Last night, Game Informer announced that they're turning their attention to Control this month with a number of exclusives scheduled for the next four weeks. Today, the site released their first video (archived), and spoke to Game Director, Mikael Kasurinen, in an intense rapid-fire interview.
If you've been in the Remedy community for a few years, you may have seen the rapid-fire interview round that Game Informer had with Sam Lake as part of their coverage of Quantum Break. It's a similar situation with short and bizarre questions thrown to the interviewee. They're a lot of fun to watch and offers snippets of what the player can expect...wait, did someone say there's a furnace room? That's not going to be ominous or anything!
In case you missed it last night: Game Informer announced that their April issue will come with an extended feature dedicated to Control, along with a bunch of exclusive Remedy goodness (traditionally released) every Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout March.
Updated! [8/3] For those who aren't able to watch the video, we have a quick rundown of the game-related points discussed in the interview! First of all, a quick warning for those avoiding spoilers, Jesse's character development is discussed so there are potential spoilers for the ending. If you want to go into the game completely blind, then you might want to miss the opening of the conversation.
Okay, on to the teasers! Perhaps the biggest reveals to come from the interview is the that Control will have DLC but will not include microtransactions. It won't have a photo mode on release, but the team hasn't completely ruled it out in a later update. And finally, contrary to previous rumours there will be no multiplayer, Control is a single-player experience only.
Aspects of Control's level design, story and gameplay were also discussed with Mikael confirming that it's a non-linear game (with 70-80% of the puzzles being solvable straight away) which is also set in one location, The Oldest House with a potential "oldest landlord", and expect shocking story twists along with way. He also added that while there are horror-like elements, it's not specifically a "horror" game but it does take inspiration from horror titles with Kubrick being named as a source of inspiration. For those looking to replay the title, there will not be a New Game+. And each platform experience will be very slightly different as the game pushes that specific hardware to the max.
If you liked the creepiness of the suspended Hiss victims in the gameplay footage shown so far, you might be interested to hear how the developers managed to create that unsettling illusion. Expanded on in the interview, Mikael discussed how motion capture actors were suspended with wires and stretchers to achieve that otherworldly look, but that creating the impression of hanging lifeless forms was a lot more complicated than might be expected. It's that and the level of destruction that Mikael is the proudest of in the game.
In the interview, Quantum Break came up as a topic both on its own and as a comparison. On the topic of comparisons, it will be revealed audio logs will be available around the FBC, and there will be a continued presence of live action in the title. Automatic crouching makes a reappearance during combat scenes, as will the cooldown on Jesse's skills. When it comes to skills, similar to Jack's powers in Quantum Break, Control will offer a skill tree allowing players to customise their experience and upgrade weapons (although ammo scarcity is not an issue). There will also be collectables and live-action elements, but no distinct level difficulty setting.
Being Remedy's latest released game, the interview also touched on Quantum Break and the developer's views on it since the launch. Mikael expressed his thoughts that he felt that the TV show element could have been stronger and that there was a wish that the title had been released earlier. When it came to the development process, an element which Mikael felt deserved more attention was the transformation scene at Will's Workshop given the amount of time it had taken to come together.
