Control's Ashtray Maze is 2019's Best Gaming Moment | The Joy of Gaming
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- Опубликовано: 19 дек 2019
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SPOILERS AHEAD!
Control's Ashtray Maze is one of the most memorable gaming moments of 2019 and Nate takes some time to explain why in today's episode of The Joy of Gaming.
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#Control #AshtrayMaze 
Игры
Me in the beginning of the game : Ahti is up to something....
Me after finishing the game : Ahti is up to something
Yeah going on vacation xp
Tom Franck lol
@@tomfranck8821 "To a Finn, vacation is holy. Perkele."
there's a theory that he's fully aware that his assistant is the director and that its meant to be that way. there's pages that ask why he has access to certain areas and others that say ahti is not to be questioned on what he's doing in restricted areas
can I go through the maze again after finishing it or does it disappear?
The best part was that the ashtray maze comes out of nowhere. It's such a complete tonal shift for the game that the contrast just makes it even more hype. Definitely one of, if not the best sequence I've seen in a videogame this year.
I appreciated the fact that it was supposed to just be a fun level as a thank you 😊 I was blown away I wanted to do it again and again like it was a roller coaster it made me want to clip it just to recommend the game to my friends
and even tho it comes out of nowhere and is a complete tonal shift, it also PERFECTLY FITS and feels 100% earned and set up throughout the story beforehand (coming from someone who took the time to listen to that song in the lab beneath Central Research and then take the questionnaire after)
Indeed. However, narratively its deepr that that..its a catharsis. Jesse is a reluctant heroine, and the expectation of the maze based on Ahti and the style of the interactions prior is that the music will be a beacon to navigate the maze...however this is not what happens..
As soon as you hear the riff and the Take Contol, a tuned in player will realize this is the moment... the maze isnt navigated it opens, Jesse spreads her wings and charges in... this maze, makes it's way for her... she "takes control" ... and as the player along with her we experience the culmination...
It truly is a work of high art, that requires the tedium and sometimes monotonous tasks and methods jesse has used this far, it hits on so many narrative and artistic levels, that it is one of the definitive examples of video games as high art, demonstrating an experience in art that can only be had in this format.
As soon as I heard the music, I knew what was about to go down... I felt, the wings spread, and went full bore speed and flowed through the sequence.
Truly a unique experience.
Thanks for the walkman, Ahti.
Pretty sure Jesse and I said "That was AWESOME" at the exact same time.
I only feel a little bad for people who can't go into that sequence (and to some extent, the whole game), completely fresh. But what can you do? It's still extremely dope.
Not sure why you'd feel bad. My favourite game this year was RE2 but I can totally see why some people might dislike or even hate it. I kinda feel that way with Control. I had a lot of love for Alan Wake and kinda enjoyed Max Payne 1. But I feel like Quantum Break and Control lack any of the magic that make Remedy games good.
Barry Wheeler said the exact same thing at the stage fight in Alan wake song 'Children of the Elder God' by OGOA too. :)
Literally just finished the game last night. Spoiler free. Game was amazing. The maze was fun as hell.
I genuinely did the same thing, I got to the end and said "Wow, that was" and then Jesse interrupted me. I had heard the song before playing the maze, but nonetheless it was an amazing gameplay sequence
I bought the game on a whim after listening to Stupidendiums rap about it and got to experience it completely fresh. It was the most epic gamer moment I've had in a long fucking while.
After control, I bought Quantum Break and loved it to pieces too, despite a few gripes, and I'll be eagerly awaiting the AWE DLC and whatever else Remedy works on
Control is one of, if not the most, slept on games of 2019. Really great game, I loved it.
It's an okay game. Nothing special tbh. I got bored of it after about 3 or 4 hours which is sad considering the potential there was with this concept.
@@nickhotaling270
I think it's a sum of it's parts deal. Individually, none of its components are great but when you put them all together, the creepy atmosphere, great setting and very fluid and enjoyable combat made for a great experience imo.
Bored me to tears. How its possible to create such a goddamn snoozefest escapes me.
@@zybch Stick to cod
Running in ultra with full rtx and dlss on is amazing... this game is ill. You just need the right hardware
I liked how, when you stopped progressing through the maze (say you'd stopped to look at the textures or something) the music would enter a short loop and stop progressing, too.
The Ashtray Maze is one of my favourite gaming moments ever. You walk in there and the song starts to play and the Hiss start coming and the house just begins to transform and shift with the clear intention of giving you every opportunity to be a complete badass. It's a sequence designed exactly as you said, to pamper and flatter you. Jesse and I said "That was awesome" at the exact same time.
I love that they reused the old gods of Asgard from Alan wake. Their concert was probably the most exhilarating part of that game for me so it’s no wonder another crazy ride in Control is related to them again.
@@Noperare Old Gods of Asgard is Poets of the Fall. It's just the in-game name for their fictional band. One of the lead devs at Remedy is long time friends with a member of the band, so they tap them for the music to their connected universe of games. And it works so well.
the mentions of The Oldest House, the Hiss and the incident in Ordinary got me
I immediately thought back to the Anderson Farm sequence. This was absolutely stunning
a bit late, but they did not reuse the old gods because control and Alan wake are in the same game world, there are a bunch of documents in control talking about a incident at Bright falls. and Alen being missing, and them finding his wife tramatized.
@@somerandomdude7815 yes I’m quite aware that their universe is connected. In fact you can have that confirmed if you never knew by playing the AWE DLC for control.
You know that gag in comedic media where a title card says "this segment has been cut due to budgetary constraints" and then the main character gushes on about how awesome that segment was with all the laser dragons and billions of two-headed martian monkeys exploding into confetti?
This, except it's *not* a joke.
"pampers and flatters you"
I hate that I fell for it, but I did! AMAZING summation of exactly how I felt when I got to that point. Had to tweet it out IMMEDIATELY... it was a joy.
Spot on, that sequence really stuck with me! The most immersive and purely entertaining gaming experience I've had for a while
A definitive example of video games as high art.
The player experiences Jesse 's cathartic transformation
The music atmosphere makes it so
The ashtray maze, to me, as a gamer who's pushing 30 now, it gave me the same thrill that Gravemind in Halo 2 did. I'm glad the newer generations of gamers are going to be able to still experience awesome moments like this and I can't wait for it to come out on PC so I can buy this game for a bunch of my other friends.
It's a great moment in gaming and the surprise element just elevates it further. One of those few levels in any game that I just wish could have lasted a bit longer.
agreed. This moment has cemented itself as one of my favorites in 30 years of gaming. Incredible game, underrated masterpiece
I didn’t even know about the game control until Someone told me bout it and the very first time I played I didn’t know what to do or where to go because it was confusing to me,but I still try to play and I trying to figure it out on how to get there that’s when I saw the map I was still kinda confuse on how to get from point A to point B once again I kept playing and once I got to a certain area then I was able to fast travel close to the destination. As I kept playing it got easier for me and I was enjoying the game at the same time. I think for me it’s a challenge, but I am making good progress. 😊😊😊👍
2:45 Absolutely love the "fuck it I'll just throw the wall" when no objects are around.
Getting to meet Sam Lake and the cast of this last year was a rush.
100% agree. The moment u set foot inside and that music kicks up, damn what a moment!!
Alan and Thomas used a place of power to rewrite reality. It's only fitting that the old gods can do the same
Huh... Didn't think about it like that. Interesting theory
Just played the level today and I'm so blown away from it. I wish I could play it over and over again, but I'm sure the magic of the flow and aw wouldn't be the same. It's just perfect as it is and one of my all time favorite video game moments of all time. Remedy did a really great job on the game and the world it's situated in.
This was a great analysis. Any unexpected musically powered segment in a game always requires bravery from a design perspective, and if they execute on it, it always becomes a hit, especially ones with lyrics that essentially take you out of the world. Look at Red Dead Redemption, where a series of songs play in several key turning points in the story, and struck a chord with millions of players worldwide. One of my favorite from early childhood is the final boss of Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast, where you turn into golden sonic with a completely different control scheme that feels daunting at first, but feel empowered to the song that starts playing to keep pushing on and finish the game in a situation where it feels like all is lost.
This man has quite a way with words
If its a pop quiz, the answer to every question is D) Use Multi-launch.
That didn't exist yet when i first did it. Just finished the main game earlier, and yeah, Multi-launch ftw.
I heard about the ashtray maze before I played. Didn't hear any specifics, just that it was amazing. I was not disappointed.
Sam lake is one of the best writers in gaming industry.
Alan's Wake is like a Booker quality.
How is he. EVERY one of his stories is more or less the same.
Why I'm glad I met him and the rest of the main COntrol cast.
Very well done analysis! I just went through this sequence yesterday for the first time and the amount of joy and awe and pure excitement is hard to describe! Love everything about it and the song is stuck in my head for good!
I just recently played the game and had goosebumps and a smile on my face when I played this part. I am sure I will remember this a long time
I just did this section last night at 60FPS on the PS5 on an LG OLED and it was FUCKING INCREDIBLE. Forget 2019, I've gamed for 35 years and that was maybe the most euphoric 5 minutes of gaming EVER, just... words fail me.
Trying to express myself is bringing me close to tears, that's how good it was.
I just beat Control a few hours ago and the ashtray maze is something I just wanna play over and over again. You just get to take out enemies while a rock song plays, an adaptive track that switches between intense fight sequences and slower paced platforming. I remember at the end I just said "that was awesome", and then Jesse said it too, and for some reason I love when a piece of media can read my mind like that.
It's definitely the most memorable part of the game, although the fake-out ending where Jeese falls victim to the Hiss is a close second in my opinion and genuinely fooled me. I would've been completely fine with a game where the story ends with you losing, it's kinda rare and wouldn't feel out of place in a game like this that ignores traditional game design and just does whatever it wants to. The credits were also mangled up and smothered in the Hiss copypasta and that gave me a good laugh.
Go play Control if you haven't.
Just played back through and so enjoyed this again
Control is an amazing game!!! Loooooove it!!! 🥰
Just played that moment tonight I was literally grinning ear to ear
“That was awesome” - Jesse Faden
just finished control the other day.
And indeed this part was awesome.
Imagine experiencing this for first time 3 years later without watching videos prior when I just got the ps5…let me say Even doing this first time in 2023 when this was made in 2019….it still stands the rest of time and one of my favorite gaming sequences in history.
Test*
Did he say, “Pony Walkman”?
He did, because that's what it is in the game.
Even "Pony Runnerboy" in my Epic store version :)
Good video! Liked the writing.
Great description and similar to my reaction of this shockingly great mission. It was such an unexpected departure from the rest of the gameplay that adds to the fun.
When I started the labyrinth I was like: "Wow!!!!!" reminded me a little of the crazy Nier Automata scenes, but even better
I used photo mode in Control more than any of the other games I’ve played combined
I finally beat this game and it is one of my all time favorites
Just ran the maze about 30 min ago. Unreal. This is the kind of experience that cannot be recreated in any other medium. This is why video games are an art.
Whoow playing this level the first time blew me away, couldn’t get the smile off my face
That song… fucking epic
That was awesome!
I felt like I was playing a version of doom from another dimension
No joking, Ashtray Maze is peak design of game level design
I only now played this, and yea, this was an absolutely amazing part of the game. To be fair, if the whole game was like this it wouldn't be a good game, but just this five minute segment of mind bending, transforming hallways and fast paced shootouts with metal music is fantastic. It comes in at just the right time to get you hyped for the conclusion of the game, and it doesn't overstay it's welcome in what is otherwise a much more subtle and somber experience.
I'll give Remedy their due---they have some awesome ideas on how to make someone feel all powerful in a game and even though these games have major similarities in the threads of shooting/3rd person play, they're engaging and interesting stories each time.
Ok two things 1 yeah I loved this part the music kicking in, the power trip the fact that the hiss appear and the maze shifts and blocks them off from you. Gives me the sense that at this point even the oldest house is fighting back. I love this game in general the scp vibe just resonates with me so hard the powers and animations are great and so satisfying for me. I only have two criticism's for the game and those are. The enemy variety and the story. Neither of these are a deal breaker for me but I can see how it might be for some people. Its not the best game ever made but it is one of my favourite games. And two. Ok guys I get it some of you don't like Control. There is no need to shit all over the game yeah like I said its not the best game ever made but people put time and effort into this and people enjoy playing it. Just cause you don't like it doesn't mean its bad. There are legitimate criticism's to be made but just saying the game is bad I not one of them.
Weirdly enough the story is my favorite part of the game and the only part I'm ready to call near perfect. But maybe thats because I'm already in love with that world through playing Alan Wake
Tbh the only criticisms I have about the game are the frame rate drops when unpausing, random spikes in difficulty that dissapear as fast as they appear, the fact the map just doesn't load in sometimes, and how during certain segments its so hard to find what you're meant to do
I'm in the middle of doing it right now, and had to find a video on it to say it's the coolest damn thing I've EVER played in a video game.
it's 2023 and nobody has topped this yet
_All who listen hear their own song, a unique melody played just for them._
Panharmonicon, Magic the Gathering.
This felt like a Disney Movie Musical Section - but you are in Control :)
One of the best levels ever made and one of the most underrated games for sure. Can't wait what's next from Remedy.
I ran through the ashtray maze and did it so fluidly and badass that I wish I recorded it and thought, "I wonder how badass people that record could run through this?" Hopping video to video severely disappoints me and I really wish I recorded mine.
I completely agree
can I go through the maze after finishing it or does it disappear?
If you have the AWE DLC you can. There's an arcade unit that there will be a mission to complete a level of it. Once you do that you'll be able to play through certain boss fights and segments of the game and the ashtray maze is (naturally) one of them.
My favorite part of the game for sure. I'm quite fond of the music
Great insights and demonstration, thanks for sharing and best of luck going into the new year, love this series!
A unique game to be sure. Underrated as hell too.
I think that might also be partly because some people don't know it exists. I, for one, had no idea this existed until I saw this video and would love to play it.
@@Minox_ It was shown at E3, last year.
@@MerlautZone So were 30+ other games
@@Minox_ Righteous, I guess only the triple A blockbusters are kept on people's radar.
@@MerlautZone I do suppose so, I'm not so up to date on new releases these days, so that might also be it. I guess that's the result of getting disappointed so often.
I would have loved a dlc feature with a randomized and timed ashtray maze, same soundtrack through.
TAKE CONTROL 🤘🏻
Best JOG so far
the game deserves a 10/10 masterpiece. The story and lore you uncover is so deep and engaging.
This is the game. The one I would love to wipe my memory of and play all over again... I have the AWE and foundation dlc left.... im gonna be sad when it's over
I've been gaming for around 27 years and the ashtray maze sequence is one of, if not the, best I've ever played.
Recommend me something better.
Depends on your taste. The final fight in TLOU2 was brilliant imo. In that moment I understood both characters and felt what they felt. Different than what Control makes you feel, but very impactful. Also RDR2 has some crazy good and cinematic missions.
Not saying that any of that is better than the maze though. I absolutely love a handful of games and I can't rank them. Control is one of them. And I wish Alan Wake got a remaster or even a remake.
I literally had the biggest fucking grin during this sequence. This was a fucking amazing game!!!!
edf 5 plain of conflict may wanna give it a look
Played this only after get it from ps plus in feb.2021 and I was amazed how great it is. Now I`m in shame cos I didn`t pay for this almoust greatness.
Plan is to by ps5 retail verson in future. It deserves my money and another playthrough.
I was concerned about halfway through the game that Ahti's first magic trick was something that was never EVER going to be seen again. I mean, i was pretty much right, but seeing as how i played through this segment several times for all its satisfying glory, i'm pretty sure he's my favorite guy ever. Definitely made up for it.
I wasnt the most excited with beginning missions and stuff because they felt like errands. Oh wait, they pretty much were. But from first specifically searching for the projector to the epic "maze" leading straight into the most giganticist amazingist thisisnotgrammarist room ever, just for it to all fall apart, my brain was fried and i became a potato for a while; i later realized i wasnt done. I thought the end of this game was pretty cool, and the maze was purty ebci, so yeah.
TLDR; just dont read, i'm bad at not typing excessively, sorry
I loved playing the Ashtray Maze. Sadly, without the expansion packs, we can only play it once. Oh well...time to shell out a few bucks...
I would mostly just give Control a “good” rating. The gameplay was really fun but I wasn’t that invested. But the Ashtray Maze will definitely be one of the most memorable moments of gaming in my life.
I wish I had paid for this game. I got it free last month on psn and it's one of the most satisfying single player experiences in years
I played it on ps4 pro , and i had to restart the game twice because the third platform at the end of the maze , never came up. Kind of ruined my experience in the maze , but it was still cool.
Looks like a great game I'd like to play. Hadn't even heard of it, so much for the great exposure of the epic games store.
@@BLY99 I'm actually not, I don't follow the game awards. But I did talk to a buddy of mine who does and he said he's heard of it. While it may be epic in this case, as I said, I think the problem is exclusives to one platform, not the platform itself.
A nice touch too is that Alan Wake and Control exist in the same universe. the RCU if you will.
The biggest problem I had about this game was it's total lack of soundtrack. The Ashtray Maze, while awesome, only made this problem more apparent. The rest of the combat feels relatively lifeless in comparison without even the simplest of backing melodies.
The Most Underrated Game of 2019. A Future Hidden Gem Ps4 Game
Its not a hidden gem its extremely popular to the point it got nominated for a game of the year award
U R Right. "Overlooked" is a better word to describe it
Old gods of asgard is also fictional rock band created for the game 😅 the effort is on next level
They're Poets of the Fall irl, mate. They've worked with Remedy since forever. The fictional version appears in Alan Wake too. And a PotF song was used in Max Payne. I may be mistaken, but as I recall, they made some other in game music as well for Max Payne.
@@High_Monk yes i know. was just surprised they had a fictional band created for these. when this song started i was like what the heck that's marko. i'm finnish =D poets of the fall became legend here almost 20 years ago.
i wonder if potf is in that newer game. quantum something. haven't tried it yet
No love for max Payne 3? Never understood why it was so divisive, love that game
Remedy ain't make it so he didn't need to mention it.
I didn't care for it because it's tone was so bleak for me and just made me feel depressed playing it. Not that a character can't be dark but it felt shoehorned in to make Max a dark and brooding noir character and it actually made me dislike him and his struggle. Never read anything about the game but I though I was in the minority and the game had rave reviews.
Rockstar Rockstarified it. The best part of 3 was the mission in New York, it captured the tone of Max Payne. It's not all bright and colorful, it's dark, dreary, like coffee on a rainy day..
3:30
The best part of the game
One of my favorite level of year is The Arcane Expanse from Amid Evil.
It was cool but don’t think I quite jammed with it as much as others
Examples of what?
@@ljyearwood9
My mistake, thought you meant other games were better, u meant as much as other players.
Jammyfish ohhh. Ye I meant other people lol. No worries!
Same. I enjoyed Control but after playing it everyone was talking about how amazing this part was and I honestly thought I must've missed something. Until I saw this now I know that I just... don't get it. Oh well, glad others liked it.
quagthias you’re not alone in that. I thought it was more style than substance a lot of the time n thought it was only a little step above quantum break...and I really enjoyed quantum break!
Disappointed I ain't been able to get this game yet. I love movement shooters.
It's really really good. Especially if you're gonna play it on PC.
This type of run and gun I adore, I'm just tired in cover shooters.
@@e2rqey yes sir! I just started playing last night... all graphics set to high... dlss and rtx on the 3080... its fucking unreal
@@sagerdood lucky bastard. I've still had no luck getting an RTX 3080. I have to wait for a 5900x as well at this point.
@@e2rqey stick to nvidia gpu though... big navi isnt going to be very good im thinking...
IMHO, Swift platform was far better than the ashtray maze, but to each their own
Third Person *Shooters* , get it right or pay the price.
Geeze bud, you must be young. Mixing live action into video games has been around since the 90s. God I love that boy's spunk.
This looks cool, but I wish western action games didn’t almost always have to be shooters.
SaiyanHeretic I played through Uncharted 1-4 for the first time in the last few months. I wish they emphasized other types of challenging gameplay besides shooting and sometimes stealth kills. It’s not like Indiana Jones movies are mostly about killing Nazis; they’re about trying to get the mystical artifact before the Nazis (or other antagonists) do. It’s like Naughty Dog just took for granted that the bulk of the challenge had to come from gun-based combat instead of trying to find more creative ways of providing challenge for games that intend to emulate the feel of an Indiana Jones story. That, or AAA game developers are so married to online multiplayer with micro transactions that they can’t get away from making shooters with 100 different guns, costumes, and maps to buy.
I am enjoying these but I think he needs to be more enthusiastic
that moment was that the game needed, because the rest is kind of soulless :(
The title sucks but the video is good.
Nope. Still don't see the appeal. Hope they do better with whatever next game they make. Perhaps finally give us an Alan wake sequel.
Great analysis, but PLEASE dont be like all these game reviewers that put fake emotion and spend time on describing sentimental lies. I came to hear about how cool this sequence was, not how touched you were and that it made you grin from ear to ear. I can feel that for myself once your analysis convinces me of attempting it myself.
I don't think anything of his description of that sequence was "fake emotion"
DMC5 is Better, and the entire final Arc in DMC5 is the best moment
What are you talking about. Wasn't even a puzzle. Just bring an item and walk with some lame shooting mixed in. The whole game is a shitton of wasted potential.
I bet it was supposed to be a hard puzzle at the beginning, with some clues given out later on, but was found to be "too confusing for players".
Perhaps they gave the game to the utlimate tester of difficulty? DSP!
Ok, that was a joke. I don't mean to say that the game is that easy. But yeah. Some people find things a bit more complicated than others.
What?
Seriously, there was nothing about puzzles.
The Ashtray Maze was clearly never supposed to be a puzzle. It was, exactly as described in this video, pretty much just a sequence who's purpose was to make you feel all-powerful and badass for a bit. Never intended to be a challenging segment, just a well-executed bit of cheese.
... If you can stand the boredom long enough to get there. The monologues, the constant annoying hiss "chatter", the stopping every 10 yards to read something or stand by a TV for 5mins... It was too much for me.
This game can totally be played as an action-packed TPS, just skip all the dialogues and don't listen to the fluff. Your quests are usually clear enough "go to location X and do Y". And you even have fast-travel system.
The fact that you dropped it because it was boring to you says way more about your preferences than about the game.
@@Slithy or it says that you are way more easily pleased. Getting around the building is enough of a pain in the ass going slowly. I ditched it for Sekiro. Not disappointed at all.
@@floydeepie "a technical marvel"... Yet it's poor performance is talked about in almost every review. I never said it was a bad game. I said it was too boring FOR ME. It didn't respect my time and was constantly breaking my immersion. If you have to skip half of the content for it to be enjoyable, then that's not exactly high praise is it? Also, If you want to know who's acting like a 12 year old, guess what? it's you. The one getting butt hurt and throwing out insults because I didn't like a game that you did. Boo hoo
Whilst I don’t agree with everything here I have struggled with remedy games having the majority of their lore in reams of text (which is very small and hard to read on a TV mind you). It’s a shame for me because a lot of the flavour text is well written and interesting but I don’t want to stop between action beats to read for five mins
@JDMStav your original post and criticism was fair and they shouldn’t be attacking your personality just because you didn’t gel with the game. Good to see you taking the high ground
I found it to be cringey tbh.
In comparison the the other greats from this year this game looked and Controlled like ass.
@@floydeepie No, it looks and plays worse than mass effect andromeda. The plot was abhorrent as well.
no it isn't