The faults scattered across New York City in Control Resonant are the backbone of the "Search for Jesse" main story quest, and most players expect each one to hand over a shiny new traversal ability. The Underpass Fault breaks that pattern entirely, and knowing what you're walking into before you get there saves a lot of confusion.
Why faults matter more than fast travel
Faults function as portals into an abstract dimension, and completing them is how Dylan (the protagonist you're playing as) pieces together what happened to Jesse Faden, the hero from the original Control. The loop is simple on paper: find a fault, complete it, earn a traversal ability that opens up more of the city. Double-Jump, Elevate, and Rush come from the prologue fault. Shift lets you walk on vertical roads and upside-down buildings. Reach launches you at translucent orbs on rooftops and walls.
Those abilities aren't cosmetic. Vertical roads and floating orbs block off entire sections of the map until you have the right power to pass them. Here's the thing: the Underpass Fault sits at the end of that progression chain, and it plays by different rules.
Finding the Underpass Fault in Tubes Island
The fault is tucked at the end of a tunnel at the bottom of Tubes Island, in the northwest corner of the Underpass zone. Approach from the north side of the island and look for an opening cut into the side of a large pillar. Follow the path straight through to the end and you'll reach the fault.
The location is easy to miss if you're approaching Tubes Island from the wrong angle. The entrance sits at ground level, not elevated, so players who've been using Shift and Reach to traverse rooftops might walk right past it.
What the Underpass Fault actually gives you
No traversal ability drops here. The Underpass Fault skips the mechanical reward entirely and delivers story content instead, filling in more of Dylan's past and pushing the "Search for Jesse" quest forward in a meaningful way.
The decision to withhold a mechanical reward here is deliberate. By the time you reach Tubes Island, you've already got enough movement tools to navigate most of the map. Swapping the ability unlock for a lore payoff keeps the fault from feeling like a box-ticking exercise and ties it more directly to the narrative.
The bigger picture for explorers
Control Resonant's fault system is a smart piece of game design because it conditions players to expect a specific reward loop, then uses that expectation to land a story beat harder. The Underpass Fault is the clearest example of Remedy Entertainment subverting the pattern they built.
For players working through the "Search for Jesse" quest in order, the Underpass Fault is not optional content. Complete it and move forward. The story information it provides is the reward, and it sets up what comes next in the main quest.
For a full breakdown of every fault, ability, and exploration tip across all zones, the Control guides collection has you covered as Remedy continues to expand the game's content.
