I’ve been blundering my way through the CONTROL game, until I came up against one of those seemingly impossible to crack puzzles: I need to get to Black Rock Processing in the Maintenance Sector to move the story forward. That’s not an easy feat. I’ll tell you where I got stuck, and how I eventually got it, and how I worked it out.
We start our journey at the Sector Elevator and head down to the Maintenance Sector. From here we move forward into a room with four exits, one of which reads Black Rock Processing, on the left. These were all blocked by The Hiss earlier, but thankfully we rectified this.
A few minor goons are waiting for us, we deal with them and pass through the Security Check gates and on to a heavy looking tripe door mechanism that opens automatically as we approach. We’ve seen a smilier mechanism on our way to the Ashtray Maze, however this time the bridge that should probably get us to the other side is missing. All we see is a gap too wide to cross.
Lacking any hovering or flying abilities, I thought perhaps I’m in the wrong section. There’s also the Black Rock Quarry to which we can get using the Sector Elevator down to the Maintenance Sector Access Corridor, then through the NSC Control Room and on to that rather rickety looking elevator to the third level. However, an access clearance Level 5 is needed to enter, so that’s not the way to go either. Besides, that’s not Black Rock Processing – it’s the Quarry after all.
So how do we get to Black Rock Processing then? By not following the signs of course! When we look to our left in the scary dark room above, we can see an intact bridge connecting to the other side. Logic dictates that if we try to reach it, we might find another way over.
Let’s leave the room and turn right, then up the stairs and into the Turbine Room. Looks like it’s another telekinetic cube puzzle that needs our attention. One cube is already in its place, another one is across and behind the deadly spinning turbines. That one is easy to place. There is a third one however, but we can’t see it from here. We have to jump over those deadly turbines with a another telekinetic trick, namely a combination of jumping and lunging forward.
If you don’t make it, you’ll incur some damage and fall into the room below. If you’re successful, you’ll land on the other side. That’s where you want to be! Before you do, grab a couple of those glowing cubes and hurl them over to the other side. You’ll need them there.
Jump over, then garb a cube and go up the stairs to yet another turbine ravine, across which is the empty slot for that elusive third cube. Pop it in and jump across this deadly turbine too, using the same trick as above.
Now head forward through the orange ring light and you’ll see a strangely familiar cord. Pull it three times to get to…
The Oceanview Motel
We’ve played a similar puzzle to this one before. It involves the bell at the reception desk. Remember the sign that said “rule of three applies”? It still applies in the motel, but there’s a slight twist to the puzzle. If you’re like me, I’m sure you’d like to work this one out yourself. I’ll tel you the solution underneath the screenshot.
Here’s how this works:
- press the bell once to open the first room
- press it again to open both rooms
- press it a third time to open all three rooms (if you solved the puzzle correctly)
When the first two rooms open, you’ll notice that you can move certain objects in the second room. Like the chair, the radio, the picture and a plant behind the door. Compare the position of all items in the first room and move them to the same position in the second room, probably to put the rooms in synchronicity. If you’ve placed the objects just right, a creepy sound will play (very subtly mind you). Now go back to the bell and press it again to open all three rooms.
Grab the key on the desk from the third room at the end of the hallway and open the Black Pyramid Door with it. As we would expect, this room also has a pull cord on the ceiling, just behind it we’ll find Jesse standing in the position she just did before arriving here at the motel. Creepy!
Pull the cord three times and you’ll end up back in the same position seen in the motel painting. This time whoever, the bridge from the Black Rock Processing door is extended and we can walk across. Nice! We can get there via a convenient corridor that drops us down after the Security Check gate, but it’s a fall from very high so it’ll lead to some damage. Or we can retrace our steps, jump across those turbines again – up to you.
And that’s how we get to Black Rock Processing.
Should you decide to buy CONTROL, or anything else from the EPIC Store (including Unreal Assets), and if you found this helpful, please enter my EPIC Creator Code JAY-VERSLUIS at checkout. It’ll get me a small commission.