Turn on the Subtitles So You Don’t Miss Anything
Remedy’s Control has an eerie story filled but some of its dialogue (intentional or unintentionally) is masked from you by mumbling or hard to understand voice acting.
Sure, hearing some disembodied voice from another dimension can set a mood if you were never meant to hear it in the first place, but the thing is the dialogue does exist if you turn subtitles on and you can see text that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to understand.
Plus, you might miss some great lines from your pal Ahti who speaks in a mix of English and Finnish.
If you think you might want that, then definitely go ahead and turn on subtitles via Control’s Settings which can be accessed by pressing Options on PS4 and Menu on Xbox One.
Visit Ahti’s Task Board Regularly
Ahti the Finnish janitor’s task board is introduced to you as a concept early on in Control but it’s never really clearly articulated to the player that this is a thing you can continue to visit throughout the game.
Our favorite singing janitor will post tasks that usually involve cleaning up some kind of mess in some off the beaten path area in Control. Anything from blowing back sludge, blasting mold, etc. is fair game.
The best part about them is that they offer a huge burst of ability points up to three per from what we’ve seen which is pretty great considering none of the tasks we completed were overly difficult.
If you’re in a tough spot in Control and could use a boost, or you’re just eager to unlock your next ability, definitely fast travel back to the Janitor’s Office in Maintenance and make sure you clear ’em all.
Pursue All Objects of Power Missions ASAP
Whatever you do, do not put off Object of Power side missions ever in Control. Some of them are technically optional as you need to go out of your way from the main mission to obtain them, but most of them will unlock a new ability for you to use which you will definitely want to have full access to before attempting to beat the game.
In fact, some of them like Levitate are just straight up required to beat the game, so at some point you’re going to need them, so just do them right away.
If you lost track of which ability is obtained where, don’t fret here’s a guide for each: Evade, Shield, Seize, Levitate.
Visit Control Points Often to See What is New
Some pretty important aspects of improving your character in Control is added without any notice.
For example, new Weapon Forms, upgrades, and important side missions are made available as you progress throughout the game and are just sitting there waiting for you to peruse at a Control Point without ever letting you know they are there.
There’s a little red notification icon that will appear while you’re on the Control Point that will try, albeit meekly, to let you know there’s something new to look at it but it’s very missable especially if you’re just trying to plow through the main missions.
Control can get pretty tough, and if you’re not spending your source on new weapons, and taking on side missions to gain more ability points, you’re going to have a much harder time than you need to.
Don’t Ignore Mods
I can forgive any players that kind of ignore mods in Control. You have a constant stream of them, and it’s kind of hard to clearly see the impact of shaving a second or two off of your reload time and energy recharge, especially early on.
However, the tier IV and V mods that you get towards the end of the story can add some pretty dramatic effects like 30-50% boosts to your health or health element effectiveness, and likewise to stuff like energy rate, shield strengths, seize speed etc.
The late parts of Control and the Bureau Alerts both feature difficult combat scenarios that if you’re just barely losing and have all your available abilities, the mods will definitely put your over the top.
Those are our tips & tricks for Control beginners. Hopefully these helped you jump start your game’s save file and you can hit the ground running.
For more helpful guides, visit our Control wiki guide or if you’re interested in our thoughts on the game, check out our fully scored review of Control.
Published: Aug 26, 2019 09:45 pm