A strong contender for my favorite game of all time. Played it 2 years ago when it first came out, but playing it again was just as amazing, maybe even more so since this time since I played it on PS5 and not only did it run at a stable frame rate, but the ray-tracing graphics enhanced the experience even more. One of the best looking games I've ever played without a doubt.
What do you get when you mix the SCP Foundation with X-Files and Twin Peaks add some Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror, a whole hell of a lot of Jungian psychology (Archetypes, collective unconsciousness, synchronicity etc) and have David Lynch direct it? One of the most unique and ambitious games of not only last gen, but of all time AKA Control, that's what you get.
It's very rare, but every once in awhile comes an artistic vision so grand, so deep and so unique that it just leaves a massive impact on me months, even years later after I first experienced it. Control is one of those times. I played this game back on PS4 when it was first released, beat it multiple times and then when the first expansion was released I came back to it and played through it again and still it was just as amazing as the first time. Hell, I love the game so much that I bought it on Steam just so I could post a review of it and also bought multiple copies for friends as gifts.
The characters are great and super memorable especially the protagonist Jesse Faden (Serious gf material) which has that kind of sarcastic wit and weirdness that reminds me of a cross between Fox Mulder and Dale Cooper with some Buffy Summers in there as well or the eccentric mad scientist type that Casper Darling is or the quirky Finnish janitor Ahti (Without going into spoilers Ahti is much more than meets the eye). The voice acting performances by Courtney Hope, Matthew Porretta and Martti Suosalo among others are all top notch and really help bring these characters to life.
While the core story itself is fairly simple, the themes, concepts and world around it is anything but and truly unlike anything else out there in video games. The world that Sam Lake and Remedy crafted with this game is just so genuinely fascinating I was always excited when I found another document or piece of flavor text that expanded upon it. It's rare I read all those documents in games, but I always find myself doing so with Remedy games because their worlds and characters are so interesting and well written they always leave me awestruck. Another fact to note is that Control is in a shared universe with Remedy's other classic Alan Wake (And there are many hints to it being in the same universe as Max Payne and Quantum Break as well) Remedy have basically made their own interconnected universe akin to Marvel and I'm all for it.
Also something I have to point out and I don't see many people mention is how Control is a pretty big love letter to H.P. Lovecraft and cosmic horror (however not in the conventional sense), due to it being modern and having its own unique lore and characters instead of using his I feel like most people don't pick up on this, but if you pay attention to the story, world and all the lore (Especially the videologs) it's easy to see this is a Lovecraftian game in every sense of the word and It's also got a very abstract, artsy vibe to the cut-scenes and special effects, not too far off from what you'd see David Lynch do and these two major components meld very well together I must say.
Despite being one of my fave games of all time, I won't say it's 100% perfect. Yeah the game has its fair share of technical problems on older hardware (Runs perfect on PS5 though) and there are minor design issues like not much enemy variety, annoying RNG weapon mod drops etc, but I enjoy everything else so much that these flaws are completely insignificant to me.
The combat system is incredible and lots of fun, especially when you get into a nice rhythm with it and start chaining together all your different powers for cool combos using all these awesome psychic powers from telekinesis, mind control, creating shields out of debris around you, levitation and air dashes and the gunplay is also quite different, seeing as how you only have one real weapon, but it can shapeshift into different forms. Even just exploring every inch of the FBC to uncover more of its history and unravel the mysteries it holds was always thrilling. I'm a sucker for that metroidvania style sense of progression, being able to backtrack when you get a new power that unlocks a new secret area or a whole new section of the map never gets old to me.
Even though the game itself is very short taking the average player about 15 hours to finish, I got more enjoyment out of those 15 hours I spent with Control than most games I spend 30-40 hours in. Also it's pretty rare I decide to replay a game right after beating it, but I always find myself doing this with Remedy's masterpieces, Control being no exception. I played through this game 5 times in full and never got bored of it.
Oh and I could gush about the scenery and art design for hours, it takes a LOT of artistic creativity to make a story take place entirely in one setting and do it well, but due to 'The Oldest House' being a building in constant quantum flux and shifting between different dimensional planes of reality Remedy really utilized that concept well.
All in all I highly recommend Control to anyone looking for a very interesting more modern take on the surreal, psychological, cosmic horror style with an incredibly well built world or for anyone who has always wanted to live out their fantasies as being an ESPer who fights extra-dimensional beings, you won't be disappointed.
What do you get when you mix the SCP Foundation with X-Files and Twin Peaks add some Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror, a whole hell of a lot of Jungian psychology (Archetypes, collective unconsciousness, synchronicity etc) and have David Lynch direct it? One of the most unique and ambitious games of not only last gen, but of all time AKA Control, that's what you get.
It's very rare, but every once in awhile comes an artistic vision so grand, so deep and so unique that it just leaves a massive impact on me months, even years later after I first experienced it. Control is one of those times. I played this game back on PS4 when it was first released, beat it multiple times and then when the first expansion was released I came back to it and played through it again and still it was just as amazing as the first time. Hell, I love the game so much that I bought it on Steam just so I could post a review of it and also bought multiple copies for friends as gifts.
The characters are great and super memorable especially the protagonist Jesse Faden (Serious gf material) which has that kind of sarcastic wit and weirdness that reminds me of a cross between Fox Mulder and Dale Cooper with some Buffy Summers in there as well or the eccentric mad scientist type that Casper Darling is or the quirky Finnish janitor Ahti (Without going into spoilers Ahti is much more than meets the eye). The voice acting performances by Courtney Hope, Matthew Porretta and Martti Suosalo among others are all top notch and really help bring these characters to life.
While the core story itself is fairly simple, the themes, concepts and world around it is anything but and truly unlike anything else out there in video games. The world that Sam Lake and Remedy crafted with this game is just so genuinely fascinating I was always excited when I found another document or piece of flavor text that expanded upon it. It's rare I read all those documents in games, but I always find myself doing so with Remedy games because their worlds and characters are so interesting and well written they always leave me awestruck. Another fact to note is that Control is in a shared universe with Remedy's other classic Alan Wake (And there are many hints to it being in the same universe as Max Payne and Quantum Break as well) Remedy have basically made their own interconnected universe akin to Marvel and I'm all for it.
Also something I have to point out and I don't see many people mention is how Control is a pretty big love letter to H.P. Lovecraft and cosmic horror (however not in the conventional sense), due to it being modern and having its own unique lore and characters instead of using his I feel like most people don't pick up on this, but if you pay attention to the story, world and all the lore (Especially the videologs) it's easy to see this is a Lovecraftian game in every sense of the word and It's also got a very abstract, artsy vibe to the cut-scenes and special effects, not too far off from what you'd see David Lynch do and these two major components meld very well together I must say.
Despite being one of my fave games of all time, I won't say it's 100% perfect. Yeah the game has its fair share of technical problems on older hardware (Runs perfect on PS5 though) and there are minor design issues like not much enemy variety, annoying RNG weapon mod drops etc, but I enjoy everything else so much that these flaws are completely insignificant to me.
The combat system is incredible and lots of fun, especially when you get into a nice rhythm with it and start chaining together all your different powers for cool combos using all these awesome psychic powers from telekinesis, mind control, creating shields out of debris around you, levitation and air dashes and the gunplay is also quite different, seeing as how you only have one real weapon, but it can shapeshift into different forms. Even just exploring every inch of the FBC to uncover more of its history and unravel the mysteries it holds was always thrilling. I'm a sucker for that metroidvania style sense of progression, being able to backtrack when you get a new power that unlocks a new secret area or a whole new section of the map never gets old to me.
Even though the game itself is very short taking the average player about 15 hours to finish, I got more enjoyment out of those 15 hours I spent with Control than most games I spend 30-40 hours in. Also it's pretty rare I decide to replay a game right after beating it, but I always find myself doing this with Remedy's masterpieces, Control being no exception. I played through this game 5 times in full and never got bored of it.
Oh and I could gush about the scenery and art design for hours, it takes a LOT of artistic creativity to make a story take place entirely in one setting and do it well, but due to 'The Oldest House' being a building in constant quantum flux and shifting between different dimensional planes of reality Remedy really utilized that concept well.
All in all I highly recommend Control to anyone looking for a very interesting more modern take on the surreal, psychological, cosmic horror style with an incredibly well built world or for anyone who has always wanted to live out their fantasies as being an ESPer who fights extra-dimensional beings, you won't be disappointed.