There's a lot to love about this game, namely the presentation as well as the gameplay, which complement each other to make Control a fun game despite its setbacks. I've enjoyed all of Remedy's games up to this point, going back to Death Rally and Max Payne 1 & 2, and more recently Alan Wake 1. The common element in all of their games since then has been an attention to strong gameplay and style. Max Payne had great Bullet Time gameplay with a confident Noir style, Alan Wake channeled the energy of Twin Peaks into a new idea with unique combat. Alan Wake 1 felt like it focused more on the narrative than the combat, while Max Payne 1 & 2 felt like a solid balance of combat and narrative, so I didn't know what to expect with Control. I'd say Control leans into having both strong combat with a complex (and often confusing) story.
In terms of story, it definitely benefits from reading the collectibles throughout the game, though it's not necessary, I don't know how you're supposed to understand this story without them. Even with being thorough in reading what I found, there were parts of the narrative that I didn't fully understand, though I feel like some of this mystery helps the game, since the game gives the FBC this aura of a super secretive government organization that works with forces and beings beyond our understanding. It's a really cool setting, and slowly learning and understanding how this agency works is really fascinating.
This setting of a federal agency that works with and studies anomalies that have terrifying properties is amplified by the amazing presentation of this game. I played with high settings and RTX on, and the world you play in this game perfectly encapsulates that feeling of oppressing bureaucracy, with the sharp contrasts of blood reds with harsh concrete. INSPIRED CHOICE to make the choice to basically BAN modern tech in this building, the old-style of office spaces adds so much to the game visually.
The game is loaded to the brim with props and objects that really make the world feel alive, but the star of the show is definitely the physics and insane interactability of these props. Almost everything that isn't nailed down can be moved and has different destruction behavior depending on if its shot, blown up, or thrown. The abilities you have are so much more impactful just from how objects fall apart or move around you.
The selling point of this game is the abilities that let you manipulate objects at a whim, and it's so impressive how well they're done. Throwing objects feels great with the aforementioned object interactability, and dashing tears through windows and obstacles adds speed and power to your movements. Some of the abilities such the ground pound and your melee attack feel weak even at the start, all of your abilities can be upgraded or enhanced with modifiers you find in the game, and I'm a bit more critical of this system.
Control has elements of a metroidvania, where you slowly get upgrades for existing abilities as well as new ones, which can open up locations in parts of the map, though this doesn't come up often, as it feels like many of the barriers to new areas end up being the levels of the enemies making some fights feel impossible without doing the side quests. Lots of the side quests are unique and fun, though there are also plenty of side quests that are just busywork, and it can feel frustrating to have the pacing of the main story get interrupted by having to farm ability points. I would've enjoyed fewer side quests that gave larger rewards and were higher quality.
The ability points system works and is fine for what is it, though I feel like the costs of some of the upgrades discouraged speccing into paths like melee or levitation since they have a high cost of entry for seemingly low stat boosts. The mod system feel a bit weak too, since many of the high-level mods boil down to "energy refund from getting kill with x ability or weapon", the only ones a felt were worth using were mods that enhanced damage, fire rate, or energy usage, basically mods with basic stat boosts. The mods with more complex stat boosts would've benefited from higher bonuses for using them than the basic mod boosts I feel.
Looking at the service weapon, the two-weapon limit is reasonable considering how many combat options you have at any time with your abilities, the service weapon works best when used in conjunction with your abilities, and being able to change and modify your gun modes makes experimentation much easier and accessible. Abilities and your gun use independent ammo counts, so you get more flexibility in combat which feels fair with how enemies and overwhelm you if you don't manage your energy or ammo. The gun modes Pierce and Spin felt lackluster compared to Grip and Shatter, and I ended up using the latter two for most of my playthrough. Grip can fill the roll of middle and long range, while Shatter can become really powerful with the right mods, while Pierce felt restricted by the long windup and very limited ammo, and Spin is only really usable up close, but Shatter feels much more reliable up close since it's just a shotgun, it can stun and two-tap basic enemies where Spin feels weak unless you spec into accuracy and recoil mods. I did not get to use Charge since I did not get enough of the materials to craft, which the material and crafting system is a whole other issue.
You upgrade and craft weapons and mods with resources you collect throughout the game, and many of these essential resources are only dropped by specific enemies and sometimes only in specific floors of the Old House. I don't have a problem with this necessarily, but the way it's implemented means there will be one or more resource types that are only dropped by one enemy type in one area of the map, and you aren't told where to find these unless you check your resource menu and look at what you need, and you'll seemingly only get this info if you have at least one of this resource in your inventory, so I would be confused about why I have 30 of one resource type and none of the one I need. If resources more easily told you where to find them, this would be less of a issue, though I feel like these resources should be relegated to powerful upgrades as opposed to your basic weapons. Crafting mods felt like it was pointless for the most part, since by the time I upgraded my mod crafting to max level, I already have a full 3 slots of level 5 mods on my weapons and personal mod slots. I don't know if it would've been better to have just cut this menu from the game, or make crafting mods easier and letting you craft higher level mods sooner.
This leveling system for abilities and guns affects how fights with enemies play out, where if you're overleveled enemies will get BTFO or if you're underleveled everything will feel like a bulletsponge. Control usually does a decent job at making sure you enter most firefights at a level playing field with the enemies in an area, though I was playing the deluxe edition with both DLCs, so it's easy to be sidetracked by the missions these DLCs offer and either get crushed or level up a ton and make the main story combat feel too easy. Being overleveled isn't too much of an issue, since it helps sell the power your abilities and weapons have, but being underleveled feels awful.
Enemies in this game are mixed bag for me, I was expecting them to be more disfigured and otherworldly based on what The Hiss is described as, and while some enemies lean into the body horror that I was expecting, lots of the enemies are indistinguishable from friendly soldiers you sometimes fight with. It can also be difficult to differentiate different enemy soldier types, since being able to tell the difference between rocket launcher soldiers and regular soldiers has often been was separates me from living or dying in Control. Particle effects and debris flying everywhere hampered readability somewhat, though I think this could've been alleviated by taking a page out of what HALO does and give soldiers bolder colored uniforms and giving them better silhouettes. I do like how the enemies are designed in terms of their uniforms, heavy soldiers look really cool with the heavy armor, and the basic enemy soldiers have cool designs for their uniforms, though because of how much stuff is going to be flying in your face during combat you probably won't get much of an opportunity to appreciate their designs.
Music feels like it was made to enhance the mood of the Old House, though I think it adds to the mysteriousness and oppression you can feel in combat and just walking around. There's a large presence of thundering drums and shrill sounds, I wouldn't say it's catchy per se but it makes combat feel tense and makes the offices in this game feel eerie.
I think what sells me on this game is it's confidence in its periodic campiness. Remedy games always have this humor to their stories that make them feel more engaging, and I enjoyed this the most in Alan Wake, it just adds SO much character to their games, it's great. Control has so many live action recordings like Alan Wake that it's so easy to see the love the creators had for this game. I don't want to spoil too much of what you see, but it adds so much to the world and game itself.
Control has some aspects and system that can hamper the combat and pacing of the game, and while I have many issues with Contol's systems as listed above, these issues are close to being nitpicks in the grand scheme of the game. Control is absolutely worth playing whether or not you're familiar with Remedy's back catalog, since it's mostly a contained story with SOME ties to Alan Wake, but you can still understand the story either way. If you have a current-gen console or a powerful PC, the game will look gorgeous and impress you with how dynamic the combat can be. I just wish they had a way to record demos like how you can in Source games and Halo, since it feels so satisfying watching how objects get deformed and flung everywhere. If they expand on the combat and abilities in a future game or sequel I would love to see more focus and expansion of the abilities and movement. PLAY THIS DAMN GAME
In terms of story, it definitely benefits from reading the collectibles throughout the game, though it's not necessary, I don't know how you're supposed to understand this story without them. Even with being thorough in reading what I found, there were parts of the narrative that I didn't fully understand, though I feel like some of this mystery helps the game, since the game gives the FBC this aura of a super secretive government organization that works with forces and beings beyond our understanding. It's a really cool setting, and slowly learning and understanding how this agency works is really fascinating.
This setting of a federal agency that works with and studies anomalies that have terrifying properties is amplified by the amazing presentation of this game. I played with high settings and RTX on, and the world you play in this game perfectly encapsulates that feeling of oppressing bureaucracy, with the sharp contrasts of blood reds with harsh concrete. INSPIRED CHOICE to make the choice to basically BAN modern tech in this building, the old-style of office spaces adds so much to the game visually.
The game is loaded to the brim with props and objects that really make the world feel alive, but the star of the show is definitely the physics and insane interactability of these props. Almost everything that isn't nailed down can be moved and has different destruction behavior depending on if its shot, blown up, or thrown. The abilities you have are so much more impactful just from how objects fall apart or move around you.
The selling point of this game is the abilities that let you manipulate objects at a whim, and it's so impressive how well they're done. Throwing objects feels great with the aforementioned object interactability, and dashing tears through windows and obstacles adds speed and power to your movements. Some of the abilities such the ground pound and your melee attack feel weak even at the start, all of your abilities can be upgraded or enhanced with modifiers you find in the game, and I'm a bit more critical of this system.
Control has elements of a metroidvania, where you slowly get upgrades for existing abilities as well as new ones, which can open up locations in parts of the map, though this doesn't come up often, as it feels like many of the barriers to new areas end up being the levels of the enemies making some fights feel impossible without doing the side quests. Lots of the side quests are unique and fun, though there are also plenty of side quests that are just busywork, and it can feel frustrating to have the pacing of the main story get interrupted by having to farm ability points. I would've enjoyed fewer side quests that gave larger rewards and were higher quality.
The ability points system works and is fine for what is it, though I feel like the costs of some of the upgrades discouraged speccing into paths like melee or levitation since they have a high cost of entry for seemingly low stat boosts. The mod system feel a bit weak too, since many of the high-level mods boil down to "energy refund from getting kill with x ability or weapon", the only ones a felt were worth using were mods that enhanced damage, fire rate, or energy usage, basically mods with basic stat boosts. The mods with more complex stat boosts would've benefited from higher bonuses for using them than the basic mod boosts I feel.
Looking at the service weapon, the two-weapon limit is reasonable considering how many combat options you have at any time with your abilities, the service weapon works best when used in conjunction with your abilities, and being able to change and modify your gun modes makes experimentation much easier and accessible. Abilities and your gun use independent ammo counts, so you get more flexibility in combat which feels fair with how enemies and overwhelm you if you don't manage your energy or ammo. The gun modes Pierce and Spin felt lackluster compared to Grip and Shatter, and I ended up using the latter two for most of my playthrough. Grip can fill the roll of middle and long range, while Shatter can become really powerful with the right mods, while Pierce felt restricted by the long windup and very limited ammo, and Spin is only really usable up close, but Shatter feels much more reliable up close since it's just a shotgun, it can stun and two-tap basic enemies where Spin feels weak unless you spec into accuracy and recoil mods. I did not get to use Charge since I did not get enough of the materials to craft, which the material and crafting system is a whole other issue.
You upgrade and craft weapons and mods with resources you collect throughout the game, and many of these essential resources are only dropped by specific enemies and sometimes only in specific floors of the Old House. I don't have a problem with this necessarily, but the way it's implemented means there will be one or more resource types that are only dropped by one enemy type in one area of the map, and you aren't told where to find these unless you check your resource menu and look at what you need, and you'll seemingly only get this info if you have at least one of this resource in your inventory, so I would be confused about why I have 30 of one resource type and none of the one I need. If resources more easily told you where to find them, this would be less of a issue, though I feel like these resources should be relegated to powerful upgrades as opposed to your basic weapons. Crafting mods felt like it was pointless for the most part, since by the time I upgraded my mod crafting to max level, I already have a full 3 slots of level 5 mods on my weapons and personal mod slots. I don't know if it would've been better to have just cut this menu from the game, or make crafting mods easier and letting you craft higher level mods sooner.
This leveling system for abilities and guns affects how fights with enemies play out, where if you're overleveled enemies will get BTFO or if you're underleveled everything will feel like a bulletsponge. Control usually does a decent job at making sure you enter most firefights at a level playing field with the enemies in an area, though I was playing the deluxe edition with both DLCs, so it's easy to be sidetracked by the missions these DLCs offer and either get crushed or level up a ton and make the main story combat feel too easy. Being overleveled isn't too much of an issue, since it helps sell the power your abilities and weapons have, but being underleveled feels awful.
Enemies in this game are mixed bag for me, I was expecting them to be more disfigured and otherworldly based on what The Hiss is described as, and while some enemies lean into the body horror that I was expecting, lots of the enemies are indistinguishable from friendly soldiers you sometimes fight with. It can also be difficult to differentiate different enemy soldier types, since being able to tell the difference between rocket launcher soldiers and regular soldiers has often been was separates me from living or dying in Control. Particle effects and debris flying everywhere hampered readability somewhat, though I think this could've been alleviated by taking a page out of what HALO does and give soldiers bolder colored uniforms and giving them better silhouettes. I do like how the enemies are designed in terms of their uniforms, heavy soldiers look really cool with the heavy armor, and the basic enemy soldiers have cool designs for their uniforms, though because of how much stuff is going to be flying in your face during combat you probably won't get much of an opportunity to appreciate their designs.
Music feels like it was made to enhance the mood of the Old House, though I think it adds to the mysteriousness and oppression you can feel in combat and just walking around. There's a large presence of thundering drums and shrill sounds, I wouldn't say it's catchy per se but it makes combat feel tense and makes the offices in this game feel eerie.
I think what sells me on this game is it's confidence in its periodic campiness. Remedy games always have this humor to their stories that make them feel more engaging, and I enjoyed this the most in Alan Wake, it just adds SO much character to their games, it's great. Control has so many live action recordings like Alan Wake that it's so easy to see the love the creators had for this game. I don't want to spoil too much of what you see, but it adds so much to the world and game itself.
Control has some aspects and system that can hamper the combat and pacing of the game, and while I have many issues with Contol's systems as listed above, these issues are close to being nitpicks in the grand scheme of the game. Control is absolutely worth playing whether or not you're familiar with Remedy's back catalog, since it's mostly a contained story with SOME ties to Alan Wake, but you can still understand the story either way. If you have a current-gen console or a powerful PC, the game will look gorgeous and impress you with how dynamic the combat can be. I just wish they had a way to record demos like how you can in Source games and Halo, since it feels so satisfying watching how objects get deformed and flung everywhere. If they expand on the combat and abilities in a future game or sequel I would love to see more focus and expansion of the abilities and movement. PLAY THIS DAMN GAME