10 Times Video Games Made You Fight Yourself
2. Essej (Control)
Control is a game which prefers to
throw large waves of enemies at you rather than lavish bespoke boss fights,
although there are a few exceptions.
The best example occurs during the “Self-Reflection” side-mission.
Our protagonist, Jesse Faden, enters another dimension after interacting with one of the Bureau of Control’s altered items: an everyday object imbued with strange power - in this case, a mirror.
Inside the mirror dimension, Jesse notices her reflection’s movements not matching her own, and soon Jesse’s evil double, esseJ, breaks free and attacks.
Jesse is immensely powerful by this point in the game having unlocked the ability to levitate, hurl objects telekinetically, and create shields from thin air. So, as esseJ has identical abilities, it’s no surprise she’s one of the game’s hardest encounters.
It’s an enjoyable boss fight, and an example of Control hiding a lot of its best content outside of the main missions. Some of the side-missions are little more than fetch quests, but there’s also plenty of gems like the above mission.