Welcome to the Oldest House, Director. In Control, you step into the shoes of Jesse Faden, tasked with mastering supernatural abilities and the ever-evolving Service Weapon to reclaim the Federal Bureau of Control from the Hiss. This third-person, sci-fi action-adventure from Remedy Entertainment blends intense combat with deep exploration through a bizarre, shifting reality. You’ll uncover secrets, find allies, and confront the unknown as you grow into your role.
This guide is your key to navigating the Bureau’s mysteries. We’ll cover everything from the main story walkthrough to all those hidden collectibles scattered throughout the labyrinthine Oldest House. Struggling with specific boss encounters like the Anchor or the Courser? Need help finding all the Research & Records or completing challenging Case Files? We’ve got you covered, ensuring you can achieve 100% completion and fully understand the secrets of Control.
Overview
Learn about the Federal Bureau of Control, the paranatural phenomena, and the Hiss invasion in this Control game overview.
In the world of Control, resonances from higher dimensions interact with a Jungian collective-unconsciousness, causing strange phenomena. The Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) studies these paranatural phenomena. Jesse Faden and her brother Dylan were caught in an Altered World Event (AWE) in Ordinary, Wisconsin, which changed them and caused most inhabitants to disappear. Dylan was taken by the FBC, and Jesse escaped, guided by a voice in her head to the Oldest House, the FBC headquarters, to find him. Upon arrival, Jesse is appointed the new Director.
The Oldest House is under lockdown due to an invasion by the Hiss, a higher-dimensional resonance. Bureau employees are either hostile or mindlessly chanting. As the new Director, your first task is to deal with this crisis.
Control excels at atmospheric world-building. The Oldest House, while strange, resembles a government office with typical furnishings. Bureaucratic jargon is prevalent, with terms like Altered World Events (AWEs) and Altered Items, which are objects changed by higher dimensions. Objects of Power are particularly potent Altered Items that grant paranatural abilities.
Gameplay is action-adventure with RPG and Metroidvania elements. Initially, you use a gun, but you soon gain abilities to throw objects and eventually manipulate enemies and perform aerial attacks. However, Control incorporates frustrating elements from the Soulsborne genre, including sudden-death mechanics and a hostile checkpointing system. Upon death, you face a lengthy loading screen, must re-fight previous enemies, and lose 10% of your in-game currency. The game features high, non-selectable difficulty and a single save file that is overwritten automatically, raising concerns about player time and save file integrity. Boss fights are described as difficult spikes that impede progress.
Ultimate Edition Update:
The expansions _Foundation_ (June 2020) and _AWE_ (August 2020) were released with the original game as _Control Ultimate Edition_. _Foundation_ is a post-game adventure in a sealed area of the Oldest House, noted for weaker world-building and a less addictive story, focusing on an underdeveloped NPC (non-player character — anyone the game controls, not you) and told through logs from a researcher named Ash.
The _AWE_ expansion is an improvement, with better world-building and a creepy creature. It requires knowledge of the game _Alan Wake_ for full context. While some content may be baffling without prior context, it recaptures elements of what made the original game enjoyable. The expansions also introduced cheat modes to address difficulty, though the loot system is considered dismal, with most mods being garbage. _AWE_ also added a new weapon form with associated trophies.
Tips
Master Control with essential tips on combat, ability upgrades, mod management, and more. Learn how to survive the Oldest House.
- 1While Control is not a dedicated cover (press the cover button to crouch behind walls or objects) shooter, work with pillars and ledges for protection against enemy attacks.
- 2Be aware that enemies will attempt to flank you, and suicide bombers will detonate themselves near your position.
- 3To heal damage, you must move into the open to collect Health Elements dropped by defeated enemies.
- 4When using the Launch ability, you can press the interaction button (square on PS4) to drop an item instead of launching it.
- 5Remap the R3 button (PS4) to avoid conflicts between the crouch control and the Ground Slam ability, which can lead to accidental fatalities, especially against bosses or when navigating certain environmental puzzles.
- 6Consider enabling Assist Mode from the pause screen menu (available via the AWE DLC (downloadable content — extra missions or items released after launch)) to toggle Immortality and One-Hit Kills, which does not appear to affect trophies.
- 7To help get the platinum trophy, keep three Board Countermeasures active at all times until you achieve the trophy for completing 25 of them. If a Countermeasure is too difficult, abandon it and select a new one.
- 8Prioritize completing Bureau Alerts, especially those involving destroying Hiss Nodes, as they may stop appearing later in the game. Major Target alerts become manageable with Launch damage upgrades, but FBC personnel survival missions are extremely difficult.
- Focus initial ability points on increasing your health bar and the damage of your Launch ability. Side abilities from Launch can be upgraded later.
- After health and Launch, spend points on improving your Shield ability and increasing your energy bar.
- Seize ability upgrades are a lower priority, and improving your melee attack is the lowest priority, as enemies also have powerful melee attacks.
- Do not consider the Shield, Seize, and Evade abilities optional, as they are unlocked through side missions and are high-stakes for overcoming certain enemies and dangerous situations. Shield protects you, Seize helps balance odds, and Evade provides invulnerability frames.
- Acquire and manage mods by clearing out your inventory regularly. Keep only the best mods and discard duplicates or useless ones immediately.
- Spend resources on upgrading your weapons rather than constructing new mods, except possibly for Infinity level mods very late in the game when you have secured the ability to construct them.
- To unlock all abilities for the platinum trophy, you may be able to skip the first Hidden Location in the Executive Sector, the first Hidden Location in the Research Sector, and the second part of the "Langston's Runaways" side mission (fighting a previously defeated boss).
Expeditions
Learn how to unlock and play Expeditions in Control, a game-as-a-service mode costing Jukebox Tokens with a 25-minute time limit.
- 1Access Expeditions mode, which costs Jukebox Tokens to play.
- 2Missions take place in a mysterious location called The Formation.
- 3You have tasks to complete in four "islands" around The Formation.
- 4You have a twenty-five minute time limit to complete these tasks.
- 5After completing the four tasks, return to the hub.
- 6Complete a tough boss fight against the Distorted Tourist to claim your reward.
- There are three tiers of Expeditions: Tier 1 costs 1 Jukebox Token and gives Rare mods, Tier 2 costs 3 Jukebox Tokens and gives Prime mods, and Tier 3 costs 5 Jukebox Tokens and gives Absolute mods.
- The first time you complete a very challenging Tier 3 expedition, you will unlock a new costume.
- Expeditions provides content for after the main story if you enjoy Control's combat.
Unknown Caller
Walkthrough for Control's Unknown Caller mission. Guide to navigating the Communications Department, finding collectibles, and cleansing the Object of Power.
Walkthrough:
- Leave the Board Room, turn right towards the Cafeteria. Loot a container and ignore the Level 1 Security Room door.
- Deal with Hiss Guards outside the office, loot the container, and find Travel Costs on filing cabinets.
- Go downstairs towards the Cafeteria, avoiding damage down the right corridor.
- Defeat five Hiss Guards in the Cafeteria area.
- Climb onto the bannister near the stairs, scramble up to a ledge, and grab a loot container.
- From the stairs, turn left to find a Shelter. Find the Havana Summary case file on the seats. The Shelter is blocked by Mold.
- Return to the Cafeteria and head towards the other staircase.
- In the ladies' toilet, find Unstable Area Notice on the floor. The gents' toilet has a loot container.
- Proceed through the doors towards Dead Letters.
- Go left to find Machine God on the floor.
- Across the way, shoot one of the three floating Hiss Guards to initiate combat.
- After defeating them, head down the stairs, turn around, and go underneath to find a loot container and Singing Fish.
- In the office on the right, find Trench: Dead Letter Approval. The office on the left has a loot container.
- Go down the stairs here to trigger more guards, including one with a shield. Defeating it gets the Hiss Barrier research.
- Head up the stairs opposite. Before cleansing the Control Point, enter the nearby office and interact with the TV to learn about the Floppy Disk.
- Cleanse the Control Point.
- Go back downstairs. The realignment has made two more offices accessible. The one on the right has Book Club: Penny on a filing cabinet and a TV with Missing Momma. The office on the other side has Dead Presidents on a filing cabinet.
- Return upstairs and go through the door towards the Communications Dept.
- Go up the stairs and claim a loot container at the top.
- Go back downstairs and continue to see a man run through the
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