Platform reviewed on: PC

Also available on: Xbox One, Playstation 4

General/ Plot:….10

Control is a 3rd person action adventure made my Remedy games. You step in the shoes of Jesse Faden, a young red headed woman who is searching for her long lost brother Dylan. Her search leads her to the “Oldest House”, a humongous building where tons of supernatural phenomena are happening.

Without wanting to spoil much about the story, I will briefly say this: Control has by far the best plot I have seen in a game in recent years. The journey that awaits you is litteraly unbelievable. It is so intriguing that it is again one of the few titles that I actually spent time trying to find the majority of its collectibles in order to learn more about the lore and the events that were happening before my eyes. Its structure and general concept is heaviliy based on the Secure Contain Protect foundation (a.k.a. SCP, google it to find out more).

Graphics:…..9

Graphicswise, the game is trully astounding.  First of all, the characters are played by real actors and their real life appearance is identical to the in game models. Facial expressions are extremely good as well, with my only complaint to be the lip syncing, which is a bit off some of the times. The enemies you face are also well crafted, though I would like them to have a little more variety. All character animations are natural and fluid.

Although the game takes place inside one and only building, the environments are varied. You traverse long hallways, huge offices, underground labs, filthy sewers, even a large quarry.  The best part is that everything you set your foot on is 99% destructible. Walls crumble by gunshots and offices can be completely turned into rabble with papers, files and electronic devices flying all over the place. The amount of destruction that happens in your screen is really…exhilarating.

In addition, visual effects are brilliant. When you turn your sights and start creating havoc, your monitor fills with realistic explosions,  objects flying left and right and dead bodies littering the beatifully created environments.

However, there is one serious flaw to the graphics that for me is unexcusable. How on earth, my dear developers, do you create such an atrocious map, so misleading and empty? I found myself a lot of times taking notes with pen and paper of places of interest and hard to reach areas that I could only reach later in the game because on the map there is absolutely no information what so ever. The only thing that you see is a general layout of the building, the the elevators and the check points. Gamers without strong memory will absolutely need a piece of paper to wtite down useful information the old school way.

Sound Design:……9

Control excels here as well. The soundtrack is exceptional and it fits the game. Voice acting is superb and the sound effects are absolutely marvelous. There is nothing more to say, you have to experience it yourself!

Gameplay:….10

Wow. Just WOW. To start, there are RPG elements: You can upgrade your weapon and character with offensive and defensive mods that augment your killing efficiency in battle.

Ohhhh yeah, how can I forget?? Jesse is a capable warrior not only with guns, but she also possesses supernatural abilities which unlock gradually as you progress. My personal favourite is by far telekinesis. The first time I pressed the corresponding key on the keyboard to perform this ability, a permanent grin appeared on my face: you can lift almost anything. From fire extinguishers to sofas, libraries even forklifts and launch it to your enemies. The item you lift with your powers starts floating from its initial position and comes right in front of you wherever it is inside the room. Then, when you release the key, Jesse launches it with extreme speed upon her enemies removing their armor or depleting their health bar.  The possibilities are endless and all have astoundingly catastrophic results. However, telekinesis is not the only thing she can do but if I start analysing more about what she can do, I will ruin the surprise and “WOW” factor for you.

Although you have all these weapons and super powers, I never felt overpowered. The enemies are lethal, espescially when they attack in packs. There are also adverasries that have their own unique set of paranormal powers like you and will dispose of you quickly unless evading like crazy or staying behind cover.

There are a lot of platforming sections as well but to tell you the truth, I really liked them despite the fact that I hate platformers. The reason is that the game is so action packed that your adrenaline goes sky high almost all the time. Controls are responsive and of course, in my humble opinion, the best way to experience Control is via mouse and keyboard.

Value for money:…..10

I bought the game for about 30 Euros and I reached endgame in about 20 to 25 hours, finishing all side missions and finding a large number of collectibles. Upon completion, you can still play the game completing side missions given by NPCs or further exploring areas in order to find more collectibles.  Control is one of its kind, a unique experience that will stay deep in your mind for years to come. It sets the standards very high for its genre. There are also DLCs confirmed by the developers so stay tuned for additional content.

SCORE:….9.6, ”Epic”

 

 

“By far, the best action adventure game of its generation.”