Developed by Remedy Entertainment PLC. Published by 505 Games. The Remedy logo and Northlight are trademarks of Remedy Entertainment Oyj, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Control is a trademark of Remedy Entertainment Oyj. 505 Games and the 505 Games logo are trademarks of 505 Games SpA, and may be registered in the United States and other countries. All other marks and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.
Control knows very well how to put togerther combat, sci-fi and paranormal/paranatural, and mistery elements in a well paced manner.
Although the gameplay and fighting is still repetitive as in Alan Wake (which you should play first, even though it´s not a requirement). The above elements make for a great progression to keep you engaged and in constant tension throghout the game.
Also great if you like conspiracy/unknown misteries/world secrets stuff.
What a game. Hadn't played it for 2 years, got back into it and it still amazes me at every turn. The setting, the weirdness, the story: all wonderful. And the actual gameplay as well!
1st the good: The visuals are great - clean, striking, just waiting to be trashed by explosions, bullets, & telekinetic powers; piles of clutter blast across the room with every impact, chaos in the orderly halls of the FBC. Details humanize the FBC & add life to an otherwise stark place. When Control works, it WORKS, & luckily Go-go-gadget-blunt-force-trauma is as effective as it is satisfying. <3 Dr. Darling. Ran on Linux Proton 9.0-3, DX11.
Unfortunately it doesn't always work, & by the time I beat the game & DLC I felt more frustrated than satisfied. My core issue is the difficulty scaling/balance: It sucks, as soon as Control runs out of new enemies to intro. Tougher ones (& most bosses) are identical, just with more HP & damage. HP bars and levels are distracting & unimmersive but without them it's impossible to tell what identical enemies are more of a threat. Astral Spikes are only scary until you realize how easy they are to ignore. Launch >> everything else, as raw damage is king & they don't scale enough with enemy HP. The gun is trash except Pierce/Charge. Some mods help, but too late to matter; most are garbage, especially the stupidly specific DLC mods, & they make for awful, needless inventory management. Missions aren't worth the travel time; Countermeasures too, unless you abuse the free reroll to get good rewards for the area you're already in. Puzzles suck; the solution is often right next to it, or characters just say it out loud. Overall I found the story contrived & "tell don't show". Jesse's too happy risking her life for cardboard cutout characters who kidnapped her brother, like the "badass" Marshall who doesn't do 1 cool thing the entire game, or Arish who claims to be busy while rooted in place parroting the same lines again and again. The map (terrible, doesn't even reflect reality) is the only thing usable on the move, leaving me stuck in a menu for 2' of audio or Trench/Marshall/Wake/Board talking vaguely over a repetitive slideshow.
