Powerful Game play with a Messy Narrative: Control Review

Intro: Control is a third person action-adventure game that creates an immersive atmosphere for the gamer to get lost in. When it comes to the story, it goes back and forth between immersive and lackluster. By the end of the game, I felt underwhelmed and happy at the same time. This games genius comes from the controls, and vibrant areas that coat the game in mystery and substance. If the games story doesn’t make sense, or I don’t see a point to it, I normally won't have a good time with the game. But since there were glimpses of hope in every new mission, I thought “ok, this is it. We are going to find out something major” and when it got to each part of the destination, I just felt strung along and played to an extent. Controls stunning atmosphere and brilliant control work makes up for a game that heavily relies on notes and a story that does nothing for the player in the end.

Immersive yet Lackluster: A games story can be immersive yet lackluster at the same time. The characters, the voice acting and how a character is carried can be rich and multi-dimensional, but at certain points I got taken out of the story because of the flow being broken or the story just didn’t connect in the way that I thought it would. It was immersive at points, and in some ways strung me along and placed a treat at the end of a race, and when I got to that tantalizing treat, instead of a doughnut it was brussels sprouts. Once the race was over, I felt as if the story wasn’t as big and over the top as it was originally selling itself to be. I think the only reason the story captivated me was because of the mystery that coated it in the beginning and at certain points along the game.

If you don’t like reading notes, the story will make even less sense. Notes are what make this story what it is. 80% of this games story is told through notes and various side quests throughout the game. Even in the end, you can still do more things to uncover the mysteries of the bureau. Some of the most intense parts of the game have to do with the incorporation of psychological aspect of control, and you only get that experience and perspective if you read the notes in connection with the game play. At a certain point the player has to decide if the bureau is the bad guy, or the Hiss.

The Controls Make the Game: With this game being last gen, I am VERY SHOCKED the control work in this game is as good as it is. It's truly some of the best I’ve ever gotten to experience. The smooth combat, the satisfying burst of color from enemies as they explode. It's truly something to behold. Certain parts of the game create an immersive world BECAUSE of the control work, solely. The story and side quests in certain parts I feel have nothing to do with the game and it’s just about showing off the acrobatics of just how far you can put the player in immersion with just game play alone. When it comes to the games upgrading systems and photo mode, its simple and to the point. The photo mode isn’t the best I’ve ever seen, but it gets the job done. The upgrading system, much like the photo mode is simple and to the point and gets the job done. With the added bonus of making fast travel available the whole construction of the games mechanics make things easy and readily accessible.

Taking Control: In the grand scheme of things, I wasn’t blown away by this game. I love it for the controls, and the drama it created in the lead up to points, but after the lead up it felt dry and went nowhere for me. Maybe I have to play more of the side quests. Maybe the story just isn’t for me. It’s so strange because it’s not like I had a negative experience with the game, it’s just moments of complete let down after getting a high from a buildup that was disguising convoluted points that didn’t link up. For example, when Dylan mentioned that he and Jessie are the same person, it would explain A LOT, but I also highly doubt that Jessie and Dylan are the same individual. The games audio is also something I had a love hate relationship with because there are points of pure auditory magic, and then points where the audio for certain clips and cut scenes would just cut out all together and I couldn’t hear anything. This game teaches us that the only one who has control over you, is you no one else. And birthed from an ordinary town, in an ordinary way comes extraordinary circumstances.