Control – The Foundation adds a new ability and gun upgrade that let you reshape the environment

Control's first expansion, The Foundation, is due out next week, but you can get a brief taste of what to expect in a new trailer, above. Jesse's new job won't stop spitting out more problems, the latest among them a crisis in the titular area underneath the Oldest House, where the astral plane is bumping up against reality. That's probably bad. 

You'll need to head deeper underground to find the missing head of operations, Helen Marshall, who apparently knows what's going on, as well as more information on the Board, which we learn little about in the main game. 

Publisher 505 Games teased what's contained within the expansion on the PlayStation Blog. To start The Foundation, you'll need to have finished the main game, at which point you'll be able to tackle the new crisis via the Hotline Chamber in the Central Executive area. 

Like the main game, The Foundation features some side missions, and it should take around 4-5 hours to complete. To deal with the new area's challenges, which include a new melee enemy type, the Hiss Sharpened, you'll be able to get your hands on some new abilities. Shape lets you transform parts of the environment, which you can see in the trailer, while the new gun upgrade, Fracture, lets you break stuff. 

Even if you don't pick up the expansion, you'll still get something new to play with. Shield Rush lets you upgrade the Shield ability with some more offensive capabilities.  As the name implies, you can charge at enemies and knock them back. That's coming in the free March update, which also adds more functionality to the bare bones map, the ability to respec Jesse and other quality of life improvements. 

The Foundation is set to launch on the Epic Games Store on March 26. 

Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.