Control

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1505 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 995 out of 1505
  2. Mixed: 273 out of 1505
  3. Negative: 237 out of 1505

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. podzorama
    Jan 20, 2020
    7
    Up to a point, I really loved this game.
    An intriguing mysterious and Weird story-line set in The Old House, part Secret Government Centre and part Portal into several other dimensions. You play as Jesse, as we uncover her back story she uncovers the whereabouts and reasons for the disappearance of her brother Dylan in a wonderful Lovecraftian/Prisoneresque action adventure: Guns,    Up to a point, I really loved this game.
    An intriguing mysterious and Weird story-line set in The Old House, part Secret Government Centre and part Portal into several other dimensions. You play as Jesse, as we uncover her back story she uncovers the whereabouts and reasons for the disappearance of her brother Dylan in a wonderful Lovecraftian/Prisoneresque action adventure: Guns, Levitation. Telekinesis and Mind Control abilities combine to make this a supremely fun game.
    What I most liked about the game,was the fact that quite early on, I seemed Godlike in my abilities, and getting to learn to use them wisely and upgrade the abilities I felt comfortable in, made me feel ahead of the AI. Sure I died a lot, either because I was rushing or being stupid, or had to learn a different approach to different enemies, but always felt I was in Control (...see what I did there?).
    There was a point in the game where that disintegrated. Some of the optional Control Point Bosses were just frustratingly horrible to fight, losing all the action momentum it becomes suddenly like taking on a Dark Souls boss: wading through endless trash mobs to get to main fight only to be oneshotted once you get there. The end game also seemed to take a sudden difficulty spike, and had me roaring at the monitor in anguish and frustration. Not Fun.
    Despite this short coming it was overall a blast to play.
    Seven and a half outta ten    … Expand
  2. DarthPadme
    Jan 31, 2020
    7
    This game was pretty good. Remedy and 505 did a fine job optimizing a solid experience that ran well on PC hardware and was forward-thinking in the space, with RTX touches not seen in many titles yet. A mix of Psi-Ops and FEAR, Control sees you play Jesse Faden as you begin to unravel a poorly-told story about the Federal Bureau of Control, the massive facility you start off in and areThis game was pretty good. Remedy and 505 did a fine job optimizing a solid experience that ran well on PC hardware and was forward-thinking in the space, with RTX touches not seen in many titles yet. A mix of Psi-Ops and FEAR, Control sees you play Jesse Faden as you begin to unravel a poorly-told story about the Federal Bureau of Control, the massive facility you start off in and are suddenly director of (and immediately accepted by absolutely everyone), your past, and various powerful artifacts and objects of power hidden within. You unlock new abilities along the way, including some you can simply skip if you aren't going out of your way enough, and collect bits and bobs that allow you to upgrade them and your weapons.

    Overall the experience was pretty streamlined, but a poor map, awkward pacing, odd live-action vs. animated cutscenes (and poor facial capture), and janky controls for some later abilities prevented me feeling truly "in control". The story really wants you to just accept it so earenstly but it could have been so much more. I liked my 10 hours or so with the game, but is it 2019's game of the year? No way.    … Expand
  3. Lamp
    Aug 29, 2019
    7
    Pros: Lack of quest markers, fairly clean HUD, serviceable combat, ok level design, light horror atmosphere, decent pacing, wide field of view when not aiming, high production values, gameplay customization options like enemy health bars on / off
    Cons: Kind of boring, map only gives position of named locations so traversing can be a chore

    Overall you'll just be shooting things
  4. Ramiro1992
    Nov 19, 2019
    7
    I am really enjoying this game so far, and I really love female characters that actually act and speak like females, not manly feminist **** This game is made by Remedy (the creators of Max Payne and Alan Wake) so it should have some quality right? I love the art design and the whole mysterious plot involving the redhead girl. I like Jesse, not as much as I like SHelly Bombshell tho, butI am really enjoying this game so far, and I really love female characters that actually act and speak like females, not manly feminist **** This game is made by Remedy (the creators of Max Payne and Alan Wake) so it should have some quality right? I love the art design and the whole mysterious plot involving the redhead girl. I like Jesse, not as much as I like SHelly Bombshell tho, but she does a great job playing as a psychic detective.… Expand
  5. madterps
    Nov 12, 2021
    7
    I did enjoy the old RPG element of revealing little bit of the story by collecting documents, etc. and talking to NPCs. And I enjoy the power you get to a degree however the game has a few flaws. Even when you have your awesome power, the hiss infected enemies are still very powerful, not the regular ones but the floating ones who use telekinesis and the ones who carries a rocket launcher.I did enjoy the old RPG element of revealing little bit of the story by collecting documents, etc. and talking to NPCs. And I enjoy the power you get to a degree however the game has a few flaws. Even when you have your awesome power, the hiss infected enemies are still very powerful, not the regular ones but the floating ones who use telekinesis and the ones who carries a rocket launcher.

    They hit like a Mack truck however you don't have too much room to manuever in the later fights as you constantly dies due to being overwhelmed by enemies. And the worst part is that you get a 10% penalty every time you die. So that means when you need to upgrade your health, etc. it takes forever to do so.

    Another thing I found was that the game is mostly based in a bland building setting so it really kind of messes up tracking at times as all of the offices look alike after a while. Even though you do have hints at time where to go, the blandness of the environment does not help you at all.

    Overall this game has some cool concepts but the environment and the artificial difficulty rubs some points off what could have been an excellent game.    … Expand
  6. Shot007
    Sep 23, 2022
    7
    Fun exciting game, but the ending got a bit repetitive. The graphics were amazing but the story was just a bit too obscure for me.
  7. Hack
    Dec 24, 2019
    7
    I just finished it and overall I enjoyed it, but it wasn't without issues. I feel like the game starts off really strong but ends rather weak, by the end I was ready for it to be over, it definitely overstayed its welcome. Certain scenes just dragged on, or maybe they just felt like they did because I was getting bored by the end.

    + Visuals + Combat + Voicework - Performance (I had    I just finished it and overall I enjoyed it, but it wasn't without issues. I feel like the game starts off really strong but ends rather weak, by the end I was ready for it to be over, it definitely overstayed its welcome. Certain scenes just dragged on, or maybe they just felt like they did because I was getting bored by the end.

    + Visuals
    + Combat
    + Voicework

    - Performance (I had to turn down/off far too many settings to keep 60+ fps with a GTX 1080, 8600k @ 4.8GHz at only 1080p)
    - Confusing map, maybe it's just me but I got lost a lot
    - Unsatisfactory ending
    -Overstayed its welcome    … Expand
  8. fray_bentos
    Feb 4, 2021
    7
    I am very confused by the praise this game seems to get. Frankly, after a few hours of play I found it incoherent, dull and unremarkable. I played to the end it peaked about 2/3rd of the way through (dimensional research), then it just ended. Even with an RTX 3080, I'm finding the graphics dull as well, it's mostly a concrete building with some flashes of red from time to time. SometimesI am very confused by the praise this game seems to get. Frankly, after a few hours of play I found it incoherent, dull and unremarkable. I played to the end it peaked about 2/3rd of the way through (dimensional research), then it just ended. Even with an RTX 3080, I'm finding the graphics dull as well, it's mostly a concrete building with some flashes of red from time to time. Sometimes the red obscures the screen making it impossible to see. The enemies are repetitive, as is the gunplay. For the first few hours I had no chance to engage with the main character or plot. Since it is so weird and none of it has been explained, it means that most of it means nothing and gets ignored as nonsense, it didn't get much better. An utterly overrated game.… Expand
  9. dandalis
    Dec 31, 2020
    7
    Control is another solid outing from Remedy, but at the same time not as solid as Remedy's previous works in my opinion.

    The game opens up quite unusually, there's no fanfare, it just starts and off you go. From there you're mostly on your own in discovering mind bending and mysterious world that lies behind the exterior of the Oldest House. During the game you acquire certain    Control is another solid outing from Remedy, but at the same time not as solid as Remedy's previous works in my opinion.

    The game opens up quite unusually, there's no fanfare, it just starts and off you go. From there you're mostly on your own in discovering mind bending and mysterious world that lies behind the exterior of the Oldest House.
    During the game you acquire certain paranormal powers that feel cool to use and aid you greatly in the combat. Speaking of combat, it feels old schoolish compared to other modern AAA 3rd person shooters, with there being no hand holding, no cover system, you have fast draining health pool that doesnt auto-regenerate and there's 1 universal difficulty which can be quite challenging even after getting grips with it, and i respect that.
    And what would be a Remedy game without solid shooting mechanics. Gunplay in Control was satisfying, with the more traditional forms of the Service Weapon like Grip and Shatter feeling weighty and mechanical. They also sounded really darn well too, especially the Shatter form which had a proper kick to it.
    I need to applaud to Remedy for pushing for highly phyisics driven world interactivity, seeing physics driven destruction was so refreshing in a modern game, because so many developers either have abbandoned it or simply lack the know-how these days in how to pull it off.
    However one problem regarding weapons and gameplay is that you can only equip 2 weapon forms at once, if you want to change, you have to go into the inventory every single time to equip a different one, and it's just annoying, having them all available at a push of a key or mouse scroll would've been so much more intuitive.
    And the mod system that exists for both weapons and powers is kind of a mess too, because the game bombards you with new mods all the bloody time, and with there being a conservative limit to how much you can carry, it makes micro management nigh infuriating.
    The non-linear nature of the game also can eventually become exhausting due to backtracking. I try to avoid fast travelling in games, however in Control, in a few instances fast travel was the only way to exit an area for some reason.
    Jesse's outfit selection also felt rather dull, even more so the optional outfits, only her director's outfit had some personality.

    Narrative in Control gave me fairly mixed sensations.
    The world, lore and setting the game introduces are very interesting, i read, listened, watched every piece of collectible i found, as the Bureau, it's history, mysterious elements and operations are really fascinating. The urge to find out and solve what has gone so wrong at the place is strong.
    Former director Trench and Dr. Darling in my opinion steal the show and kind of overshadow even Jesse herself, even though they dont appear in flesh in the game, they're that well written and performed.
    And here lies one of the main issues i had with the story, none of the characters that Jesse actually encounters in flesh are that compelling really, apart from the finnish janitor Ahti, who doesnt appear that much in the game, but there's just something about him.
    Speaking of Jesse as a protagonist, she also didnt impress me that much. The charisma and charm of the previous Remedy's protagonists just isnt there. Beyond Jesse's ''gift'', there's just kind of a unremarkable and quite frankly bland persona. If they wanted to subvert expectations with the ''average girl from the street'', then i'm afraid Remedy over achieved.
    And i just dont understand why Jesse swears so much, it feels so forced, like the worst kind of millenial writing that tries too hard to come off as mature, but comes off as juvenile instead, i simply refuse to believe that it's Sam Lake's touch, though even if it isnt, shame on him for allowing it to happen. Same can be said about other characters swearing, it just reeks of cheap writing, not Remedy pedigree. I'm not against strong language in games, however there's the right, mature way to do it, and the cheap, juvenile way.
    The final main story quest fell flat aswell for me, i expected something much more after all the build up surrounding the game's main threat, instead what i got was a feeling "For real, is that really it?". Now to be honest, that kind of a finale isnt really something new in a Remedy game, but it was handled so much better in Alan Wake.
    And the Bureau alerts popping up all the damn time during central or side quests was a dumb design choice aswell.

    There were also some inconsistencies that made me curious, despite the game showing Bureau as this ''Old Boys Club'' run by old men, the FBC's elite armed force ''Rangers'' has both men and women in their ranks, but ranger in-game models are all male, it's baffling to hear women's voices coming out of male bodies.
    Aswell as, despite seeing FBC having a gender diverse workforce across it's various sectors, departments and ranks, all the dead bodies in the game are only men.    … Expand
  10. passionne
    Apr 18, 2023
    7
    The good :
    - graphics are awesome with ray tracing enabled.
    - dark atmosphere.
    - gameplay : a few useful powers and weapons make you very powerful against enemies hordes
    - manual saves

    The bad :
    - enemies respawn
    - uninteresting secondary quests.
    - requires a very powerful PC at 4k with ray tracing enabled.
  11. TheFrog
    Nov 15, 2019
    7
    I'm a long time fan of Remedy, and loved Max Payne 2 and Alan Wake + American Nightmare. Not so much for the gameplay, as for the incredible atmosphere, the indirect storytelling, in which music played no small part, the little details. I was a bit disappointed by Quantum Break, it's as if the big production money took away from Remedy's vision.
    Now we have Control, and in my opinion it's    I'm a long time fan of Remedy, and loved Max Payne 2 and Alan Wake + American Nightmare. Not so much for the gameplay, as for the incredible atmosphere, the indirect storytelling, in which music played no small part, the little details. I was a bit disappointed by Quantum Break, it's as if the big production money took away from Remedy's vision.
    Now we have Control, and in my opinion it's their best work in terms of gameplay by far, mixing weapons and PSI powers with quick movement. The story setup is great and perfectly coherent, as long as you accept the supernatural leitmotiv.
    The story that unfolds is unfortunately not quite as good as Alan Wake's, it's much more linear. Jesse Faden enters a mysterious building looking for someone, along the way grabs the sword in the stone (not literally but almost) and becomes Queen of England, or at least Director of the super secret FBC. From here, she'll have to solve an ongoing crisis, gradually gaining new powers, new weapon forms and access to more and more areas, but while the shifting reality of the building remains mesmerizing, the story itself does not provide too many surprises.
    There's a lot of material in the form of notes, correspondence and audio recordings, allowing the player to delve deeper into Control's world. After a while, though, it all started to become boring. I loved audio recordings in the old System Shock 2 because they told the tale of dozens of NPC who died on the starship it was based in. People who got swept away before the player appeared, good or bad, fighting or cowering in fear, they made the story come alive. In Control, after 100 notes about this or that mystical artefact, with dozens of words redacted to make it clear that the FBC takes secrecy seriously... ok, ok, I get it, but 10 would have been enough, how about providing something more varied?
    As I said, gunplay is lots of fun, but the powerup system leaves a lot to be desired. You have a very limited number of slots to customize your character and her weapons, so that I felt very constrained in my choices. Extra health + extra health regeneration are almost a must. That leaves you with ONE free slot and a lot of powerups that provide minimal effect. This is an area that would deserve a rework, in my opinion. On the other hand, I really can't see what people find wrong in the in-game map, I never had any problems, it's not like there are 20 levels on top of one another.
    Some bosses are downright infuriating, I can't imagine what it would be like to fight them using a controller. One forces the player to fight in a small room where the boss can mix explosive fungus, seeking spores and super strong direct hit combos, another one has you fight on a rather small square suspended in space, with the floor that gets eaten away by every enemy attack, so that you can aim at the enemy and fall through to your death, or look at the floor and not shoot.
    Finally, it's very sad for me to see Remedy go Sarkeesian. Tough female protagonist, check. Male NPCs = mostly jerks, check. Tough, competent, reliable female NPCs, check. It's not as black and white as in so many other games, but still you have a tough as nails ex CIA agent and a competent scientist facing a jerk custodian for a warehouse of altered items, a jerk head of Communications who disregards safety procedures to his own detriment and a suppposedly reliable chief of security who cannot even protect himself.

    TL;DR

    Good:
    - Gunplay with PSI is fun
    - GREAT supernatural environment
    - Very good music by Poets Of The Fall (love the maze sequence)
    - Very good graphics

    Bad:
    - Infuriating boss fights
    - Limited freedom in configuring your abilities
    - Monotonous collectible story material
    - Grrrl power, luckily not to an extreme extent    … Expand
  12. jessejojo
    Aug 29, 2019
    7
    So ... i just finished the game and I dont know how to feel about this. First up gameplay:
    The gameplay and shooting mechanics are great and I really like them. The game offers several abilities which are just fun to use like force push, hovering etc. In fact, killing stuff with ur "force" is so much fun it makes me think about the upcoming Star Wars game of EA and that they should really    So ... i just finished the game and I dont know how to feel about this. First up gameplay:
    The gameplay and shooting mechanics are great and I really like them. The game offers several abilities which are just fun to use like force push, hovering etc. In fact, killing stuff with ur "force" is so much fun it makes me think about the upcoming Star Wars game of EA and that they should really get behind it. Be aware though, some abilities you will only find if you go after some side quests, which brings me to the next point.

    There are a couple of sidequest even after finishing the game which vary between really interesting (bosses etc) and absolutly pointless gather or kill missions. Some of this quests are even timed but there is not a single reason to complete them. You will find this quests across the map which is probably my biggest problem with the game.

    Traversing in this game, atleast at the beginning, is horrible. The map in this game just sucks and i didnt count how many times I was lost, but it sure was a lot. I dont know who thought about this map, but it really should be handled differently. Sometimes you have to figure out that some elevators take you to different places which are of course not marked on your map. After a couple of hours you will get the hang of it and understand the map but this shouldnt be a thing.

    Lets get to the story.
    To be honest ... I dont know what to tell you about the story, because on the one hand I feel like the story and the characters are really well done but on the other hand I am not sure if i actually understood anything that happened in the game. This is probably where all this 10/10 reviews come from but just because the story is complicated, it does not mean the story is good. Its definitely entertaining but not worth a 10 out of 10. At some point int the game I thought i understood the plot and the whole story around it but no ... the game keeps throwing confusing things at you which are never cleared up or make any sense at all. Best example would be the whole janitor thing.

    Graphics and performance:
    The game looks really good and they definitely put some work into the maps and special effects. Sometimes the characters look a bit off just like in Quantum Break but thats not a killer for me.
    Personally i had no problems running the game, but others keep complaining about it. Thought i should mention that. Also ... I am talking about the PC version here but I have seen some framerate tests of the game on ps4 and xbox, where the game falls as low as 12 frames which is simply unacceptable. The physics in this game are very well done, which is probably why the consoles have such a hard time running the game. Everything you touch, control or run into actually moves accordingly ... atleast most of the time.

    Conclusion:
    If you like Quantum Break you will definitely like this game aswell. For all others, I would advice to wait for a price drop because I think the game is worth about 40 bucks. It offers some solid shooter fun for ca. 8 hours if you rush through the story and way more if you care about sidequests. If it werent for that overall confusing story with more or less no real ending and a terrible map, i would give this game a higher score.    … Expand
  13. Anastasyah
    Oct 5, 2019
    7
    Great game, but not a masterpiece at all. Remedy you can do better. It was a pleasure to play really, very nice control and all these things. BUT... The plot is not exciting, too «grey», too cliche...
  14. StoiaAlex
    Apr 24, 2020
    7
    This was a wonderful random discovery for me.
    Very fun to play with a very interesting story that is not superficially constructed -if it wasn't for the mysterious plot I would have find it boring eventually -
    And for my surprise the game's fighting mechanics almost tops mass effect's. And this is maybe its crown!
  15. greenisgood
    Jan 18, 2020
    7
    TL;DR - A fun and unique experience story wise, people familiar with the SCP Foundation will enjoy this a bit more than the rest. A good part of the combat mechanics are innovative and well executed, but it lacks a little polish and optimization in the same department. Main Questline goes for about 14 or 15 hours give or take your difficulty level, is a good experience at full price anTL;DR - A fun and unique experience story wise, people familiar with the SCP Foundation will enjoy this a bit more than the rest. A good part of the combat mechanics are innovative and well executed, but it lacks a little polish and optimization in the same department. Main Questline goes for about 14 or 15 hours give or take your difficulty level, is a good experience at full price an even better one if you purchase this on any kind of sale. Hopefully Remedy will take in all the feedback and make a much more Optimized and Balanced experience in the Sure to Be Sequel to CONTROL.

    The Good
    Jesse grew on me through out the game. Being privy to her thoughts really endeared me to her and although it is not a new aspect from a character development perspective it is well executed and works to the game's overall experience. The weirdness of the story really vibes in tandem with her character and the backstory given to Jesse. Campaign Length is just right since it is pretty much a one track story and does not over stay its welcome with padding and or artificial stretching.

    Combat mechanics were really fun Launch and Levitate are the primary ones you will use the most and everything about it from the animation to the utility of it is very satisfying. The guns though not the most versatile helps fill the gap of the ability cool-downs and add a little variety throughout the game. The Ability Tree and Mod Systems also help give you an extra edge during combat, not a whole lot in the case of the Ability Tree but the Mod Systems really enhance the experience.

    The Bad
    A lot of optimization and finesse was needed to make this game reach the Legendary status it really deserves. The Ability Tree for starters needed a good bit of tweaking since other than Launch and Shield ability almost everything else is near pointless; Life Bar, Ability Bar, Melee Combat is barely effective even after maximizing and Modding them.
    Couple this with unbalanced and jarring difficulty spikes the game will really drive you on edge, add in a little bit of imbalanced save points to the mix and this game's novelty and refreshing nature drains itself out of you real quick at times.

    Even the Mod Systems seems so restricted in comparison to all the Mods you receive during you playthrough for both your guns and abilities. At least 4 or 5 slots each would really do wonders to the experience especially for your Abilities since the guns are rendered ineffective in lot of firefights once you pass the 3 to 4 hour mark.
    You have to really learn quick that Launch ability is your Primary Weapon over the actual Primary/Secondary Weapons that you equip, I spent an ungodly amount of time on the Salvador fight since by that time I had not yet figured out that the game wants you to use Launch more than your guns and not the other way around.

    All in all even with it's faults the game is greater than the sum of it's parts and the experience on a whole is quite satisfying. But the game really borders on making it near impossible to overlook all of it's flaws. And hopefully Remedy will take in all the feedback and make a much more Optimized and Balanced experience in the Sure to Be Sequel to CONTROL.    … Expand
  16. BulgarianCritic
    Dec 29, 2019
    7
    I have very mixed feelings about this game.Half of them are positive and the other is negative.Firstly i will start off by saying that this game is 80% inspired from the scp foundation.The altered items(Scp's) the bureau (SCP foundation) and everything else.That for me is a positive since i loved the SCP foundation before they ruined it.Now that doesn't mean that the game doesn't haveI have very mixed feelings about this game.Half of them are positive and the other is negative.Firstly i will start off by saying that this game is 80% inspired from the scp foundation.The altered items(Scp's) the bureau (SCP foundation) and everything else.That for me is a positive since i loved the SCP foundation before they ruined it.Now that doesn't mean that the game doesn't have its own story.It does and i did like some parts of it but most of the story was pretty standard and 60% boring.It had some good and interesting parts but they were too few and far apart.The characters were alright the VA of the main heroine was in my opinion really bad and i didn't felt any hint of emotion when she spoke.Darling on the other hand was **** amazing.I loved every scene when he showed up even made me wonder if this guy was a professional actor or something since he was really good at acting and every time i watched him he seemed super entertained in what he was doing.God Bless that man.The other characters are your standard sub-human trash with no unique perks or personality .Gameplay wise 60% of it i loved.The mechanics and power-ups you get are pretty good (except the levitation part which was really badly programmed).The enemies were pretty standard with barely anything unique in them.I loved reading the summaries of the altered objects(SCPs) but that's because i love stuff like that.The ending was ok nothing special really it looked more like it was made to sell the game's future DLC which i will not be buying.Music was good especially when the soundtrack started playing in the trippy Ashtray Maze.Man i loved that part it was soooo goood with all the moving rooms and doors and awesome music loved every bit of that part.Overall it's an alright game and if you are an SCP fan this is probably the closest you will get to an SCP game so you better check it out.-1 because they decided to be greedy and go Epic store Exclusive.Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee… Expand
  17. defix
    Dec 19, 2019
    7
    Overhypted.
    Mediocre gunplay, sub-par AI/boss design.
    Looks fine, has good RTX support, all in all even in the graphics department its not a game of the year contender. Combine that with the fact that they took the EGS money and still want full price for a fairly repetitive and short game 7/10 might actually be too high. Then again its a single player, no MTX bs, complete game with    Overhypted.
    Mediocre gunplay, sub-par AI/boss design.
    Looks fine, has good RTX support, all in all even in the graphics department its not a game of the year contender.
    Combine that with the fact that they took the EGS money and still want full price for a fairly repetitive and short game 7/10 might actually be too high.

    Then again its a single player, no MTX bs, complete game with very few bugs... so.

    If you can get it on sale for 30 or 40 bucks its completely worth it.
    Full price, you can get better games for the money. But that's subjective, I guess, when someone is super into the story its probably worth full price as well.    … Expand
  18. ZeroXR
    Sep 4, 2019
    7
    A good game. Simple, cool physics and nice to play. Acceptable graphics and good moves.
  19. MaxmilianKohler
    Jan 7, 2021
    7
    Glad when the game was over. Had/has plenty of promise, but needs many improvements.

    Coming recently from Mass Effect Andromeda, that game actually has many similarities to this one. But as much criticism as that game got, this one is definitely worse and more flawed. Camera/FOV has issues, interacting with objects is bad, menus aren't well implemented for PC. The hitboxes aren't    Glad when the game was over. Had/has plenty of promise, but needs many improvements.

    Coming recently from Mass Effect Andromeda, that game actually has many similarities to this one. But as much criticism as that game got, this one is definitely worse and more flawed.

    Camera/FOV has issues, interacting with objects is bad, menus aren't well implemented for PC.

    The hitboxes aren't great. And the enemies are pretty dumb. They don't shoot at you much of the time, but then you randomly take a fatal or near-fatal hit from an often unknown enemy/source.

    The three issues of menus, object interaction, and hitboxes all seem to be due to the game being designed for consoles, including things like auto aim.

    They purposefully added flickering (game effects, and menu flashes white to black), which is just horribly unpleasant. The dynamic lighting transitions are bad. Global Reflections have issues, and are better turned off. The Ray Tracing stuff is super overhyped. It's largely preference yet a huge FPS demand.

    Objectives can often be extremely obscure/esoteric. And navigation needs improvement. It's so bad to the point where I just ignored a number of missions because I'm not just going to wander around aimlessly trying to find the objective. And you can't get them while doing other things – you're either locked out from the areas, or the thing doesn't exist till you get the mission, and they're given once you've already cleared the huge area, so you'd essentially have to go look through the whole thing again.

    There are way too many item pickups that you constantly have to open your menu and compare stats. Much fewer pickups with greater differences between them would be vastly better.

    Not a fan of how they made things that would typically be passive achievements in other games into a mission system. It seems too grindy and ruins immersion.

    The other guns you get have some nice ideas/uniqueness but they're fairly useless and rarely better than the default pistol.

    The progression seems poor and I would highly recommend using a trainer to progress much faster and start enjoying what the game has to offer much sooner.

    Really abrupt ending. There were multiple other missions available, various areas still untraversed, and no particular clue that this mission would end the game. With the DLCs/Ultimate Edition it feels a little more complete.    … Expand
  20. Mehrshad_MB
    Sep 9, 2020
    7
    Quite not the what I expected. The great environment design couldn't prevent me from getting bored. It gives a feel like you're in prison moving from a room to another. It may sound ridiculous but sometimes it was tough for me to find the mission!
    Gameplay (skills you are given, combat system, unbelievable destruction mechanism) and story was fine but it didn't really make me involve with    Quite not the what I expected. The great environment design couldn't prevent me from getting bored. It gives a feel like you're in prison moving from a room to another. It may sound ridiculous but sometimes it was tough for me to find the mission!
    Gameplay (skills you are given, combat system, unbelievable destruction mechanism) and story was fine but it didn't really make me involve with it. (Although I had to check some websites to find out what is happening in game, but the complication of story is good.)
    Overally the game kinda disappointed me and was below my expectations.
    At last I gotta say that I don't think I re-install it in the future... :)
    (August-September 2020)    … Expand
  21. imfm
    Aug 25, 2023
    7
    If you're looking for a creepy/unsettling game, this is a great choice. The gameplay is not bad, but it gets a bit stale after a while. Progression is slow and enemies get overpowered very quickly. Fortunately, the game has cheats built in so it's easy to get over, just unfortunate that they didn't balance the default game better. The story starts out very strong but kind of falls on it'sIf you're looking for a creepy/unsettling game, this is a great choice. The gameplay is not bad, but it gets a bit stale after a while. Progression is slow and enemies get overpowered very quickly. Fortunately, the game has cheats built in so it's easy to get over, just unfortunate that they didn't balance the default game better. The story starts out very strong but kind of falls on it's face. It's an okay game, definitely worth checking out.… Expand
  22. Maurenos
    May 18, 2020
    7
    This is a well-made third person shooter game. Not too long, not too short. Just perfect. If you have a spare weekend and you happen to be a Remedy Entertainment fan then this game might be for you.

    It's a supernatural thriller that takes place in an eerie building. There is a lot of backtracking and killing hordes of the same enemies over and over again, but the game offers you some    This is a well-made third person shooter game. Not too long, not too short. Just perfect. If you have a spare weekend and you happen to be a Remedy Entertainment fan then this game might be for you.

    It's a supernatural thriller that takes place in an eerie building. There is a lot of backtracking and killing hordes of the same enemies over and over again, but the game offers you some decent skill trees as well as supernatural abilities that help you to kill all these bizarre things.

    The plot is also decent - if you liked Alan Wake then you should be satisfied. There is not much of a twist here but it's also well-made like the core gameplay elements.

    In general, if you happen to stumble upon this game on some kind of sale, just buy it if you like such kind of games. If I recall correctly, the game utilizes the same engine that was used in Quantum Break.    … Expand
  23. XLazer
    Jan 5, 2021
    7
    Overall - 7/10

    +Amazing art direction +Epik light reflections +AHTI Satisfying gameplay but gets boring Character models looked like from a 2006 game except Ahti Really bad voice acting of most characters except Ahti Story is good, if you go through the collectables you pick up while playing, it's explained poorly with cutscenes -Useless weapon mods -Really **** bad map and    Overall - 7/10

    +Amazing art direction
    +Epik light reflections
    +AHTI

    Satisfying gameplay but gets boring
    Character models looked like from a 2006 game except Ahti
    Really bad voice acting of most characters except Ahti
    Story is good, if you go through the collectables you pick up while playing, it's explained poorly with cutscenes

    -Useless weapon mods
    -Really **** bad map and navigation system
    -(Avg - Boring) tedious puzzles

    Enjoyment - 7.5/10    … Expand
  24. ProfAmateur
    Oct 8, 2021
    7
    The game is quite creepy, I would say more thriller than horror. The story is interesting, but not ultra involving.
    The difficulty is challenging even for experienced gamers, but not too hard.
    The quick travel system is good. It's not worth it in terms of rewards to play the side missions. It's only worth it if you have a lot of fun with the gameplay and like additional tasks/stories.    The game is quite creepy, I would say more thriller than horror. The story is interesting, but not ultra involving.
    The difficulty is challenging even for experienced gamers, but not too hard.
    The quick travel system is good.
    It's not worth it in terms of rewards to play the side missions. It's only worth it if you have a lot of fun with the gameplay and like additional tasks/stories.
    There are a few moments of frustration, for example when you can't find the way (once the way was in a side chamber, and it had an opening far above. You search for such things for a long time or you go to Youtube, which is a pity).

    German:
    Das Spiel ist ziemlich gruselig, ich würde sagen eher Thriller als Horror. Die Geschichte ist interessant, aber nicht ultra mitreisend.
    Der Schwierigkeitsgrad ist auch für erfahrene Gamer herausfordernd, aber nicht zu schwer.
    Das Schnellreisesystem ist gut
    Es lohnt sich bezüglich Belohnungen nicht, die Nebenmissionen zu spielen. Es lohnt sich nur, wenn man viel Spass am Gameplay hat und zusätzliche Aufgaben/Geschichten mag.
    Es gibt ein paar Frustmomente, beispielsweise wenn man den Weg nicht findet (einmal war der Weg in einer Nebenkammer, und dieser hatte weit oben eine Öffnung. Solche Sachen sucht man sehr lange oder man geht auf Youtube, das ist schade).    … Expand
  25. Luigichief
    Jun 7, 2021
    7
    Nothing against stories with subjective nuances, but one almost totally like this is that it DEPENDS on you to read files to understand something, I consider it simply BAD (at least the execution point).

    The gameplay is the star of the game, very frenetic and delicious. You are a Jedi/God. Most of the 'levels' are reasonable but man, the Ashtray Maze is absurdly good. Some puzzles are    Nothing against stories with subjective nuances, but one almost totally like this is that it DEPENDS on you to read files to understand something, I consider it simply BAD (at least the execution point).

    The gameplay is the star of the game, very frenetic and delicious. You are a Jedi/God. Most of the 'levels' are reasonable but man, the Ashtray Maze is absurdly good. Some puzzles are good and some are not so good.

    Soundtrack taking off by Ashtray Maze is basically non-existent.    … Expand
  26. Evevlina
    Jul 20, 2020
    7
    Very high quality action game. Unique story and excellent game mechanics. Beautiful graphics! PC with RTX on is just pure candy for your eyes!
  27. LironesAlviento
    Aug 2, 2020
    7
    El juego esta muy bien, puedes romper de todo y matar de todo, graficamente exige mas que da, te pide un pepino de PC para jugarlo y visualmente a mi personalmente no me entusiasma.
  28. Oshiri_Maeda
    Feb 17, 2021
    7
    Really, a tech demo, not a game. Amazing graphics, very pleasant "magic" controls and mechanics, good shooting and no plot.
    Nice shooter for couple nights.
  29. harmit900
    Sep 25, 2020
    7
    this game is great but can be better if it had some beautiful enviorment like grass blue sky and pools chandelier 5 star hotel instead of boring office story is emotional and really good characters were also good and if there were more awesome weapons or gadgets it can be more cool game
  30. nicksiciliano
    Aug 23, 2020
    7
    Control has fantastic fluidity, shooting mechanics, and ray tracing graphical achievement. Looking forward to what 505 games has to offer
prev
Page:

Awards & Rankings

17
#17 Best PC Game of 2019
14
#14 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019
82
#82 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 28, 2020
    80
    An audio-visual action banquet that will entertain you with physics and flirting with the supernatural. The story could have been better, the enemy line-up can be quite monotonous towards the end, but the great atmosphere overcomes these shortcomings. And most importantly, the gameplay is great. [Issue#298]
  2. Giant Bomb
    Oct 22, 2019
    100
    Control feels like Remedy firing on all cylinders, resulting in a smart and sensational action-adventure.
    Read full review
  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Oct 11, 2019
    83
    Control takes a while to get in gear, but overall it’s one of the most memorable experiences of the year. [Issue#240, p.36]
See all critic reviews »