Now Playing: Control

Control is a third person action game in which you play as Jesse Faden, a woman on a mission within the mysterious Federal Bureau of Control. The game doesn’t tell you much up front. And honestly, the less you know going in, the better. That’s why I’m going to keep this review as spoiler free as I can.

The first few hours of Control aren’t particularly inspiring. The environments are clean and striking, and the destruction physics are impressive, but the combat . . . not so much. But stick with it, because once you begin unlocking various powers, Control suddenly (and unexpectedly) becomes one of the best superhero games you’ll ever play.

The combination of telekinesis and levitation completely transform the combat. And when you factor in the environmental destruction, Control doesn’t just feel great to play, it looks pretty spectacular, too. Your base pistol also undergoes a welcome transformation as you unlock new modes of fire that you can switch between on the fly.

Control may get off to a slow start, but once it hits its stride, it doesn’t let up. It’s one of those games where the combat becomes so fun, that you really don’t mind when the next wave of enemies spawn in – you just want to keep fighting.

Aside from the combat, the best thing about Control is the world and the lore contained within. I’m not talking about the story – which I’ll touch upon later – but the setting. The Federal Bureau of Control is an organisation dedicated to the discovery, study and containment of mysterious artefacts.

As you explore the Bureau, Jesse will uncover many videos, audio recordings and written documents describing the various artefacts, their history and effects. Typically, I tend to skip through these kinds of collectibles but in Control, I was happy to read, listen and watch them all.

That said, I do wish more of the lore contained within these optional collectibles was presented more prominently within the main story. You’ll miss out on a lot of important, interesting and fun information if you ignore them.

Because, I hate to say it, the main story is probably the weakest aspect of Control. Jesse (mild spoiler) enters the Bureau searching for her brother, Dylan. But the ‘relationship’ between Jesse and Dylan just doesn’t work, and it’s a shame the game revolves so much around this plot point.

I guess the intention was to provide a more personal stake for Jesse within the story, but Dylan is such an irritating, unlikeable weirdo, that I just didn’t care about him at all, not when there were far more exciting secrets to discover hidden within the Bureau.

That’s what I enjoyed most about Control – exploring the Bureau, uncovering secrets, learning about the artefacts and completely trashing the environments with my newly acquired superpowers. Dylan? I couldn’t give a flying f**k.

There’s a moment when the game seemingly ends and I was pretty disappointed. Fortunately, it was only a ‘fake’ ending and there was more yet to come. Unfortunately, the real ending is just as disappointing. It’s pretty anti-climactic and, given how challenging some of the fights throughout the game can be, incredibly easy, too.

Control gets off to wobbly start but soon begins to soar. Sadly, it doesn’t quite stick the landing. Thankfully, it does come with some pretty fun DLC, including a pretty cool Alan Wake crossover and a post-game expansion that I found far more interesting in terms of story than the main game.

Overall, I’m glad I picked up Control. I was a little wary of it because I’d only ever seen footage of the first few hours of play and those really aren’t representative of what the game becomes as you progress. The world is great. The combat is fun. It’s a shame the story focused too much on the wrong thing, but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment too much. If you see it on sale, be sure to check it out.

7/10