attention,” says Kasurinen.Click HERE to read The Verge's full article!
Kotaku
In some ways, development studio Remedy’s upcoming action game Control has slid under the radar. After an announcement at last year’s E3, Control quietly simmered in the background of upcoming game releases. I played some of the game last week at the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco. It was an intriguing mixture of exciting combat and Metroid-esque exploration. It’s looser and more freeform than other Remedy games, something that excites the game’s director Mikael Kasurinen but also leaves him feeling more nervous than ever.Click HERE to read Kotaku's full preview!
[UPDATE: Fellow fansite, PayneReactor also has a very nice breakdown of all the previews. Check it out: paynereactor.com/control-preview-round-up/.]
