If the story was operating on the same level as the visuals and the atmosphere, Control would be a game of the century contender
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As it stands, Control is a visual masterpiece with engaging combat and a nicely done, gradual buildup to an earned power fantasy but it is let down heavily by the plot and it's protagonist.
I should say, Jesse Faden is not a BAD heroine (i do love me some badass, no-nonsense good-girls) but in the brutalist, bureaucratic, blood-red power play she just doesn't get her time to shine and is constantly overshadowed by characters not even present on screen. The story balances plot of circumstance and selfish drive relatively well up until the third act but then fails to explain too much and can't anchor the conclusion to it's main character like Alan Wake did all those years ago.
In fact, Control is a mirror image of Alan Wake in a lot of ways. While the former takes place in bureaucratic, twisted hellscape, the latter's setting is an eerie forest, surrounded by natural beauty. While Alan Wake struggles to wrangle the events set in motion supposedly by himself, Jesse Faden arrives with determination and is barely phased by all the weird sh*t going on. While Alan Wake can almost be categorised as a survival-horror, Control is and action-TPS. While the first has janky combat and awkward traversal, the second is responsive, snappy and addictive in it's gameplay. What they share is atmospheric storytelling, reliant on finding out many mysteries. However no amount of fascinating, ambiguous lore can make up for the barebones narrative and a blandly written main character.
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As it stands, Control is a visual masterpiece with engaging combat and a nicely done, gradual buildup to an earned power fantasy but it is let down heavily by the plot and it's protagonist.
I should say, Jesse Faden is not a BAD heroine (i do love me some badass, no-nonsense good-girls) but in the brutalist, bureaucratic, blood-red power play she just doesn't get her time to shine and is constantly overshadowed by characters not even present on screen. The story balances plot of circumstance and selfish drive relatively well up until the third act but then fails to explain too much and can't anchor the conclusion to it's main character like Alan Wake did all those years ago.
In fact, Control is a mirror image of Alan Wake in a lot of ways. While the former takes place in bureaucratic, twisted hellscape, the latter's setting is an eerie forest, surrounded by natural beauty. While Alan Wake struggles to wrangle the events set in motion supposedly by himself, Jesse Faden arrives with determination and is barely phased by all the weird sh*t going on. While Alan Wake can almost be categorised as a survival-horror, Control is and action-TPS. While the first has janky combat and awkward traversal, the second is responsive, snappy and addictive in it's gameplay. What they share is atmospheric storytelling, reliant on finding out many mysteries. However no amount of fascinating, ambiguous lore can make up for the barebones narrative and a blandly written main character.