This game is a flawed masterpiece.

The fingerprints of Remedy's unique writing is found everywhere here. Slick slow paced mystery narrative drip fed to you bit by bit with excellently written dialogue constantly peaking your interest as you progress the game. And as you slowly connect the dots of jesse's character, your fed a constant barrage of gorgeous visuals beautifully framed with every set piece so well designed, so rich in creativity and beautiful art, it'll leave a lasting impression on you long after you've completed the game. The colors, the level designs, the animations. This game's art direction is so superb, it is only matched by its world building.

The gameplay follows suit in this regard with a combat system that mixes a combination of third person shooting with pseudo-magic abilities. It features intricate skill trees, a diverse selection of weapons, and some very satisfying powerful moves that all serve to keep the moment to moment gameplay as varied as possible. The result is a compelling power fantasy akin to a super hero simulator that is sure to leave you having a blast until you roll credits. The enemy types do well to compliment this system, with boss encounters being particularly impressive.

But this is a flawed masterpiece. And the longer you play control, the more those flaws seep through the cracks of shiny art direction and superb narrative dressing. The combat, with all its variety in weapons, abilities and skill tree unlocks, eventually does become extremely repetitive owing to a lack of end game unlocks to motivate progression. The combat system is all middle and no end, all creativity and no scaling, all flash and no depth. It feels good, but it doesn’t last long.

And just like how the combat loses its novelty quickly, so do the enemies that rely on it. At a certain point they all play the same. Not because they have similar mechanics or design, but because they are all dealt with the same. Shoot or throw until they are dead. Interesting for maybe 10 hours, but soon loses its spark. And so does Control’s story.

The story is fascinating, complex, mysterious, intriguing. It latches to your ears and mind the minute it begins, promising a world of intrigue and a protagonist with limitless potential. It delivers on many of those fronts, but that’s what makes its failures so glaring. A lack of memorable characters (aside from jesse), an absence of a compelling villain, and a deliberate pacing that leaves more to be desired.

But it’s biggest sin, a lack luster and underwhelming ending that completely sabotages all the build up carefully constructed leading up to it. No boss fight, no insane twist, no much needed answers. It resolves the story, but at the cost of ruining a good one.

This game, by all definitions of the word, is art. It is art. But it is flawed art. The kind of art you look at and marvel at its wonder and achievements. Only the more you stare, the more you notice it's glaring imperfections as they stick out like a sore thumb. It's the kind of art that reminds you how human it is to not be perfect. How you can love something, even with all its imperfections.

This game is not perfect, and yet I still absolutely love it. And that's why I recommend Control.

8/10