Lots of video games tell strong stories with the help of an antagonistic character that the player develops a relationship with over the course of their adventure. FromThe Legend of Zelda’s Ganon toPortal’s GLaDOS, the industry is littered with memorable, diverse characters who spur on the plot in their own ways. Some games, however, prefer to present a broader threat, such asControl. Remedy Entertainment’s surreal action-adventure title is headlined by the Hiss, a paranatural force that makes up for a limited personality for its frightening ability to dominate humans and persistently pursue the Bureau and the Board.
The ending ofControldoesn’t see the Hiss destroyed by any means, but it is soundly beaten back by Jesse Faden. By the timeControl 2picks up, it’s possible that the Hiss presence in the Bureau has been eradicated completely, forcing the Hiss to stage another invasion. However, this isn’t the only direction available to the sequel. Instead, there’s a case to be made thatControl 2could and should go with a wholly different antagonistic entity. TheControluniverse is much bigger than the Hiss alone, and delving into the Hiss a second time may not be as satisfying as fans would like.
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Why Control 2 Could Leave the Hiss Behind
Thanks to Jesse’s previous confrontation with the Hiss, as well as the contrast between the Hiss and Jesse’s benevolent resonance-based ally Polaris, reusing this force asControl 2’s antagonist seems like an obvious choice. However, returning to the Hiss would seem like a bit of a waste when Remedy has suggested that there are far more potential adversaries out there than this one force. The Bureau’s Thresholds offer glimpses into other realities hostile to human life that seem like they could inspire lots of creative, paranatural enemies for Jesse to battle.Side quests and lore inControlmake it clear that the Hiss are just one possible threat.
Additionally, a sequel that revisits the Hiss might struggle to make the Hiss compelling without ruining the magic. Part ofwhat makesControl’s story so successfulis that players don’t actually get the full picture of what they’re up against.Controlnever clarifies what the Hiss really is or what its motivations are, which makes its relentless attack all the more frightening. Eldritch, Lovecraftian narratives are often more compelling when fans don’t get a clear picture of the monster before them, since it’s beyond human comprehension, which is a special kind of daunting. The firstControltaps into this well through Jesse and the Bureau’s limited understanding of the Hiss, but ifControl 2focused on the Hiss again, it would inevitably have to reveal new things about the Hiss to make a second encounter compelling. New information about the Hiss could ironically spoil the force’s appeal.
Control 2 Might Try Something New
Even if the Hiss isn’t the star of the show in a sequel, the sky is the limit when it comes to possible antagonists. For instance,Controlfans might find themselves fighting the Mold on a larger scale in a sequel; after all, Jesse may have killed Mold-1, but it’s doubtful that this entity was the end-all, be-all of the Mold. Jesse may have to fight off a second wave of this invasive force in the future. Alternatively,Control 2could focus on entities from the Astral Plane, such as Former, her cryptic ally inControl’s Foundation DLC. Former is supposedly an enemy of the Board, which may mean Jesse and the rest of humanity get caught in a war between entities from the Astral Plane in the sequel.
Remedy Entertainment could handleControl 2’s antagonist in a variety of ways.The Hiss could still appearas a secondary enemy, for instance, taking a backseat compared to a new threat that complicates Jesse’s work as the Director. Alternatively, the Hiss could retain its central position while other paranatural entities increase in prominence and become more important to the story missions. Whatever becomes the case, though, Remedy shouldn’t feel pressured to stick with the Hiss as the main enemy.Controlis part of a large universe that could easily make room for more threats to the Bureau, whether they’re new or old.
Controlis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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