I'm in love with Control

I'm putting the finishing touches on a video review I'm going to make for Control but I just have to put it out there. Holy cow, this game was outrageously fun. This is Remedy at their best and you can really see how much fun they had putting the game together, specifically the various memos and case studies regarding the Bureau's collection of altered items and objects of power.

I haven't had this much fun with gun combat in a long time and to me, it feels just as awesome as it did in Max Payne. The addition of telekinetic powers only adds to your repertoire of combat abilities and throwing a couch at an enemy's face is never not fun. One of the details I really liked was how you could rip off chunks of the concrete walls, leaving behind visible wounds and exposed rebar.

I'm anxious to go back and explore more of the Bureau, which stands shoulder to shoulder with Black Mesa and Rapture as some of the most fun video game workplaces to run around in.

You did good, Remedy. You did damn good!

I really enjoyed my time with it! That ending is, uh, something else, and I hope they build on it in the DLCs. Great game!

I also became really enraptured by it. I even went back after finishing it (you can keep playing past the final boss) and did all the side stuff I missed and even maxed out the entire skill tree along the way. It's just fun to play. For me personally, mobility is one of the key elements of action games that I love seeing evolve. The freedom of movement Control gives the player is awesome. Although I know it's a completely different thing, but I always imagined Hitman having similar freedom of movement rather than the stilted way it works to this day. I just love it when a game gives me all this, err, control..

@rorie: Ha, yeah, the ending is wild! Can’t wait to see what they have planned for the new content!

@humanity: Heck yeah, the movement feels so good. Especially in the late game when you get a certain power that makes vertical areas much easier to get around.

I really enjoy the combat and all, but it’s the writing that really gets me. There are some great mind-bending sequences, some good uses of music, some great set pieces, etc.

It really does feel more like Alan Wake to me than any other Remedy game.

I thought the game finished really strong too, and it didn’t do much to solve most central mysteries...not in an unsatisfying way, but in that way where if you don’t reveal everything, things can be interpreted and have many more

meanings...

It does make me want to go back and watch Twin Peaks again...

@nutter: THAT sequence with the music was so flipping incredible. 😱

@librariangmr: Yeah, it reminded me a bit of the Old Gods of Asgard set piece in Alan Wake. It’s very different, but there’s some shared DNA in there. It was a cool and welcome change of pace, and the level design was nuts.

I haven't finished it yet, but Control is so far the best game I've played in a very long time and far and away my favorite of the year. The tone and lore and weird dark humor feel like they were made specifically for me and my esoteric tastes.I've never been one for hunting down collectibles or codex documents but it's been a compulsion. I would 100% pay for DLC that just added another few dozen case files and AWE reports to find throughout the Oldest House.

Playing it is also a blast. I feel like whatever Jedi Fallen Order winds up being is going to be a massive letdown in terms of Force-style powers compared to Control. Being able to snap a dude's neck with telekinesis and then murder his buddy by force-throwing the corpse at him is so ridiculous and awesome and it never stops being amusing.

It's a damn shame it's apparently selling so poorly. I would be so down to play Control sequels every few years for a very long time.

It's fantastic. I've never played a Remedy game and picked this one up due to some word of mouth, and I could not be more happier that I did. Wrapped up the Platinum a few days ago and I can not wait for the two upcoming expansions, I want so much more of that world. The narrative and world building they did was superb, the game played well and was always fun, Jesse is a great character, and the game has so much Styleeeeeeeeee.

Quite possibly my GOTY, Top 3 for sure.

@takayamasama: couldn’t agree more! I don’t Platinum many games but I’m going to do so with this one!

@banefirelord: Well, it did take Alan Wake over a year to reach over a million copies sold (granted, only on 360). While it is a shame that it’s not doing crazy numbers, it’s at least getting glowing reviews all-around and story DLC, so I wouldn’t write off any sequels.

Without getting deeper into it, I also imagine Remedy has it’s losses covered with the exclusivity deals it has done with Epic and Sony.

This is the first game in a long while that has gotten me to stop and read through everything. The general movement is a little awkward for me but otherwise it's great.

@librariangmr: The platinum is actually really generous, it only requires you to get most of the collectibles and do an easily achievable number of repeatable tasks, rather than being completely outrageous or a huge time sink.

clocks of the year.

Well I just finished Control, and all I can say is I have never had such a love/hate relationship with a game like I had with this one. The story is great, and like others in this thread, I read and watched everything. The gameplay drove me nuts. It got to the point I gave myself extra time during the day to chase it, and more than once I am sure I entertained my next door neighbors with my yelling and cursing.

And yet, here I am, already missing it. I'm not accusing Control of playing badly, it just seemed that with some of the Boss fights, it was just plain hard. For me, that is. But I got good enough and got through it. And I'm fairly sure I have come near to platinum. Nothing was on my plate in the end mission wise, I will check for whatever else is required to get the grade.

I am really Looking forward to the DLC of a game, that at times didn't think I would want to play any more of.

Weird.

@takayamasama: I’d DEFINITELY suggest checking out Alan Wake if you’re into the story/world. I can’t promise you’ll love it, but it’s one of my favorite games of last generation.

The two DLCs and standalone American Nightmare are also well worth checking out.

Quantum Break is a harder sell, and I enjoyed it far more than most folks, but it has some decent combat and is very much a Remedy game (world building/story telling).

@bybeach: I felt the same way. I loved the first half of the game but at the midway point, it just got unnecessarily difficult because they’d throw so many different enemy types at you and I’d just get blasted from all sides. The flying enemies that can launch things at you were the worst. I didn’t figure out how to beat them until I looked for a guide on how to beat that flying boss dude you can fight after you finish the story. The boss fights were awful in this game. They pissed me off as well but I tried to keep my anger contained so my roommates wouldn’t think I’m crazy. Also, I have a base model PS4 so it ran like shit during most of my playthrough.

Despite that though, the game is awesome. I’m excited for the expansions next year but hopefully they fine tune the hell out of the game. Some things about it need extra work.

@awesomeusername: I just shot the flying guys with Pierce...but that was my strategy for 50% of the game...the other 50% was throw...

@nutter: That’s what I did when I read the guide. Knowing that earlier would’ve made fights a lot simpler with the flying guys. I just didn’t like using pierce though, which is why I didn’t.

@awesomeusername: I’m normally not into sniping weapons, but that thing doesn’t zoom much so it was more like a hand cannon...Once I tried that gun, it was my primary firearm.

None of the other weapons really grabbed me, frankly.

I may have backed into something overpowered, but I come to Remedy games for the world and story, SO I’LL TAKE IT!