Control - The Foundation Review

Control was one of 2019’s best games, but the title ended poorly. With many questions left unanswered, The Foundation adds to the pile but also provides context for certain mysteries. With Jesse heading below The Oldest House into a new area unknown to most and discovering that The Board may have some hidden intents.

The DLC opens with the Board ordering Jesse to head into the Foundation, a hidden location beneath The Oldest House that only a handful of people know about. Marshall went down there, and she hasn’t been heard from since.

When entering, Jesse finds that the Hiss have found their way into the area, the Astral Plane is bleeding into their reality, and a mysterious object called the Nail has broken. Jesse must repair the Nail in order to stop the Bleeding and prevent a complete collapse.

Much of The Foundation plays like the base game. You’ll encounter a new type of Hiss and a new enemy type that mimics that Hiss’ combat patterns. Jesse will have 2 new tools while down here: the ability to morph and destroy crystals only seen in this area. This new ability allows Jesse to build platforms at specific locations, summon spikes in crystal areas, and destroy them to open new paths. You can choose 1 of the 2 abilities, but you eventually get both.

The best part of The Foundation is the context it provides, specifically about The Former. This optional boss from the core game was one of the best encounters in the entire game. This time, the creature isn't really a threat; it only becomes hostile based on Jesse’s behavior. This shows that, despite its scary exterior, there’s more to this creature than meets the eye. However, before things can manifest the DLC ends but now you know that things are not what they seem.

The DLC also allows you to explore the Astral Plane more. While it’s nothing we haven’t seen from the core game, spending more time in the white-out area of this supernatural world was more thrilling than the office spaces of The Oldest House. The Foundation is a series of caves that eventually lose their luster, but the Astral Plane remains interesting.

The Foundation highlights Jesse and her abilities. She starts off the DLC a bit cocky, assuming she can handle anything. However, once something completely unexpected happens, Jesse quickly unravels and becomes frantic. This leads to a quick and ill-advised leap of faith, literally. While it works out in the end, it’s clear Jesse still has a long way to go, and her position as Director may have been intentional given her lack of experience. 

Outside the core missions, there are three optional objectives, two of which involve locating and containing Altered Items in entertaining, unique side missions. Both are excellent in their own right and offer distinct objectives, one of which has Jesse playing out an action scene in a movie.

The DLC takes about 3 hours to complete, or 5 if you collect everything and earn all the achievements. It’s a short expansion that plays on Control’s strengths and delivers. The next expansion will need to deliver more information, as Control teases are starting to get vexing.  For now, The Foundation is a solid first step for the future of Control. Providing great combat, supernatural thrills, and lots of weird things to fight.