Control

You can tell the developers are purposefully trying to screw with you, because I've finished the game, watched a couple of videos on it, and still don't know what the heck they're trying to say.

But that mystery, the game's entire aesthetic and its incredibly satisfying gameplay are what make it one of the most unique games I've played in a while.

The last game I played in which the character had supernatural abilities, I was saving a fictionalized New Orleans from a gargantuan, world-eater monster. Now-days, I've graduated to becoming the director of a shape-shifting, Brutalist skyscraper in the Big Apple, protecting it and it's people from a destructive, otherworldly force of possessive nature.

In 'Control', I portrayed the character Jesse Faden, who came to the Federal Bureau of Control in search of answers as to her brothers disappearance to the Bureau years prior. She finds the building bereft of employees, and the acting director dead from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head...with a seemingly supernatural sidearm.

Jesse retrieves the sidearm and, by order of the mysterious Board, becomes Director-in-Training, tasked with ceasing the invasion upon the Bureau's headquarters - The Oldest House - by the terrifying menace known as The Hiss. ---------- Immediately, I was sucked into the fluid, fast-paced action of Control with intuitive and responsive controls. Shooting is easy, both on-the-run and ADS, although I found it easier doing potshots than precise ones. The supernatural abilities that I've gotten my hands on early in the game are simplistic, but very well-crafted. Nothing feels hindered by any sort of UI elements. You simply use the power with the press of a button, and immersion is never broken.

Combat is difficult, and I sometimes found myself losing to a boss, returning and having to re-watch their unskippable intro scene. But Control's easy-to-master controller setup makes these moments marginally frustrating, and the combat system makes every return exciting. Enemy AI has been fair so far, though it doesn't seem different from any other shooter, despite Northlight's AI system being touted as something to gawk at.

The graphics presented their capabilities even on a regular PS4 system. The environments have believable and deep reflections and material to them, and the levels themselves are interestingly designed. There wasn't a moment in playing that I didn't feel curious about the environment I was in. The destruction capabilities of the game's engine really sold me, though. Projectiles rip through offices, taking out other physics objects in the room, and causing chaotic action scenes. Unfortunately, for early PS4 users, I noticed distinct framerate drops during some action sequences. They didn't seem to affect gameplay, however.

The story and how it unfolds are what shine the most in this game. Jesse is truly presented as a fish out of water, and every piece of exposition we hear is valuable and worthy of listening to. The Oldest House has a lot of secrets, and Jesse has access to all of them.

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All in all, Control is poised to be one of the most memorable games of the generation. Once again, Sam Lake and Remedy present us with a deep story, rooted in curiosity-binding place, pulled together with solid, responsive gameplay and topped with a bow. Anyone who's a fan of Alan Wake, or any number of Remedy's previous iterations owes it to themselves to gain some Control.

Absolutely loved every second of this. Perfect balance of gameplay and storyline only complain is that even after the 2 very good dlc I was left wanting more!

Gameplay, graphics, physics, detail - this game stretches current-gen hardware as far as any effort I've seen. The environments are as pretty & polished as you could want, but they're also fully destructible - and not even in a "some objects will fall over then disappear" kind of way. Effort has been made to keep every detail looking & feeling as realistic as possible, even in the middle of all the superpowered skirmishes. This is the real centrepiece of the game - your character's powers, and how you use them for fun & fighting. Jesse Faden starts out as a normal woman drawn by some inexplicable force to The Oldest House, a shady government bureau where she procedes to obtain an arsenal of supernatural skills - allowing her to overcome the House's hazards and uncover its secrets in the most joyful, empowering & eyecatching ways. The storyline (one of pseudoscientific research & interdimensional espionage) provides a creatively grounded backdrop linking the action together, but it always felt to me as if this was a gameplay-led project; while Alan Wake had some cool & innovative gameplay, its remembered mostly for its dramatic story and themes, whereas Control feels more like a showcase of video games as a spectacle. I wouldn't be itching to tell people about the narrative, which suffers a lack of clarity at times - there's a lot going on in The Oldest House, and much of it is devoid of explanation (which is probably intentional) or an obvious point (which probably isn't). However I couldn't wait to show friends all the cool stuff you can do whenever you feel like it, and how good it always looks when you're doing it. Confronting a wretched, wailing group of interdimensionally-possessed former office-workers who have become twisted beyond human form, and defending yourself by telekinetically flinging a tray of photorealistic coffee cups at them - that's what this game is all about. And it's great.

Ever since this game was announced over a year ago I've been waiting to get my hands on it, and it did not disappoint. Impossible architecture combines with mind bending physics and amazing powers as you traverse The Oldest House, a mysterious building that you won't find unless it wants to be found. This game delivers on every front, Remedy has done it once again.