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Looking to find her kidnapped brother, Jesse Faden arrives at the FBC office in New York. The Federal Buero of Control is a government-run building focused on examining Objects of power, paranormal Entities, and a bunch of other cooky sci-fi stuff that sets the foundation for this adventure.
The game is, at its core, a Metroidvania with third-person shooter elements. It is also so much more than that.The way it plays off the tropes of other games in the genre in a way makes it a deconstruction of those genres.
There’s a lot to uncover in Control, even more so with the DLC in the Ulitmate edition. Uncovering secrets and figuring out how to get to them is challenging in a good way.
You will unlock a large arsenal of telekinetic abilities to aid you in furthering your way into the heart of the Buero.These abilities will also aid you in combat.The exploration aspect of this game does a great job of encouraging you to be creative.
I like how the game allows you to get to areas that usually wouldn’t be accessible until later in other games.
This one area was covered in a poisonous mold, with a rare item in a box in the back. I wasn’t supposed to be able to get to it until I had unlocked immunity to the poison; however, if I had increased my base health to a high enough level and was fast enough, I could quickly dash through the poison, get to the box holding the item, break it, pick up the item, then dash back to the entrance of the room with just a sliver of health to spare.
Moments like these I can appreciate because they harken back to the early days of 3D games, where you could find a way to get to something that you aren’t supposed to yet if you mess around for a bit.
Another instance where game design like this could be felt was in its map design.Whereas most games like this nowadays have maps that mark every nook and cranny once you have gotten to said area on it, as well as let you look at it from every angle in a 3D scale. Control’s map is basic yet effective. It doesn’t give you an incredibly detailed 3D map that holds your hand all the time. The map in Control is effective at letting you know where you are and where you have to go, but it requires the player to use a bit of their imagination often by asking them to recreate the whole area in their mind.Some might call it poor map design, but for me, it did a great job of invoking a feeling of loneliness and dread, almost making it feel like a horror game at times.
As much praise as I give to the exploration story and lore, the combat can feel a tad clunky at times.There’s no cover system, meaning you won’t be able to play this like a typical modern third person shooter.This is a sci-fi game, after all, so I can understand the devs wanting you to rely more on the superpowers you are given and play it less like a shooter. Still, it would have been nice, and added to the variety to the gameplay if you could shoot your way out of many situations instead of predominately relying on your telekinetic powers.
Jesse can go into a crouched position to allow for some extra fire during gunfights; however, she can’t fire while in a crouched position. While crouched, the moment you fire your gun or use any of your powers, she will stand up, making her a bigger target.
While it could use some improvement, once you understand how you’re supposed to play, the firefights are intense, challenging, and rewarding.
Jesse’s base pistol can transform into different models, allowing for unique abilities. One model of the pistol can quickly fire a load of bullets that deal average damage, while another model can fire a supercharged shot but has a longer recharge time.As opposed to bullets, your gun has energy that recovers over time. Your gun and special abilities can be upgraded by collecting parts.Jesse can switch between two of the five models of pistols in real-time. If you want to change to another model, you need to pause the game and pick it from the menu.
It would have been nice to be able to switch between all five different models in real-time; maybe have a weapon wheel that slows down the time while you are switching weapons like in GTA5.
I also had a difficult time following the story as a result of accessing the DLC before I finished the main game.
I was shocked when I entered a scenario that was supposed to occur after the main game, and the characters referenced things that had yet to happen.
Most games with story DLC let you access it from the menu separately or have the content unrelated to the main game.
With the Ultimate edition of Control, you can access The Foundation and Shock And Awe DLC before completing the base game’s story.
Control also features some puzzle segments that break up the pace, and a lot of really good atmospheric moments to add variety and keep it from being a dull by-the-numbers shooter.
By combining elements of Neo-Noir, urban fantasy, and conspiracy theory science fiction, Remedy’s Control offers a lot for anyone looking for a piece of medium with a good dollop of old and experimental game mechanics mixed with fun combat and a great story.
While the combat could use a little tweaking, there’s no denying how much the folks over at Remedy value and respect the lore and characters they’ve created.Here’s hoping the sequel improves upon this foundation and gives us something truly amazing.
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