Control is the latest creation from development studio Remedy – and since Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Sixteen years ago, the developers released their first game to also appear on a Sony console. Their most notable titles of recent years include: Quantum Break and Alan WakeThey were, in fact, PC and Xbox exclusives. We've thoroughly tested the game for you and will tell you whether it's worth buying.
Bad guys in the office
In "ControlWe step into the shoes of Jesse Faden (played by Courtney Hope). To her own surprise, she enters the secret Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) completely unhindered in search of her brother Dylan. A mysterious incident during their childhood separated them, and Dylan has been in FBC custody ever since. However, the FBC building is in a state of emergency: a strange energy, known as "The Hiss," is spreading, transforming people into lifeless shells or aggressive, externally controlled puppets.
Military forces and a few remaining FBC employees are trying to bring the situation under control. They are friendly towards Jesse and see her as the new "Director." What exactly that means and what role Jesse plays in this surreal chaos is only gradually revealed.
Let me preface this by saying: The story is very convoluted – and that's intentional. For a long time, it's unclear what's actually happening because we're thrown into the thick of things without much exposition. So, be prepared for the plot to only become clear, if at all, right at the very end. In our case, it didn't quite click. This is partly due to the narrative style: The game's lore is packaged in collectibles. Documents and records are scattered throughout the world, which we can read to learn more about the background – a mechanic also used by numerous indie horror games. While this prevents the story from being forced upon us, the developers also take the easy way out by fragmenting the entire backstory into countless puzzle pieces instead of conveying it through the game world and characters. The main plot is told through dialogue and high-quality cutscenes – but anyone who wants to understand it in its entirety will inevitably have to wade through a considerable amount of written material.
Paranormal Power Woman
Jesse is no ordinary human, by the way: she possesses telekinetic abilities and can pick up objects with her mind and hurl them through the air, transforming them into dangerous projectiles. This is also the core gameplay mechanic. We have to defend ourselves against all sorts of adversaries possessed by the "Fizz." And let me tell you, it feels incredibly satisfying to hurl environmental objects at enemies with the press of a button. As the game progresses, even more abilities are unlocked: for example, we learn to levitate, dash forward, or generate a shield that deflects enemy attacks. Some abilities are optional: we learn them by completing corresponding side quests. So, anyone who wants to be well-equipped for the endgame should also complete tasks outside the main storyline. By collecting experience points and leveling up, we can improve our abilities. In addition to life and damage bonuses, we also learn, for example, how to shoot enemies through the air or intercept and deflect grenades and projectiles.
We also have a firearm at our disposal, which we can upgrade and modify. Crafting items unlock new weapon types, which we can then further enhance. All in all, the gunplay feels largely satisfying, even if it's not very complex from a gameplay perspective. There's no cover mechanic, which is now standard in modern third-person shooters. And the enemy AI is quite dumb – which, in the context of the story, actually makes sense.
From floor to floor
Apart from a few surreal digressions, “Control"The game takes place exclusively within the FBC headquarters. The environment isn't particularly varied, but its visual design still creates a sense of atmosphere. The game world functions according to the Metroidvania principle: while it's interconnected, we can't fully explore it from the start; instead, we have to unlock it gradually. For example, we find keycards that grant us access to areas with higher security levels. Backtracking is also possible (and necessary). Over the course of 10 to 15 hours of gameplay, we gradually make our way through the building."
It's a bit of a shame that we have to rely heavily on the map to find our way around. Otherwise, we quickly lose our bearings in this maze of office spaces. Even with the map and floor plan, we sometimes struggle to find the right path. Remedy hasn't achieved the clever world-building we've come to expect from developers like Naughty Dog.
We would like to commend the way the environment can be manipulated: Our telekinetic abilities allow us not only to move most objects, but also to destroy parts of the game world, for example to flush enemies out of cover. Outside of combat, however, this has little relevance.
Performance issues and grainy appearance
Regarding the technical implementation, we unfortunately have to give Remedy a scathing review: "Control" has several flaws and problems that significantly detract from the enjoyment of the game. Let's start with the visuals: They're mostly okay – but nothing more. "Control" can't compete visually with the current AAA market. On high-end PCs, the game might be a visual showcase for ray tracing technology – but on consoles, we don't see any of that. The environment is coherent, but also quite lacking in detail. The character models, especially Jesse's, are largely well done, but their wooden facial expressions and stiff animations leave them firmly in the uncanny valley. The resolution is a significant drawback: On the standard PS4, "Control" only runs at 900p (and on the competing Xbox One, only at 720p). We tested the PS4 Pro version and at least got full HD resolution. Overall, the visuals are quite grainy, appear to have a strong film grain effect in some areas, and exhibit flickering edges.
Performance is also problematic: the frame rate frequently drops during combat – even on the PS4 Pro. After cutscenes, the image sometimes freezes for several seconds. Particularly annoying: without exception, every time we exit the pause menu, the game stutters significantly for a few seconds. And after using the fast travel function (which places us in front of a relatively long loading screen), the map often fails to load – sometimes for several minutes. If we want to glance at the map to orient ourselves, no rooms are marked. This can really kill the enjoyment of playing.
Incidentally, "Control" also features live-action scenes with real actors. These are nicely integrated into the game, but they have a glaring flaw: the audio (at least in the original language) is out of sync with the visuals – so noticeably so that we can't explain how the developers included it. Asynchronous voice lines also appear in the animated cutscenes, though somewhat less frequently. All in all, "Control" is poorly optimized and could have benefited from a significant amount of technical polish. The developers have promised, to deliver patches that are intended to improve performance on consoles, but at the time of release the game seems very unfinished from a technical point of view.
