What could Control 2's genre change mean for its gameplay

Key conclusions

• Control
  it's basically a third-person shooter with RPG-lite elements and Metroidvania-style level design.
• control 2
  moves into the “action RPG” genre, hinting at greater player freedom and varied gameplay.
• The sequel may expand on previous items such as upgrades and weapons, and possibly introduce a new story structure.

Remedy Entertainment's Control 2019 marked a new era for the developer in many ways. After a somewhat mixed reception to its previous release, A quantum breakand subsequent IP ownership issues with Microsoft, with which the studio moved forward Control. The title introduced players to an SCP-flavored environment and story that contained many of Remedy's hallmarks. It was also the first game to bring the studio's other properties together within a larger shared world called the Remedy Connected Universe. Control connected to st Alan Wake franchise through its latest DLC, and set the stage for both to continue under that single vision.

When starting Remedy Alan Wake 2 last year he highlighted his transition from original action-adventure designs to the survival horror genre. Now, it seems the developer is doing something similar, as it recently announced it control 2 will be an “action RPG”. ​​​​​​While this may seem pretty vague on the surface, it does provide some possible clues as to how Remedy is going to iterate next. control 2and what it might mean for gameplay design.

How Control 2's shift to “action RPG” might affect gameplay

Control is basically a third-person action-adventure

At its core, Control it's essentially a third-person shooter. Players are armed with a versatile service weapon that fulfills a variety of standard roles, such as a pistol, shotgun, and sniper rifle. The main character, Jesse Faden, also uses a number of supernatural abilities such as telekinesis and levitation, which complement the picture and give a great sense of powerful fantasy. Fans will also unlock a couple of other abilities during the story, all of which are distributed in a fairly linear fashion.

ControlThe level design is also very reminiscent of a Metroidvania game. While The Elder House may not be the most massive of maps, it packs a punch. There are optional encounters and secrets to uncover, many of which require close attention to the environment and extensive tracking.

It should be noted that Control contains some RPG related elements. Jessie has a set of skill trees that fans can use to upgrade the service weapon and its abilities, focusing on the ones they like best. Players can also equip personal mods that grant some additional bonuses such as increased damage and improved reload speed. But they were pretty limited in the grand scheme of things and not as deep as the genre usually is. If control 2 covers the role-playing aspects more heavily, and as Remedy claims, it will likely go much further in those and potentially other areas.

How Control 2's gameplay could evolve into a more rounded role-playing game

Control was already quite action-oriented, but by clearly referencing the RPG genre, Remedy could signal an intention to give fans much more freedom in how they can approach either control 2Mechanics and history. control 2 can cover several genre components that either weren't present in the original or have room for significant expansion. This can include items such as:

• Wide pool of upgradeable/craftable gear and cosmetics
• Significant player-based choices that affect characters and plot
• Multiple main characters or storylines
• Different and more diverse forces
• A semi-open world or multiple locations instead of one condensed area

While this is all speculation for now, it's interesting to consider exactly what Remedy means by the sequel being more of an action RPG, and how this choice will change or expand on the basic design of the first game. regardless of whether control 2The future looks bright, and hopefully Remedy will soon provide more details on what these changes will affect.