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 reviews30
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»