Control is Remedy Entertainment's 2019 action game, and its Ultimate Edition packs in both expansions, The Foundation and AWE. You play as Jesse Faden, who arrives at the Federal Bureau of Control, a secret U.S. agency that deals with events that defy the laws of nature. Her search for her missing brother leads her into the Oldest House, a brutalist skyscraper in New York that serves as the Bureau's headquarters and is much bigger on the inside than it looks from outside.
Most of your time goes into exploring the Oldest House and fighting the Hiss, an otherworldly force that takes over Bureau staff and turns them against you. Your main weapon is the Service Weapon, a gun that changes into different forms, so you can match your loadout to each fight. It never runs out of ammo, but it needs to cool down after a burst, so you alternate between shooting and the powers Jesse gains from Objects of Power, such as Launch, Evade, Shield, Seize and Levitate.
Cleansing Control Points opens fast travel and gives you a place to spend Ability Points, build weapon forms and make mods. Ability Points come from main and side missions, and they're how Jesse grows stronger, since she has no character level. The story moves through the Oldest House's sectors, and the expansions add more: AWE opens the sealed Investigations Sector partway through the story, and The Foundation takes you into a cave system beneath the building once the main campaign is done.
- Developer
- Remedy Entertainment
- Publisher
- Remedy Entertainment (current Control Ultimate Edition publisher); 505 Games (original 2019 release)
- Release
- Original release: 2019-08-27 · Ultimate Edition (Steam): 2020-08-27 · Ultimate Edition (Mac App Store): 2025-03-26 · Ultimate Edition (iPhone and iPad): 2026-04-22 · Ultimate Edition (Nintendo Switch Cloud): 2020-10-28 · Ultimate Edition (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S digital): 2021-02-02 · Ultimate Edition (Epic Games Store, PlayStation 4, Xbox One): 2020-09-10
- Platforms
- Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch (Cloud Version)
Game data
Service Weapon Forms
The Service Weapon is Jesse Faden's main gun in Control, and it changes into forms that each fight differently. Grip is the first form you get, and the others open as you progress and are built at Control Points using Source and materials. Surge comes with the AWE expansion and works as a sticky grenade launcher.
Sectors
The Oldest House is split into sectors, each handling a different part of the Federal Bureau of Control's work. The base game covers Executive, Maintenance, Research and Containment. The Foundation adds a cave system beneath the building, and AWE adds the Investigations Sector.
Collectibles
Objects of Power
Objects of Power are ordinary-looking items, such as a television, a floppy disk or a carousel horse, that carry power from the Astral Plane. Jesse has to cleanse each one before she can bind it, and binding one unlocks a new ability like Launch, Evade or Levitate. Some sit off the main path in side missions, so they're easy to miss.
Control Controls
| Action | Desktop | Console |
|---|---|---|
| Move | W, A, S, D | No control shown |
| Jump / Levitate | Space | X (PlayStation) |
| Sprint | Shift | L3 (PlayStation) |
| Shoot | Left Mouse Button | R2 (PlayStation) |
| Aim | Right Mouse Button | L2 (PlayStation) |
| Melee | V | Triangle (PlayStation) |
| Use / Seize / Switch Weapon | F | Square (PlayStation) |
| Shield | Q | L1 (PlayStation) |
| Launch | E | R1 (PlayStation) |
| Evade | Ctrl | Circle (PlayStation) |
| Crouch / Ground Slam | C | R3 (PlayStation) |
| Map | Tab | D-pad Up (PlayStation) |
Control gameplay tips
- Use your powers while the Service Weapon cools down. The gun never needs ammo, but firing too long forces a cooldown. Throwing debris with Launch or dashing with Evade while it recovers keeps the pressure on instead of leaving you waiting.
- Launch whatever is nearby. Launch can throw objects, rubble and even enemies, and it hits hard.
- Cleanse every Control Point you find. Each one becomes a fast travel stop and a place to spend Ability Points, build Service Weapon forms and make mods, so a new Control Point makes the area around it much easier to work through.
- Don't skip side missions. Ability Points come from side missions as well as the story, and two of Jesse's powers, Evade and Seize, come from side missions tied to Objects of Power. Missing them leaves Jesse weaker than she needs to be.
- Read quest text and signs to find your way. The map is deliberately vague, so quest descriptions, what characters say and the signs on the walls of each sector are your best guides.
- Start AWE after The Face of the Enemy. AWE opens after Story Mission 7, The Face of the Enemy, while The Foundation waits until the main campaign is done, so plan to come back for it.