Consistently haunting me in Control Resonant is an enemy called the Hiss Transporter. Simply put, it’s a demonic-looking bus that hits hard and spawns waves of Hiss Passengers–enemies horrifically fused with bus seats. This recurring miniboss is not only a long slog to fight, but it’s also terrifying.
It consists of the front end of a city bus, floating vertically and emanating a threatening red glow. Its hull shakes erratically, as do the Hiss Passengers sticking out of its windows, appearing forcefully crammed halfway in, forever bound to a fate of damnation. As the noise of its loud, distorted horn rings through the city streets, it slams into the ground to damage you with shockwaves, while overwhelming you with additional Hiss Passengers. You’ll have to dispose of the Passengers exposed on both sides of the bus before executing this Transporter in a glorious and fulfilling explosion.
Despite my hatred of these bus fights (pun intended) from a play perspective, I can’t help but love the idea and imagery. The Hiss Transporter is a simple concept that is executed majestically, and it’s only one of many examples of how developer Remedy Entertainment turns familiar objects and items into something fantastical.
The first Control game established the concepts of Altered Items and Objects of Power, which are essentially ordinary objects imbued with special (and often dangerous) properties. It’s an idea that goes all the way back to Alan Wake and the Clicker, an ordinary light switch that becomes all-important to the story. One of the more famous Altered Items in Control was the center of a side quest, which followed an agent who had to continuously stare at a refrigerator that would become dangerous when it wasn’t observed. The main story also features a seemingly normal floppy disk that becomes corrupted by the Hiss and leaves a trail of death before being pacified. Prominent in the backstory of Control protagonists Jesse and Dylan Faden is a slide projector that opens doorways to other dimensions–an ability that often foments chaos and havoc, as it did when it released the Hiss into the Oldest House.
