Control

I don’t want to use the word masterpiece lightly, but what else do you call the combination of gleefully chaotic gameplay with earnest storytelling in a setting as refreshingly unique as Bioshock? What else do you call a combat system that goes so far beyond the simple act of shooting a gun without drilling down into a set of intricate menus and complicated controls? What else do you call darkly malevolent horror that doesn’t feel like it was cribbed from someplace else? What else do you call the crowning achievement of a studio with a unique voice, an uneven track record, and 25 years of experience? If there’s a better word to describe what Remedy has achieved with Control, I can’t think of it.

Control is the pinnacle of Remedy games indeed: thanks to its exceptional art design, solid gameplay and great storytelling, Sam Lake's latest work showed itself to be a truly unforgettable experience.

An excellent game as many previous Remedy Games, that manages to fulfill our power phantasy of becoming an action hero, while offering a great story and being unique in itself.

The writing, direction, and performances are consistently brilliant. This is Remedy at the peak of its game. Control feels like a company rediscovering itself, waking from a long slumber. Remedy’s legs work as intended once more, the vestiges of sleep paralysis a distant memory.

Control is a true Remedy experience, with some nervous and satisfying action, fantastic story and narrative elements, and stimulating exploration... And that very weird touch that makes it unique. And very good.

The sometimes intense combat, immediately noticeable upgrade options and the occasionally well-executed mindf.cks save Control from a bare 60/100. But almost every brilliant idea is tackled by an unbalanced execution.

Thanks to poor “bigger is better” design choices, technical gaffes, obtuse exploration, a bromidic narrative, and zero atmosphere, Control is soul-crushingly disappointing, and a mere shadow of the studio's far superior Alan Wake.

This is an actual masterpiece. Done so well through the storytelling and everything makes sense. The details are AMAZING. The way the game progresses is so well done. Everything has an explanation and if it doesn't then it means the oldest house also doesn't know yet. There's NOTHING left out and the combat mechanics are so well balanced. I imagined that further on in the game with more powers i would basically be a god, but it's still balanced. And even after both dlcs there's still things to do. Best game ever made. Also the ashtray maze is the best game sequence ever made. Including the music. So peak.

It is a good port considering that I played it in ps4 slim. Did I understand anything that was going on on the plot? NO but I had a good time with it.

Really interesting concept and lore. The tactile feel of the game is great but something feels missing to the extent that the game never really pulled me to a large extent. While writing and the world building are great, the story also falls flat, especially at the end.

I had such an amazing time playing this game, the atmosphere, intense mystery, the fast telekinetic gameplay. It was a blast, found myself doing every sidequest I possibly could & exploring absolutely everything before continuing on the main quest. And that is where the fault lies. Mission 6, I spent 5hours doing every sidequest possible, then was excited to get back to the main scenario. I made it into the Panopticon, crossed the bridge on level 4, where I found Fortified Room 716. A large empty room, with absolutely no progression, basically an empty airport hanger with a glitched out wall where the entrance was, capable of viewing all the textures outside of the room pop in and out. I tried absolutely everything, closing & repoening the game, completeing various other sidequests in other sectors, revisiting the main scenario sector through the elevator instead of fast travel. The only solution seemed to be to erase multiple hours worth of progression & loot to completely restart the mission. The fact there is a bug so large in this game to not only halt progression, but to also require erasing it, is absolutely discouraging & frustrating to the player experience. It seems totally unacceptable that a hardlock like this would even exist. I was excited to finish the game, but this feeling of discouragement, the now promise of hardlocks being a possibility to erase hours of progression, I sadly cannot continue this game wholeheartedly.

I just wrote a long review and it got deleted. *Sigh* So, I'll just leave my last sentence here....even with my OCD-like gaming with regards to finishing games (even bad ones), I put this down after 8 hours. I think that says it all. In short, cool graphics, physics, and lore potential, but bad lore overload, boring levels, repeating enemies, bad map, and more.