Control

[Blue Jam]

Anyone else struggling with the final boss fight with

Spoiler alert

Marshall

[close]

in The Foundation expansion? Googling for tips it seems people either find it bastard hard or piss easy. Started the AWE expansion so I can grind away and level up.

When I first came back to this I felt stupidly OP, what with having fully upgraded Launch (DEFINITELY do that btw) but that feeling didn't last. Just had a go at the Tomassi side quest- nope, above my pay grade right now.

[Famous Mortimer]

I'm up to the Panopticon and trying to cleanse the telly at the moment. It seems both a very difficult fight and a long way from the checkpoint, so even though it's been pretty nice to this point, this is kind of irritating.

[Famous Mortimer]

Oh, and someone just rocket-launched me through a wall, which is a bit of a pisser.

[Proactive]

I'm up to the Panopticon and trying to cleanse the telly at the moment. It seems both a very difficult fight and a long way from the checkpoint, so even though it's been pretty nice to this point, this is kind of irritating.

Don't remember the fight specifically but I do recall the Panopticon being a fucker now you mention it. Whenever I hit a wall like that I leant on walk throughs as there's usually an easier way to win a fight than you initially think.

[Blue Jam]

Up to both boss fights of the DLC packs now and they're both making me think "fuck this". Found the Marshall fight seems a lot more winnable once you equip one of the health regeneration mods but still not quite managed to finish it. Hartman though- oh FFS, this is no fun.

I know the AWE expansion refers to Alan Wake but pissing about in the dark just gets annoying after a while, especially when (unlike Alan Wake) you can't even use a fucking torch. FFS, design a world that's nice to look at in the light of GTFO.

[Famous Mortimer]

I'm a bit further in now, and I enjoy the control method and visuals, so I'll stick with it. In terms of the storyline, when you

Spoiler alert

find your and your brother's experiment offices, records, whatever it is

[close]

it is quite funny that you can just run through it and ignore everything to get to the next bit. I think a cut scene would have been fine there.

Also, I don't love how those flying dive-bomber things spawn behind you so often, even when you're quite close to a wall.

[Famous Mortimer]

I'm doing the AWE side-missions now, and it's great. I'm perhaps not the best gamer, which is why the difficulty spikes are bothering me a little, but it's just a lot of fun to play.

[Blue Jam]

How did you get on with the AWE final battle, @Famous Mortimer? I finally completed the Marshall boss fight (that personal mod that restores health on launch is a lifesaver) but Hartman is seriously doing my nut in. When the lights go out I lose all ability to recharge my energy and I can't use launch, shield or evade and just float about defenseless until the Hiss kill me. Is that supposed to happen or is my game borked?

Also does anyone else think the Ranger you can summon sounds a lot like Paul F Tompkins as Mr Peanutbutter? I like to imagine the Ranger as a faithful happy Labrador with a gun.

[Famous Mortimer]

How did you get on with the AWE final battle, @Famous Mortimer? I finally completed the Marshall boss fight (that personal mod that restores health on launch is a lifesaver) but Hartman is seriously doing my nut in. When the lights go out I lose all ability to recharge my energy and I can't use launch, shield or evade and just float about defenseless until the Hiss kill me. Is that supposed to happen or is my game borked?

Also does anyone else think the Ranger you can summon sounds a lot like Paul F Tompkins as Mr Peanutbutter? I like to imagine the Ranger as a faithful happy Labrador with a gun.

I just got past the...second?... Hartman room (with the four poles you have to remove the power boxes from, to put them in the main room), but I'm not sure where he went after that so I popped back to do more of the "Another Fine Mess" side missions. That mini-puzzle in the train I had to look up, because I wasn't even sure if it was a puzzle or not, and the actual solution wasn't all that logical.

[Blue Jam]

That mini-puzzle in the train I had to look up, because I wasn't even sure if it was a puzzle or not, and the actual solution wasn't all that logical.

Same here. Have you found the hidden room with the clock puzzle yet? I had to look up the solution to that one too, there's a way to do it by trial and error but it's a massive faff.

[Famous Mortimer]

Same here. Have you found the hidden room with the clock puzzle yet? I had to look up the solution to that one too, there's a way to do it by trial and error but it's a massive faff.

I don't think so. I was rather proud of getting the gold suit from the luck / roulette puzzle on my own, that's about the most complicated one I've done so far.

[Blue Jam]

Figured out the Hartman boss fight:

Spoiler alert

Get between him and the power cubes and you can stop him switching the lights off.

[close]

Just got to the arcade machines, not only have I now got a stupidly OP mod for my service weapon, I can also replay

Spoiler alert

THE ASHTRAY MAZE! YESSSSS!

[close]

[Famous Mortimer]

I'm onto the last Hartman area now, after several detours to finally get the janitor's outfit. It seemed random as to when the new missions would appear on his noticeboard, and when I got desperate and looked at a walkthrough, Ahti the janitor isn't in the room, yet he's just stood in the same place he has been the entire game when I pop back there.

[Famous Mortimer]

Trying to do the first jukebox mission now, and I am fucking terrible at it. Out of five tries, I made it to the final area once before time ran out, and then only by thirty seconds, so I wasn't able to beat the boss.

[Famous Mortimer]

I just wrapped up the main storyline, and it was...kinda of straightforward? The final mission, anyway. All the baddies were marked "30" above their heads, which I thought would make them hard as nails, but they were fine.

For no good reason, I never played "Alan Wake", so I'll probably pop that on, when I've finished or got bored of failing at the DLC bosses. I like Sam Lake's writing.

[Crenners]

I just wrapped up the main storyline, and it was...kinda of straightforward? The final mission, anyway. All the baddies were marked "30" above their heads, which I thought would make them hard as nails, but they were fine.

For no good reason, I never played "Alan Wake", so I'll probably pop that on, when I've finished or got bored of failing at the DLC bosses. I like Sam Lake's writing.

I think Alan Wake was recently remade so you should be able to get a Series whichever version. Might be what you're referring to already!

[Blue Jam]

I think Alan Wake was recently remade

It was indeed, and I was playing it for the first time before noticing Control had two expansions and that stole my attention.

The AWE expansion makes a bit more sense if you've played Alan Wake first but it's not essential.

[Famous Mortimer]

How did you get on with the AWE final battle, @Famous Mortimer? I finally completed the Marshall boss fight (that personal mod that restores health on launch is a lifesaver) but Hartman is seriously doing my nut in. When the lights go out I lose all ability to recharge my energy and I can't use launch, shield or evade and just float about defenseless until the Hiss kill me. Is that supposed to happen or is my game borked?

After failing dozens of times, I ended up lucking into a strategy that worked very easily.

When you enter the room, float over to the small roof on your left hand side. Shoot Marshall, use shield when his arse goes red, and wait for the second round to start. There's a patch of light just in front of you to your right, so hop into that until your energy recovers. Float over to one of the broken lights, fix it, do the same to the other.

Then hop over to the little roof you were on before and do the same as round one. Nice.

I have no fucking idea of how to beat the boss of the other DLC, though. They're hard as fuck and generate other tough monsters all the time, and have an enormous amount of HP.

[Famous Mortimer]

Thought I'd give the SHÜM game a try, and I've failed the Deadline (Challenge) mini game a lot because, as far as I can tell, the baddies don't spawn quickly enough for you to stop the timer running out. Plus, there's always one of them who goes and hides in a toilet, which delays the next wave til you've shot him.

Judging from a quick search, it seems a lot of people are having the same issue. I went through all the boss fights and the maze on SHUM 2, and that was tough but fun. But the tough version of Deadline is, I think, going to be one I just can't do. If even one of them runs away, you don't have a chance, because there's no wiggle room on the timer, and one of them always runs away.

[Famous Mortimer]

Looks like Remedy Entertainment are going to be remaking Max Payne 1 and 2, which I'm absolutely delighted about. As long as the original gurning Max from part 1 is still available as an unlock, I'll be happy.

Also, did anyone ever mess with Remedy's "Quantum Break"? The only computer game / TV tie-in I paid any attention to was "Defiance", and that was just a bog-standard MMO.

[Mister Six]

God, I'm enjoying this game. I picked it up because I'd finished Alan Wake Remastered and Alan Wake's American Nightmare, and figured it would be more of the same kind of linear, plot-heavy action fare. Which worked just great for me there, but I do prefer games I can really sink into. So imagine my joy when I realised that the action and oddball story were wedded to a Prey/Metroidvania-style exploration-based game with special powers and loads of secrets to unlock!

And I love the storytelling too - I went into Control knowing nothing about it, and that continued for about the first hour at least, which is a novel sensation. Especially coming from the team that brought you Alan "My name is Alan Wake and I'm a writer" Wake. I'm a good ways into it right now -

Spoiler alert

my brother has just escaped his confinement

[close]

- and I'm still not entirely sure what my protagonist will ultimately do once (if) this Hiss business is sorted out. That's a rare and wonderful thing.

Quibbles? I have a few. The basic gun and telekinesis combo is so good that I have to force myself to use anything else. The building layout might be intentionally confusing, but it's still a ballache getting turned around in some of the more samey-looking areas. And while the lack of waypoints is mostly appreciated, it does lead to moments of frustrating meandering (You want me to destroy the hiss nodes in the Communications Department? Erm, okay, what are they and where are they? And why not make it clear that you don't mean the room marked Communications Department on the map, but that general area, including Dead Letters?).

But this is small fry, really. The game as a whole remains enormous fun and I could probably play the damn thing forever. Glad to see they're working on a sequel - less glad that I'll have to get a PS5 to play it.

[Blue Jam]

Glad to see they're working on a sequel - less glad that I'll have to get a PS5 to play it.

Might be the thing that finally makes me order a PS5. Or I'll wait and see it if comes to Xbone cloud gaming. Still, woo-hoo! Great news! Thought this game had flown under the radar, glad it's getting the appreciation it deserves.

[Mister Six]

Might be the thing that finally makes me order a PS5. Or I'll wait and see it if comes to Xbone cloud gaming. Still, woo-hoo! Great news! Thought this game had flown under the radar, glad it's getting the appreciation it deserves.

Just checked Wiki and it sounds like it was a success:

The PlayStation 4 version of Control was the 13th bestselling retail game during its first week of release in Japan, with 10,336 physical copies being sold.[87] By December 2020, the game had sold over 2 million units across all platforms, and Remedy stated Control was their fastest-growing intellectual property since Max Payne.[88] By August 2021, Remedy stated that over 10 million people had played Control, accounting for those that played it through Xbox Game Pass and other non-sales routes.[89] By November 2022, the game had sold over three million units.[90]

This is lovely, since I know Remedy struggled a bit after Alan Wake's initial poor sales.

[Mister Six]

I solved the roulette puzzle and won the gold suit and now every time I use Levitate, it's like

[Mister Six]

Final thoughts:

Main game
It's near perfect, for my purposes. Great gameplay, solid challenge (maybe a little too solid in places, but there are cheats in the menu, so...), gorgeous graphics, fantastic design, generally top-top writing... I will admit to thinking the ending was a bit of an anticlimax, though. From the moment Hadron goes down, it feels like they've run out of money and are rushing to get it done. A small puzzle-solving bit, an easy action bit, and that's it. Your brother is incapacitated for the ending, Jesse deactivates the projector offscreen, and... nothin'. Everything up to that point was amazing though.

DLC: AWE
I have no idea what someone who hasn't played Alan Wake would make of this, but yeah it's a nice little addition to the lore of that game (although I dislike the implication that Wake is somehow responsible for the Hiss; it diminishes both Control and the wider universe if he's got his fingers in everything - also it means he's basically a mass murderer now?). The boss fights are really well realised, too. Good fun.

DLC: The Foundation
This I loved. I was initially a bit underwhelmed by all the red sand caves, but as it went on and things got weirder, it really grew on me. The side quests are much more interesting in this than in AWE, and all the business with The Former is super interesting. I look forward to seeing how this stuff is explored in future games (as I assume it will be).

Anyway, yeah, it's brilliant. I highly recommend it to everyone, especially if you can get the Ultimate edition in a sale.

[oggyraiding]

Giving this another shot. Furthest I got before was sorting out the power plant. This time I've just got the black rock prism.

It's really good, now I know how to play properly. Energy is plentiful and recharges fast so I use a lot of telekinesis which was something I didn't in previous tries. The setting is ace. All the guns bar the pistol are a bit disappointing. Looking forward to getting to AWE, and to see how whatever is in that plays out like in Alan Wake 2.

I think the evolution from Alan Wake to Control shows how Remedy have gotten better at gameplay - AW gameplay was super linear and the combat was shite, while in Control there's loads to explore and I actively seek out combat because it's so satisfying.

[Mister Six]

Yeah, the pistol is so good that the rest felt redundant for the most part. Shotgun is useful for when the invisible fuckers pop up and I enjoyed the machine gun from time to time, but pistol has such a great combo of power, precision and firing rate that I was usually using the others just to use them.

But as you say, Telekinesis is where it's at. Especially when you get the personal mod that gives you energy when you kill someone with it...

The ground pound is cool as fuck too, but basically useless since up-close combat is a death warrant for Jesse nine times out of ten, and just pelting people with benches and refrigerators is a much safer solution.

[oggyraiding]

Finished it. I fell for the fake credits, thinking it had a shit ending, but it tricked me. The Ashtray Maze was very enjoyable, funny how choice of music can totally elevate the gameplay.

I hate the invisible fellows. My health is fully upgraded yet they can take off 99% of my health in one attack. When there's stuff flying all over the place it's hard to keep track of their movements so they sneak up on me and fuck my shit up.

[Mister Six]

Gotta keep your eyes peeled for the swirly rainbow mist that follows them around and get your shield ready. They are arseholes though. The shotgun (Shatter?) is also good for taking them down.

[oggyraiding]

Done the DLCs.

The Foundation was good, plenty of tough combat, navigating the area was a bit of a pain in the arse at some points. Really enjoyed the bit where you're jumping between trains. Like the Ashtray Maze, it was elevated by the music.

AWE seemed to have a LOT of documents to find. Rooms completely strewn with documents. I knew it was linked to Alan Wake (base game had the mention of Thomas Zane on a recording, references to Night Springs, Old Gods Of Asgard being a thing, etc), but the DLC really hits you on the head with it. The bits where you're running between light zones to avoid the monster genuinely shit me up. Base game had creepy unsettling stuff, but AWE has proper horror.

Alan Wake 2 in October, Control 2 at some point in the future, Remedy have got me hooked!