"Control: Ultimate Edition" Great Lore, Good Enough Gameplay

 

    I'll admit, this game took a bit to really get going, and it took me longer to complete than I thought. But in terms of just relatively small, really contained games story games I must admit Control is pretty high up there. And the best part is? It's hardly even about the gameplay, it's about what most people usually consider the window dressing. The lore behind Control is just really cool. The best part about this game is learning about the Federal Bureau of Control, all that they do, and all of the items/things they are constantly doing behind the scenes to keep the world running. Let's talk about it.

    Let's get it right out of the way, I think combat might be one of the weaker elements of the game, but that's one of the only complaints I have about this game. I do think the service weapon is a cool concept. The only issue? It's only a single gun, and despite being your "main weapon" of choice, it's pretty much useless. That's not to say you never use it, but I pretty much stuck to two or three modes at all time, spin, grip or shatter. The reality is if you upgrade launch, the telekinesis ability you should rarely ever touch your gun. It's just that much better. Especially if you're on controller because it automatically autolocks for you anyways.

    Now don't get me wrong, using launch as a crutch does come to bite you in the back sometimes, especially for certain boss fights where there's not much to launch, or their abilities are meant to specifically counter against launching, particularly one in the DLC, but even still, it doesn't matter. There are certain boss fights where they basically do so much damage that it's practically a necessity to upgrade launch to it's max, so you can outkill them before they kill you. I think the main issue is that you never actually get to spend skill points on improving the gun. So while it might feel powerful for the first couple of hours, it quickly gets outclassed and outmatched by launch. 

    Don't even get me started on the other abilities either. Like seize, which sounds cool and is sort of helpful? But the issue is the allies you create die half of the time because launch just autolocks on the enemy they're fighting and kills them before you know it. Or what about melee, which gets no buffs but damage, and sounds so incredibly boring I refused to even upgrade it. The same could be said about ground slam, which is fine and interesting, but once again launch is just better. There are actually a couple fights that shield is useful in, but you're just better off using your upgrade points on health, energy and launch first that I didn't really end up using it as much as I could have or thought I should have.

    All this to say, in terms of combat the game is a bit boring, but that doesn't mean the fights are. I do think the final fight is a bit boring, but in terms of boss fights I actually thought this game was excellent. Not only were they relatively varied, with different methods needed to beat them other than outgun them (or I guess outlaunch them?). But the puzzles and fights actually felt a little difficult. Not in the sense that I had to search up how to beat or solve any of them, but in the sense that they were satisfying enough that I was completely fine with dying to them over and over again, feeling a good sense of satisfaction after I won every time.

    Another aspect I really loved is that for once, Control is one of those games you really want to read and listen to, taking in your surroundings. Learning about objects of powers, altered items, and the bureau in general was very fun. It's not like they didn't leave any meat on the bone either, I'm very excited for the direction Control: Resonant might take. It's just I remember going pretty slow for my first couple of hours, grabbing every document and going through them, trying to wrap my head around the FBC, in a good way. And I do think that if you're willing to take the time to do that, you'll enjoy the game that much more. 

Final Score: 80/100

    I don't know why but I was surprised to find out this game was released in the 2020's and not the 2010's. In my mind this game just reminds me of Mirrors Edge, which I never played. I suppose I just associate a lot of smaller single player story games to that era because everything needs to be super open world these days to justify the triple-a gaming budgets. The real question is if I'll buy the next game immediately.  Either way I don't know what I'll play after this. Maybe I get back to reading more Lord of the Rings, or maybe I play the new Pokemon DLC. Either way, until next time.