Control is one of Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment's most successful ventures, which is saying something considering how long the studio has been in operation. It was founded in 1995 and saw breakout titles as early as 2001's Max Payne, but 2019's Control contributed to Remedy seeing record revenue in 2020 without having to release another title. The game's availability on Xbox Game Pass and the release of its Ultimate Edition package with next-gen console support last year undoubtedly helped, but Control has also gained something of a cult following.
Fans have a lot to latch onto, from Control's gameplay blending third-person shooting and supernatural abilities to wildly imaginative worldbuilding reminiscent of the Internet creepypasta collection around the fictional SCP Foundation. Those who are invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe undoubtedly noticed the Disney+ series Loki had a very similar setting and atmosphere. Remedy Entertainment is working on a multiplayer Control spin-off as well as a sequel, and there's reason for the developer to take notes from Marvel's offering.
Control and Loki, Both Alike in Dignity
Control stars Jesse Faden (Courtney Hope), a woman who becomes entangled in the affairs of a mysterious organization called the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) after wandering into the Oldest House - which only reveals itself to select individuals. Jesse is searching for her brother Dylan, who was taken by the FBC years prior when the siblings initiated an Altered World Event that gave them abilities related to resonance-based paranormal entities. The protagonist becomes the FBC Director and helps stop the Hiss, an resonance connected to Dylan that threatens the world.
Loki stars Loki Laufeyson (Tom Hiddleston), a Norse god who becomes entangled in the affairs of a mysterious organization called the Time Variance Authority (TVA) when he causes a disturbance in the "sacred timeline" by stealing a powerful object called the Tesseract during a time-travel snafu in Avengers: Endgame. Loki searches for an alternate version of himself, a woman named Sylvie, who was taken by the TVA years prior for similarly altering the proper flow of time. The protagonist becomes an important part of the TVA (under supervision) as he first aims to stop Sylvie from breaking the timeline before helping her take down its arbiters.
Both also utilize "new weird" horror/sci-fi genre conventions and take place in enigmatic locales that poke fun at government bureaucracies while taking inspiration from the brutalist architecture of the mid-20th century. Both deal with forces seemingly beyond the protagonists' comprehensions that control everything behind-the-scenes: Control's Board, housed in the Astral Plane, and Loki's Time-Keepers that supposedly dictate the sacred timeline. It's in this connection that Remedy Entertainment could derive a similar ideas.
Loki's Time-Keeper Twist
In Loki's fourth episode, Loki and Sylvie are brought before the three Time-Keepers after nearly destroying spacetime due to a particularly fatal attraction. Sylvie beheads one, leading to the discovery that the Time-Keepers were fake all along - nothing but android decoys. The rest of the series follows the pair of variant Lokis as they break into the void beyond time to find out who is truly controlling their destinies.
Part of the fun in Control is getting absorbed in the absurdist, nigh-incomprehensible world of paranormal entities beyond the mortal realm, and the Board that helps guide Jesse as FBC Director is one such element. However, Control 2 would likely benefit from diving deeper into the dimension housed by these entities rather than just dealing with more Altered Item (as much potential as those house).
Going with a "controlling group wasn't really in charge all along" bit would be derivative, and it's hard to recommend Remedy copy Loki's Time-Keeper twist wholesale. Yet the existence of the Former, an immense beast formerly part of the Board whom Jesse battles to stop its control over rogue Altered Items, suggests there's more to dig into. For now fans will have to wait for another trip into the Astral Plane, but at least Loki has offered something of a fix for supernatural and bureaucratic absurdity in the meantime.
Control is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A sequel is currently in development.