Remedy Entertainment picks up the story right where it ended and offers a new adventure starring Jesse Faden.
Nothing is easy for the director of the Federal Office of Control, an institution whose headquarters, La Casa Inmemorial, has been the victim of the invasion of parasitic beings known as the Hiss. Enemies enter the skin of their targets and become monsters with powers. Fighting to free the building from those interdimensional organisms is the premise of Control, the most recent production of Remedy Entertainment. The task continues at The Foundation.
The also creators of Max Payne, Alan Wake and Quantum Break have not yet finished the story of Jesse Faden, as the two planned expansions that expand this universe of confusing contrasts, of paranormal phenomena, of open questions to various interpretations, will lead the way towards the epilogue of the argument.
Direct continuation
The Foundation begins right after the end of the game, so it is necessary to have completed the main plot. After the update, the mission is activated immediately. Although decimated and more contained, the Hiss continues within The Immemorial House. The mysterious board of directors knows this and discovers that the area that supports the building, its foundations, are full of monsters and are eaten away by an unknown threat. Jesse Faden, in her work as director, goes to the call of the bosses and descends to the bowels of the headquarters, the Foundation. Perhaps the answers are in the possession of Helen Marshall, one of the characters who disappeared without a trace in the main story and is now left in the form of visions.
It is a completely new area to explore, an unpublished map that hides secrets and unknowns alike. The area is on the verge of collapse, bathed in a deep red that comes from the Astral Plane. In fact, that dimension is taking over the place and threatens to engulf the Immemorial House completely. Only Faden, in his lonely sway through locations, will have a chance to take down the Hiss's creatures and put the situation back on track, whatever it may be, as even humans behave strangely.
The ingredients are the same as in the main game. The Foundation feels like a true expansion of the story as it not only includes a narrative arc that expands the experience, but also collectibles and a couple of side quests that pack the product are introduced. In total, about 4 or 5 hours of play, depending on the skill of the player and how developed the character of Jesse Faden is in terms of his powers and main characteristics.
Good, but…
Anyone looking for an adventure that is continuist with respect to Control will surely enjoy The Foundation, an expansion that at times shines with bright flashes, but that in many others feels disappointing. Remedy promised new powers and has fulfilled, although unlike the rest, they depend on the scenarios. In other words, they cannot be executed in any situation, but are built in order to overcome certain obstacles or damage monsters in very specific locations. The first of these allows very specific structures to be destroyed, which are usually automatically rebuilt seconds later. Flying them opens new paths, previously inaccessible. The second is just the opposite, giving Jesse the ability to create platforms, which in combat serve to sprout deadly spikes from the ground. Neither can be improved with skill points.
In Control, the phases in the Astral Plane served as a kind of tutorial to test the new power achieved. Something similar happens at La Fundación, but these phases are much longer. Furthermore, as we said, the Astral Plane has invaded the dimension occupied by The Immemorial House. One can find oneself in the bathroom, open the door leading to one of the toilets, and realize that the other dimension has devoured the place destined to release waste from the body. Suddenly, you see all those columns that are supported in the void, and above, in one of the highest, the toilet floats in a twisted position. These sections are small, nothing compared to the ones we have commented previously, which given their size, are sometimes somewhat messy due to the similarity of all their structures, which can provoke a feeling of repetition.
The biggest flaw in this expansion is its difficulty spikes. It is probably designed for those players who have squeezed all the juice into the main game, but the balance is not well balanced. In the original, it is true that there were some other tougher sections (for example, the final waves), something that is sharpened in The Foundation. The problem is that at certain points the experience can be frustrating, since when you die you have to repeat entire sections because you appear from the last save point. The player must remain alert at all times, since a mistake can be fatal. The enemy, in one fell swoop, is capable of almost erasing Faden's life bar.
If there is a particularly hateful Hiss monster, we should point to the creatures that carry a beak in their hands. They attack both in the short and long distance, so that if they hit Jesse, they will be able to considerably reduce the life of our protagonist. However, there are also gratifying moments, as Control shines when it resembles a well-executed show.
Control or uncontrol?
The chaos that occurs on the battlefield and leaves trails of red substance, the same ones that appear when you are about to die and that, in a way, make it difficult to see. The good thing about Control, which the Foundation also maintains, is that this symphony of light and color explodes in a vertiginous combat, which far from giving way to pause, gives prominence to a type of fight that does not give rise to respite. But that magic breaks when the lack of control takes over everything, when the waves come to arrive and the balance of difficulty breaks to give way to frustration. In the hubbub of colors and lights, one thing is hardly distinguished from another. Visually, yes, it is still fantastic; performance has been greatly improved over launch.
The Foundation is Control in its purest form. Best? Probably not. Still, the experience offers a few hours of entertainment that will be enjoyed by those who enjoyed the base video game. Beyond that, eyes are on the next expansion, AWE, which points to a sort of crossover with the Alan Wake universe. Jesse Faden's story continues.
