Rate top gamesToo much of a shooter. There are only five psychic powers that are acquired pretty spread out through the game. Launch is great, helped by how much of the environment is interactive, Evade could have been a regular dodge but it's fine, Shield is ok after you upgrade it a bit, Seize (controlling weak enemies) is also ok after you upgrade it a bit, and Levitate. And that's it. The rest of the game is a shooter supplemented by Launch. Zoom in to aim that every game after RE4 has done, crouch behind cover every once in a while, and shoot boring guys with guns (some have shields, some have grenades that you can Launch (after you upgrade), some fly and you can't really see them at first) with either your pistol, shotgun, SMG, grenade launcher, or Pierce that fills that "slow but powerful" archetype, somewhat of a sniper if you upgrade it right.
RPG mechanics feel more like bloat than interesting: there are upgrades ("mods") that feel more minor than anything, too much crafting material that you have to grind for, skill points that are mostly stat boosts, and side quests that are mostly backtracking.
The shooty bits are mostly bland. What I said above about weapon types; most combat encounters lock you in an arena and have you kill a bunch of the same mooks over and over; bosses are either "shoot the weak spot" or bullet sponges with no in between; the screen is messy and only gets worse (the red filter of "hurt" makes you unable to see the red of the enemies) the more hurt you get, made worse by playing such a physically weak character; and the map is open somewhat like a Metroidvania without the abilities or recontextualized backtracking that makes those games great, instead focused on just getting a new key in a cutscene that opens new doors that you have to backtrack through messy repetitive hallways and respawning boring gun enemies to open, all to get one of those boring upgrades I mentioned above.
Really wasted potential in my mind. Being in a government facility is a cool, unique setting (though I won't really get into how on-the-nose "Federal Bureau of Control" or how played out the "government is keeping secrets from us" conspiracy story is), but you end up wandering aimlessly around bland, messy, repetitive hallways with little-to-no signposting. The psychic powers are cool, but they can't decide if the game is a psychic physics game or third-person shooter so it's a bland version of both. I don't like the plain gun-wielding enemies but they would have been a lot more interesting if you didn't play as a person with a gun! The aesthetic is really cool and they put a ton of thought into it, but they use that to tell a boring X-Files third-person shooter rip-off that we've all seen a thousand times before.
Also that framerate really kills me. And weirdly only slows down when I unpause.
RPG mechanics feel more like bloat than interesting: there are upgrades ("mods") that feel more minor than anything, too much crafting material that you have to grind for, skill points that are mostly stat boosts, and side quests that are mostly backtracking.
The shooty bits are mostly bland. What I said above about weapon types; most combat encounters lock you in an arena and have you kill a bunch of the same mooks over and over; bosses are either "shoot the weak spot" or bullet sponges with no in between; the screen is messy and only gets worse (the red filter of "hurt" makes you unable to see the red of the enemies) the more hurt you get, made worse by playing such a physically weak character; and the map is open somewhat like a Metroidvania without the abilities or recontextualized backtracking that makes those games great, instead focused on just getting a new key in a cutscene that opens new doors that you have to backtrack through messy repetitive hallways and respawning boring gun enemies to open, all to get one of those boring upgrades I mentioned above.
Really wasted potential in my mind. Being in a government facility is a cool, unique setting (though I won't really get into how on-the-nose "Federal Bureau of Control" or how played out the "government is keeping secrets from us" conspiracy story is), but you end up wandering aimlessly around bland, messy, repetitive hallways with little-to-no signposting. The psychic powers are cool, but they can't decide if the game is a psychic physics game or third-person shooter so it's a bland version of both. I don't like the plain gun-wielding enemies but they would have been a lot more interesting if you didn't play as a person with a gun! The aesthetic is really cool and they put a ton of thought into it, but they use that to tell a boring X-Files third-person shooter rip-off that we've all seen a thousand times before.
Also that framerate really kills me. And weirdly only slows down when I unpause.
«Disappointment of the year»
«Boooring»
Other reviews28
As a huge art-house film fan, I imagine this is probably how my friends feel when I strongly encourage them to watch a film that shook me to my core that they can acknowledge it's made very well, but completely does not affect them. Control, on paper, is a great stylistic and thematic game. But the dull venues, repetitive combat and frustrating side missions through me off of it. The good news is I played it for Free thanks to PS+ and maybe someday I'll come back to it.
Definitely worth a go. Was glad it came onto gamepass as it was on my 'to play' list for a while. Really interesting setting and execution. Combat is decent but very frustrating at times. I can see why they added 'assist' mode and without it I probably would have rage quit long before the end.
Really enjoyed the narrative and MC though and the Ashtray maze was definitely a highlight.
Tried this because it was on PSN and I only had 15 days to beat it. I played it every day to the point where the world started popping up in my dreams. Intuitive gameplay, haunting visual, story remains cohesive while dealing with supernatural elements. Really great.
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
Probably one of my favourite game ever. Everything is so cerebral and complicated and then they hit you in the face with the Ashtray Maze. Masterpiece
so dont expect a full package. Just expect a an arena shooter inside csp confiment facility and u will have a lot of fun. Some things are bad ( scenario, the fake promise of ending etc etc ....) but what is here it at least to do once. the environment will blew your mind at leats 10 time. The ambiance sound graphism acting all is top notch. (except scenario andf fighting). The only flaw of this game is maybe a the fighting system that can t be push too hard and it s kinda borring at some point but except that the scenario ( it sell really well but doesnt give any resolution ) and the last mission being underwelming the package is great. Remedy like always will play with you and that feeling is great and they totally know when to pull it or not. if it s your first remedy game go !!!!
«Blew my mind»
«OST on repeat»
It's ok. Very combat heavy, although the premise would allow for more imaginative solutions than shooting everything until problem is solved. The combat is fun, with the skills available and the environment getting demolished. There's just too much of it. There are a some puzzles, but they are few and far between. Great level design and memorable scenes at times.
Concise Review:
Amazing:
Great: Unique dynamic combat system that feels smooth. The atmosphere and visual style to the game including the amount of particle effects and physics is very well done.
Good: Story and background lore. The RPG mechanics are solid, simple, but do allow for some tough choices in what to upgrade, multiple builds exist that play pretty differently.
Fine: Enemy variety is a bit limited, borderline bad.
Bad: It is so easy to get lost. Checkpoints could be better organized or spaced out.
Awful: The map is pretty much useless, actually it’s worse than useless because it’s so misleading.
Journal Style Review:
Strong opening. Cool vibes. I’m already digging the mystery and the atmosphere of the game. I like breaking stuff. The particle effects are cool. Combat is visually pleasing because of it. It’s very satisfying.
I’m getting lost a lot. I find the map confusing. I need to stop looking at the map and look at the actual world more. I’m liking the combat though. This game has had a promising start. I just need to figure out how to navigate the world better.
The upgrade system seems relatively straightforward but effective. I like trying out the new guns and abilities and thinking about which perks and mods are best. The game appears to do a good job of letting you test out the guns and abilities and then focus on which suit you best through upgrades.
I’ve had multiple cutscenes where there is no audio so I have no idea what happened. That’s frustrating. Other than that the only other bugs I’ve dealt with are that the map doesn’t always load in, but I hate the map regardless.
Combat continues to improve. It’s the highlight of the game. The atmosphere of the game is still great but the story is a lot simpler than I expected it to be. It isn’t bad, but i thought there would be more. It felt like a story driven game at the start but I don’t think I’d call it story driven anymore. It’s gameplay and mechanics driven. If you want the full story you need to read a lot of the collectables. I’ve read a handful and some are interesting and well done, but reading papers found throughout a game has never been my thing.
I liked the story bit when she meets the brother. That was a good scene. The fungus areas and black quarry were great locations too. The locations and style and atmosphere to the game is still really good. I just hope we get a bit more details in the story. I hope it goes somewhere.
The fungus people seems suspiciously similar to TLOU. But hey, I like them so I’ll look the other way.
The game is still getting better for me. Im appreciating the different builds that you can do with this game. There are lots of different ways to allocate upgrades. I could see this game justifying a second play through.
The lore reading material is well done and I’m reading more of them than I typically would. I usually find the bonus reading material in games just messes up the game’s rhythm and takes away from my experience but in this one I am coming across tid bits that are interesting relatively often. It’s still not my preference for story telling though.
It’s slowly climbing the A- ranks, but still near the bottom.
The hotel bits aren’t that good. They are repetitive and unrewarding (so far).
The distorted credits scene I enjoyed. It came out of nowhere. There better be more to the campaign though.
The charge explosive pistol is so good once upgraded. I breezed threw the final fight. It wasn’t challenging at all. I don’t really understand the ending. I was liking the vibes of the final few missions I just don’t really understand what happened... I’m going to need to google.
I googled and I’m not that pleased with the ending. It’s too vague and lacks details, not super satisfying. That being said, overall I was still interested in the story the whole campaign. I just don’t think it lives up to its potential.
I do plan to beat a few more of the side quests. I want to play around in this world a bit more, which is always a good sign, but this game is going to finish as a low A-. It has the building blocks for an amazing game due to its gameplay and atmosphere but unfortunately it is also negatively affected by some quality of life issues, and the actual storyline doesn’t live up to the standard that the atmosphere and lore creates. I’m left wanting more.
Final Score: A-
Amazing:
Great: Unique dynamic combat system that feels smooth. The atmosphere and visual style to the game including the amount of particle effects and physics is very well done.
Good: Story and background lore. The RPG mechanics are solid, simple, but do allow for some tough choices in what to upgrade, multiple builds exist that play pretty differently.
Fine: Enemy variety is a bit limited, borderline bad.
Bad: It is so easy to get lost. Checkpoints could be better organized or spaced out.
Awful: The map is pretty much useless, actually it’s worse than useless because it’s so misleading.
Journal Style Review:
Strong opening. Cool vibes. I’m already digging the mystery and the atmosphere of the game. I like breaking stuff. The particle effects are cool. Combat is visually pleasing because of it. It’s very satisfying.
I’m getting lost a lot. I find the map confusing. I need to stop looking at the map and look at the actual world more. I’m liking the combat though. This game has had a promising start. I just need to figure out how to navigate the world better.
The upgrade system seems relatively straightforward but effective. I like trying out the new guns and abilities and thinking about which perks and mods are best. The game appears to do a good job of letting you test out the guns and abilities and then focus on which suit you best through upgrades.
I’ve had multiple cutscenes where there is no audio so I have no idea what happened. That’s frustrating. Other than that the only other bugs I’ve dealt with are that the map doesn’t always load in, but I hate the map regardless.
Combat continues to improve. It’s the highlight of the game. The atmosphere of the game is still great but the story is a lot simpler than I expected it to be. It isn’t bad, but i thought there would be more. It felt like a story driven game at the start but I don’t think I’d call it story driven anymore. It’s gameplay and mechanics driven. If you want the full story you need to read a lot of the collectables. I’ve read a handful and some are interesting and well done, but reading papers found throughout a game has never been my thing.
I liked the story bit when she meets the brother. That was a good scene. The fungus areas and black quarry were great locations too. The locations and style and atmosphere to the game is still really good. I just hope we get a bit more details in the story. I hope it goes somewhere.
The fungus people seems suspiciously similar to TLOU. But hey, I like them so I’ll look the other way.
The game is still getting better for me. Im appreciating the different builds that you can do with this game. There are lots of different ways to allocate upgrades. I could see this game justifying a second play through.
The lore reading material is well done and I’m reading more of them than I typically would. I usually find the bonus reading material in games just messes up the game’s rhythm and takes away from my experience but in this one I am coming across tid bits that are interesting relatively often. It’s still not my preference for story telling though.
It’s slowly climbing the A- ranks, but still near the bottom.
The hotel bits aren’t that good. They are repetitive and unrewarding (so far).
The distorted credits scene I enjoyed. It came out of nowhere. There better be more to the campaign though.
The charge explosive pistol is so good once upgraded. I breezed threw the final fight. It wasn’t challenging at all. I don’t really understand the ending. I was liking the vibes of the final few missions I just don’t really understand what happened... I’m going to need to google.
I googled and I’m not that pleased with the ending. It’s too vague and lacks details, not super satisfying. That being said, overall I was still interested in the story the whole campaign. I just don’t think it lives up to its potential.
I do plan to beat a few more of the side quests. I want to play around in this world a bit more, which is always a good sign, but this game is going to finish as a low A-. It has the building blocks for an amazing game due to its gameplay and atmosphere but unfortunately it is also negatively affected by some quality of life issues, and the actual storyline doesn’t live up to the standard that the atmosphere and lore creates. I’m left wanting more.
Final Score: A-