The first two Max Payne titles were the only ‘Remedy’ developed games that I had played, and I loved the first one. The second was a little disappointing, but I was excited for Control since it was first announced at E3 2018. I am always interested in third person, narrative driven games, and Control was promised to have an abundance of it with an additional supernatural element on top. So, it immediately caught my eye before I bought it on its first day of release.
Overall, the game has been a joy to play, it has a level of ambition in both its visual storytelling and gameplay that’s rare to come across in games these days. But it’s flaws and lack of polish stop it from being something truly memorable, after one playthrough I can’t see myself returning to it. The story begins with Jesse Faden arriving at the Federal Bureau of Control’s headquarters, searching for her brother, Dylan, who was taken by them when he was just a child. The FBC are a government organisation that investigates all things to do with the supernatural. As the game progresses you learn that there is more than meets the eye with this secret organisation, as well as Jesse’s connection to it.
On arrival, she finds that a supernatural force called The HISS has been unleashed on the inhabitants inside, infecting anything that it comes across. It is these infected humans that make up the enemies in the game. There aren’t too many enemy types, and from a design point of they are serviceable at best, with some slightly deformed, some that fly in the air, and others that explode as soon as they are killed. The boss battles are far more imaginative, but I‘ll get to them later in the review.
In order to dispose of these enemies, Jesse gets her hands on the Service Weapon, this is an all-encompassing piece of arsenal, at first it works as a basic pistol, but it can be upgraded with the materials that you have looted throughout the different areas in the game. For example, it can be used as a shotgun, machine gun and a charge gun. All have their strengths and weaknesses; I personally found the shotgun and charge gun to be most effective because the game tends to throw enemies at you in an abundance when you cross their paths.
But my favourite aspect of the combat is the supernatural powers that you get at your disposal. One of these powers allows you to launch objects at the enemies, you can do this with a simple tap of the shoulder button which then levitates nigh on any object within your surrounding area for you to control. This course of action never got boring, and it was the most fun I had in the game. It works because it’s functionally simple and the level of destruction you can cause is phenomenal. There are other powers you can attain as you progress, such as using your surroundings to create a shield, as well as levitating from the ground for short periods of time.
Although it was enjoyable to get these new powers, some of it is hidden behind side content, and the overall upgrade system feels a tad superfluous. Your powers are upgraded by collecting skill points which you gain by completing missions and opening control points. I made the mistake of upgrading each of my powers in an even order, so I’d recommend tailoring to a specific set of skills rather than spread them out. There is also a mod system for your weapons and character, each will have slots that you can put the mods into, for your weapons these will give you extra damage on health or reduced recoil. For your character mods this might mean faster health recovery, shield boost and dodge efficiency, amongst others. You collect these mods in boxes you loot or enemies that you’ve killed. I rather like upgrade and skill trees, but in this game, it feels a little tacked on, especially when the enemies’ level up further into the story. I think it would have been much better if your powers had an extra layer to them rather just being amplified.
Control is a semi open world game, allowing you to explore the FBC headquarters at your leisure, although there are gated locations behind access doors, of which you do gain entry to as you progress through the story. Whether that’s by completing the main or side missions for the support characters. The bulk of the setting is in large office spaces, corridors and maintenance rooms, at face value the dour grey and blue colour palette is a bit uninspired and oppressive, but it fits perfectly with the mood and subject of the narrative. The game has an odd clinical but machinery aesthetic to it that sets it apart from other games. There are moments of wonderful, visual fidelity that standout but it’s unfortunate that a lot of these moments are few and far between.
Unlike other reviewers of the game I didn’t have too much of a problem with the map, sure it could have been better implemented, and it’s a little archaic. But I rather enjoyed the fact that the game doesn’t have a waypoint direction spoon-feeding you the exact position that you have to go in. On various locations on the map are control points that you must activate, this opens the fast travel system. It works for the most part, I felt there was just enough in each location for it to balance exploration and player convenience. They are also the game’s checkpoints, which did cause some frustration for me, because if you die, re-spawned enemies will get in your way as you head back to where you want to be, this was only a big issue when I died during boss battles.
The boss fights take place in locations that I can only describe as big battle arenas, where little minions will harass you while the big villain is trying to kill you. On the one hand they showcase the game at its most brilliant and imaginative, but on the other they provide some of the most rage inducing moments of my playthrough. One boss was the same colour as the overhead red light that engulfed the room we were fighting in, making the boss hard to see and distinguish from the other enemies. Which was only made worse with the level of combat destruction that clogged up the screen. It’s also baffling that some of the bosses can only be accessed by completing side missions.
The map is chockful of documents and videos to collect, much like the files in a Resident Evil game, these are there to give you a little more lore into the FBC, the enemies you face and the weapons you use. I always appreciate it when games have these included, it shows that the developers have put a lot of thought into their work, and it gives the setting added character and the story more substance. This applies to Control, although I do think there are way too many of them, and they could have been presented in a more interesting way.
Before I finish up, I have to mention the game’s performance on an ordinary PS4. It did not ruin my experience but every time I loaded into a save file the game would chug for a couple of seconds. It happened in some combat situations as well, usually when I was fighting a roomful of enemies.
In conclusion, Control is the breath of fresh air that I needed after drought of interesting games over the summer, its unique third person gameplay and opaque plot was intriguing. Everything it does it does well, but it’s missing something that elevates it from being a good game to great game. Whether it’s the non-descript side characters, serviceable enemies, and lack of variety in its design, it’s just not quite a definite purchase. I would recommend Control if you are either a fan of third person shooters or Remedy’s back catalogue.
Verdict: 7/10
