Control is shaping up to be one of Remedy Entertainment’s trippiest games yet. Floating cadavers, twirling staircases, and upside down pyramids will be a few sights that players can admire as they make their way through the remains of the Federal Bureau of Control’s New York headquarters. A shape-shifting gun and some cool-looking psychokinetic powers promise to further immerse players in the strange sci-fi experience. With Control releasing for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on August 27, the following are a few titles that are guaranteed to boggle one’s mind before or after they see what Remedy’s next game has to offer.
Trippy Games like Control | Bioshock
Bioshock has players second guess themselves frequently as they learn of Rapture’s warring ideologies and make tough moral decisions regarding small children. Harvesting Little Sisters may be a gruesome concept, but one may feel like it’s a necessary evil as they journey through the underwater city’s rusty corridors. Using plasmids will mess around with one’s head further, as they can spawn insects or mini-tornadoes from their hands with a press of a button. If there’s one lesson to be learned from Bioshock, it’s that injecting oneself with glowing needles is never a good idea.
ALSO: How Control learned from Dark Souls to trust its players
To top it all off, it’s hard to determine who to trust until the very end of the story, as both Andrew Ryan and Atlas appear to be villains at times. Bioshock will stay with players long after they finish it for the first time, as there are few other trippy experiences like it.
Trippy games like Control | System Shock 2
Similarly to its spiritual successor, System Shock 2 achieves its goal of making fans feel inconsequential. As players try to find a way to contain a virus that’s infected a space ship, a vile AI called SHODAN watches their every move. She may seem helpful at first, given how she helps users escape death in the game’s introduction, but she slowly shows her true colors as time moves on. SHODAN isn’t the only phenomenon that can’t be trusted, as enemies will try to convince fans that they’re on their side. Additionally, weapon degradation is purposefully designed to make players freak out in the far reaches of outer space.
Trippy games like Control | The Stanley Parable
The Stanley Parable actively encourages players to mess around with it. Though a narrator dictates what path fans are supposed to follow, they are free to go in whichever direction they like. When they do so, the narrator will adjust his commentary to reflect one’s most recent action. While the game doesn’t offer compelling action segments or grandiose set pieces to admire, it redefines the concept of player choice. Fans experiencing The Stanley Parable for the first time may come away thinking that there is such a thing as too much freedom. Hopefully, that Ultra Deluxe version actually does come out this year as it will be the first time the game will hit consoles.
Trippy games like Control | Antichamber
Antichamber was made to screw around with its players’ heads, as it doesn’t restrict itself to real-world perspectives or architecture. Rather, it challenges fans to adapt to its settings in order to solve a series of tricky puzzles. One may feel their brain pounding as they attempt to figure out where to place a box on a vertical plane. Claiming victory may require a notepad and hours of careful contemplation. Though Antichamber does offer alternate paths in case fans get stuck, users will find that it rarely provides an easy way out. Anyone thinking about using a guide should be reminded that that takes away the whole point of the game. Headaches and eyesores are all the rage now anyway.
Trippy games like Control | Dishonored
Dishonored is a unique sci-fi power fantasy that allows players to wield a variety of supernatural abilities in order to enact revenge for the empress’ murder. As fans gaze through walls and possess other people’s bodies, they’ll come to learn about the world’s large class divides and unscrupulous individuals. Like Bioshock and System Shock 2, players will frequently question who they can trust in this cyberpunk universe. Summoning an army of rats is pretty far-out too.
Trippy games like Control | Alan Wake
Remedy’s own Alan Wake is another great example of a game that likes to tamper with one’s perception, as it tasks them to take down enemies that they can’t see. The only way to defeat the twisted Taken is to shine a bright light and shoot. This gameplay element adds an extra level of anxiety whenever one has to journey through a dark forest in the middle of the night. Lights in the environment, like streetlights and light stands, offer some reprieve, but those don’t appear often. For most of Alan Wake, players are left to squirm as the darkness toys with them.
Though the titles above mess around with one’s head in different ways, it’s worth noting how well they manage to subvert expectations. System Shock 2 challenges players to find clever answers to environmental obstacles, while Dishonored eschews traditional mission structure and allows players to complete objectives however they like. In a similar regard, Control will attempt to redefine what a Remedy title is with its nonlinear design and variety of combat options. Here’s hoping that it’s a step in the right direction for the studio and that it does well enough to warrant a sequel. A sequel to Alan Wake would be nice too.
