Having just finished the most excellent Naughty Dog game The Last Of Us II, I’m now fully immersed in Control, an action adventure game by Remedy Entertainment. The game was released back in 2019 and I’ve heard and read plenty of good reviews, but I’ve been waiting for a good opportunity to pick it up at a good price, which only happened recently.

Control revolves around the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC), a secret U.S. government agency tasked with containing and studying phenomena that violate the laws of reality. As Jesse Faden (voiced by Courtney Hope), the Bureau’s new Director, the player explores the Oldest House – the FBC’s paranormal headquarters – and utilize powerful abilities in order to defeat a deadly enemy known as the Hiss, which has invaded and corrupted reality.

There’s a couple of good reasons why I really like the game. Firstly, the destruction FX is amazing; almost everything in Control, from the walls, staircases and every single prop is rigged to be susceptible to damage and destruction by the player’s ballistic weapons and telekinetic abilities, giving the game an acute sense of heightened reality and interactivity I’ve never experienced.

But the highlight for me has got to be the stunning set design and lighting. The hulking architecture can best be described as Brutalism style on steroids, as you can see from the images below lit by Damian Stempniewski, a lead lighting artist at Remedy.

I’m fully enjoying my time in the game right now and I also fully expect to pick up the DLC Foundation when I finish the main game. On top of that, I’m really looking forward to reading the art book for Control when it comes out at the end of the year. Definitely check back in for my book review; you can pre-order the book below :

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In the meantime, Head on down to Damian Stempniewski’s artstation page to see more of the amazing work he has done for Control. There are also a couple of other pages at artstation showcasing the concept art of the game.

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