Control

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 2611 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,692 out of 2611
  2. Mixed: 507 out of 2611
  3. Negative: 412 out of 2611
Buy Now
Buy on

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. CustardPigeon
    Aug 27, 2019
    6
    This game had so much potential to be something great, but it is marred by bugs, design choices, and story structure. The first few hours were great, the rest of the game, not so much.

    You play Jesse Faden, a woman who is in search of her missing brother. She is led to the FBC which is a secretive government agency which secures, contains and protects against paranormal objects and    This game had so much potential to be something great, but it is marred by bugs, design choices, and story structure. The first few hours were great, the rest of the game, not so much.

    You play Jesse Faden, a woman who is in search of her missing brother. She is led to the FBC which is a secretive government agency which secures, contains and protects against paranormal objects and events. If you have seen the SPC site in the internet, its essentially that. Within 5 minutes of entering the building you are made the director (boss) of the agency and its up to you to find your brother, defeat the paranormal entity infesting the building, and do everything your staff need you to do.

    The design of the game is a big letdown. Although the building the game is set in is TARDIS like with unlimited dimensions inside, and with the paranormal objects which fill the game and according to ingame lore can affect their environment, causing new dimensions (thresholds) to appear in the same area. you'd assume this would result in some variety of area design, but no. All areas are just grey concrete filled with desks, and/or pipes. The thresholds you see are limited to putting a few piles of clocks on the floor, or a quarry filled with black rock. Wasted opportunity, as the graphical quality isn't too bad, although more effort is put into flashy dust like effects and debris.

    Areas which contain enemies are overly dark, illuminated only by red light as the concrete walls swell and close in. Combine this with enemies who lack discernible differences in appearance except for glowing red spots, and it can be difficult to discern which enemy is which type (necessary for some option missions where you need to kill a certain type), and to determine which is the biggest threat. Combat was generally easy in my experience, only becoming difficult when you get swarmed with shielded regenerating health enemies, or if there was snipers with rocket launcher, for whom you get little warning their homing rockets is coming towards you. You do get the power to convert enemies to your side, but I found the AI lacklustre, as converted suicide bombers just stood pointlessly whilst there is enemies running around them.

    Mission structure tends to consist of go to place, find thing but thing isn't there, go somewhere else, find thing and boom, mission done. This becomes incredibly tedious, especially with the obtuse way the story is told to you. Between the story/mission structure and the level design, I was just getting bored.

    Actual gameplay is pretty good, with you combining gunplay with powers such as telekinesis and levitation for combat, and with the debris effects it can be really entertaining/ but repetitive, uninspired enemies and level design made this too, become boring and tedious to do the more i played.

    I cant really comment on sound design as the soundtrack is subtle in the midst of gameplay, so all I can really say was that it was there, but not good or memorable enough to be remembered.

    Playing on a ps4 pro, I experienced numerous frame rate drops, freezing, slow loading textures, and had to reload my save a couple of times as certain mission items would not load in. These issue may be fixed in a future patch, as is the norm these days.

    In summary, this game had so much potential to be something amazing, it's a brand new IP with a unique setting and fundamentally good gameplay, but it is let down by a lack of imagination by the developers when it comes to sound, area, mission, story and enemy design. I hope that in the event of a sequel, more effort is given to these aspects and then we may have an amazing series in the future.    … Expand
  2. jamess
    Sep 5, 2019
    7
    I would give this an eight if it weren't for the staggering slowdown that crops up right in the thick of battle. It doesn't happen often, but c'mon, it's 2019. Otherwise, it is a fine third person shooter (telepathic shooter?) that makes me miss the old PS2 Psi-Ops more and more (why no next gen version or sequel of that game is a mystery). In game map is useless, and confusing, and someI would give this an eight if it weren't for the staggering slowdown that crops up right in the thick of battle. It doesn't happen often, but c'mon, it's 2019. Otherwise, it is a fine third person shooter (telepathic shooter?) that makes me miss the old PS2 Psi-Ops more and more (why no next gen version or sequel of that game is a mystery). In game map is useless, and confusing, and some on screen directional prompts would be helpful.… Expand
  3. willowertzky
    Dec 5, 2019
    5
    Pretty fun game with gorgeous graphics ( especially the cutscenes ).
    The powers are cool and the shooting feels okay.
    My biggest problem with this game is that I can't find out where to go, the map doesn't help much when it comes to describing where the quest objectives are, if they are on a different level compared to your current whereabouts. The enemy difficulty is also unbalanced,    Pretty fun game with gorgeous graphics ( especially the cutscenes ).
    The powers are cool and the shooting feels okay.
    My biggest problem with this game is that I can't find out where to go,
    the map doesn't help much when it comes to describing where the quest objectives are,
    if they are on a different level compared to your current whereabouts.
    The enemy difficulty is also unbalanced, I suddenly come to an enemy
    that feels impossible to beat, although I had no big problems defeating enemies
    on my path leading up to that point. I have upgraded my **** but I still can't seem to
    advance past that boss fight.
    The story is confusing as all hell but I hope it will make more sense as I progress moe into the game.    … Expand
  4. Thesiberian87
    Dec 9, 2019
    6
    I'm sorry to give a so so vote, I love the software house but control has some defects. Nice atmosphere indeed, clean graphic. The story could have give us something more, and so the gameplay with a more deep mechanisms of superpowers and skills tree.
    Some fights are way too much hard
  5. maksimStark18
    Dec 11, 2020
    7
    Средненький проект, но с лучшей физикой разрушения.
  6. casualuser
    Jan 1, 2021
    5
    What this game is all about ? The Telepathy Sekiro ?
    No reload checkpoint. Every time you die it will cost your resources, I do not remember what to call this, but those resources can be use to upgrade your character. Mean that, you are a gamer who usually have **** dies, you character will weak. For short, the boss hit you once, haft your health-bar, you hit the boss hard, just a little    What this game is all about ? The Telepathy Sekiro ?
    No reload checkpoint. Every time you die it will cost your resources, I do not remember what to call this, but those resources can be use to upgrade your character. Mean that, you are a gamer who usually have **** dies, you character will weak. For short, the boss hit you once, haft your health-bar, you hit the boss hard, just a little bit 1% of it's health-bar. Wanna get your resources back ? No way. If you want to see a cut scene again, no way to do that. You want to hear dialogues again, the same answer.
    They did not even tell us this is a hardcore game. You can not choose difficulty. No reload checkpoint. No guidelines.
    The map which will support you to find the way, do the tasks is almost useless. Even it has a map, it's still hard to no where you should go to next to reach the destination. If you have 15inches or 17inches monitor, you will have to run around to find what you need, and sometime, it won't be on the map, which mean the mark. I ran around for 10 minutes just find the way to the mark. Shooting,, flying, throwing stuffs into the Hiss is fun. The story is fine, just fine. Not worth buying if you are a person who use game to entertain or release your stress.    … Expand
  7. SuperDuck23
    Oct 19, 2020
    7
    Control triumphs regarding its setting, which boasts a spooky atmosphere full of character. However, the game is marred with technical issues and a cold story that fails to engage on even a surface level. The checkpoint system is also very questionable, as it made playing the game feel like a chore on many occasions. Ultimately, I couldn't help but feel disappointed and I'm glad I got theControl triumphs regarding its setting, which boasts a spooky atmosphere full of character. However, the game is marred with technical issues and a cold story that fails to engage on even a surface level. The checkpoint system is also very questionable, as it made playing the game feel like a chore on many occasions. Ultimately, I couldn't help but feel disappointed and I'm glad I got the game on sale. Paying full price for this would have made me feel a little ripped off.… Expand
  8. Aladdin718
    Aug 28, 2021
    7
    Don't get me wrong, it's a solid game, but something about it just feels... flat. It follows the open-world action themes nicely. Some the graphics and animation are fantastic. The abilities are fun to play with. But after it's all done I don't feel like I had a lot of fun or that would want to play it again. There are large areas to explore but they are devoid of life or any sort ofDon't get me wrong, it's a solid game, but something about it just feels... flat. It follows the open-world action themes nicely. Some the graphics and animation are fantastic. The abilities are fun to play with. But after it's all done I don't feel like I had a lot of fun or that would want to play it again. There are large areas to explore but they are devoid of life or any sort of animation really. Much of the back story had to be picked up in files found along the way and so much of the files are redacted that reading them felt like a chore. Some of the running around needed to complete tasks felt like a lot of effort when so much of the world felt empty. It often felt like a chore.… Expand
  9. B-Bog
    Apr 7, 2021
    7
    Sadly, I think I'm going to have to with the general consensus here or even a little below that.

    Shortly after I started the game, I was like "Dude this is awesome! I can see why this won GOTY!" But while Control's strengths like story, setting, lore, characters, acting, and world-building become apparent almost immediately, its flaws take a little more playtime to get to you, but    Sadly, I think I'm going to have to with the general consensus here or even a little below that.

    Shortly after I started the game, I was like "Dude this is awesome! I can see why this won GOTY!"

    But while Control's strengths like story, setting, lore, characters, acting, and world-building become apparent almost immediately, its flaws take a little more playtime to get to you, but then they REALLY get to you.

    After a certain point, I was just IMMENSELY annoyed by the combat. I don't play shooters a lot and consequently, I'm not very good at them, but I was actually doing fine up until a certain point in the game (maybe about two thirds in) where the difficulty curve just TOTALLY takes off. And not just that, the way the game achieves this is purely with brute force, namely sending more and more and more enemies after you and giving them more and more and more health to the point that it becomes bloody ridiculous. Even if you take difficulty completely out of it (I eventually activated Assist Mode), the combat just becomes a tedious grind. The game progresses like this: Corridor, open space with combat, corridor, open space with combat etc. etc. ad nausea. Worse yet, enemies even continue to spawn in "old" areas that you re-visit, which you have to do quite a lot. I normally quite like this style of Metroidvania gameplay, but not if I have to fight five waves of 8 enemies each with insane amounts of health (sometimes they're even regenerating health). The game doesn't allow for any chill exploration, it just keeps ramming the combat down your throat until you're utterly sick of it. There are puzzles in the game as well, but they rarely go beyond "Put block into socket".

    The environment, while interesting at first and creating a unique atmosphere, is really all gray concrete throughout the entire game. Until you get to "The Foundation" DLC, that is, where the endlessly repeating gray concrete is swapped out for endlessly repeating caves with red sand. This DLC also contains the worst sequence of the game BY FAR, where you're just going from platform to platform in an empty void, pointlessly fighting off dozens of enemies and putting blocks into sockets, just so you can activate more platforms where you can do the same thing all over again. It almost seems like this level was designed to combine all the worst flaws of the game into one terrible experience and I was just BEGGING for it to be over. Thankfully, I had already turned myself invincible with Assist Mode at this point, because otherwise I would have had to spend even more time here and I honestly don't know if I had been able to tolerate that and keep playing.

    The game also absolutely DROWNS you in mods, to the point where I was opening up my inventory to deconstruct them every 10 mins. Finally, I said "You know what? F*** it!" and completely stopped bothering with them altogether. It would've been nice to at least be able to upgrade the number of mods you can carry throughout the game, but apparently, nobody at Remedy thought of that.

    There's also A LOT of reading material in this game, to the point where I asked myself if I don't want to just read a book instead lol. It's all optional of course, but the world-building contained in these files is a huge part of the game's appeal, so it's kind of a "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario.

    Boss fights: There really are no boss fights. I mean, technically there are, but they're just normal stronger enemies with more health. There's not even a real boss fight at the very end of the main game, just even more hordes of normal enemies, in case you haven't gotten sick of them yet. Very disappointing, especially considering what could have been done in this regard considering the game's story and the possibilities with the PSI-combat.

    I realize that all of this sounds like Control is just a big, boring, grindy mess, but it does have very strong redeeming qualities: I love the generally weird vibe,the acting and writing (except for Jesse's inner monologue, that is often just plain stupid), the lore, untangling the mystery of it all. And while somewhat repetitive, the Oldest House can still be a fascinating location to explore and you're constantly wondering what revelation you'll be stumbling upon next. The Psi-abilities are fun and generally well executed (sometimes they can be a little janky) and the Service Weapon with its different functions and modding abilities allows for a personalized approach to combat. I just wish that there was more of the genuinely awesome and weird stuff in this game (the Ashtray Maze is the absolute highlight) and less of the repetitive shooting of the same few enemy types literally 5,000 times over.

    And, oh yeah, there's also still quite a number of bugs 1.5 years after release. Nothing game-breaking, but definitely noticeable.    … Expand
  10. Richard1766
    May 20, 2020
    7
    Очень интересная и неоднозначная игра. Вроде бы с одной стороны в игре очень богатый лор, интересный и увлекающие тебя геймплейные механики, отличный саундтрек и действительно загадочная атмосфера, но с другой стороны тебя это увлекает недостаточно из-за своеобразной подачи сюжета игра заинтересовывает тебя недостаточно, она как-то наскучивает и приедается. Но, если вы сможете преодолетьОчень интересная и неоднозначная игра. Вроде бы с одной стороны в игре очень богатый лор, интересный и увлекающие тебя геймплейные механики, отличный саундтрек и действительно загадочная атмосфера, но с другой стороны тебя это увлекает недостаточно из-за своеобразной подачи сюжета игра заинтересовывает тебя недостаточно, она как-то наскучивает и приедается. Но, если вы сможете преодолеть этот минус, то вас ждёт действительно потрясающая игра, на которую не жалко тратить своё время, в целом рекомендую к покупке
    (Важное замечание для обладателей PS4 Slim, игра местами фризит и дико просаживается по фпс, местами чуть ниже 20, но это совсем редкость)    … Expand
  11. giannis2001
    Jul 16, 2021
    7
    This game, although good overall, with very smooth third person shooting, interesting story, characters, voice acting and a very good song near the end...has huge performance issues which makes it unplayable some times and at some specific places.
  12. DAMreviews
    Oct 21, 2019
    6
    Solid art style, story and environment, but easy deaths along with bad check pointing and load time hurts the momentum and flow. Recommended rental.

    The game’s story isn’t anything new - shadowy government and inter dimensional beings similar to Stranger Things - but it’s well executed. You’re along for the ride with the main antagonist’s inner dialogue and interacting with the    Solid art style, story and environment, but easy deaths along with bad check pointing and load time hurts the momentum and flow. Recommended rental.

    The game’s story isn’t anything new - shadowy government and inter dimensional beings similar to Stranger Things - but it’s well executed. You’re along for the ride with the main antagonist’s inner dialogue and interacting with the environment. Story is also told using other media like human actors, puppet shows and audio recordings. It’s solid. I completed in maybe dozen hours more or less and reached a new game plus to continue.
    The single, semi-open world is also done well. You can interact with most objects around by shooting and destroying them. I get the sense that a good amount of effort in design and “under the hood” type stuff is going on to allow a stable world to interact with. But the design of the world - a secret government building isn’t that fun to traverse. You are rewarded for exploring, if you have the right key cards and abilities, and there are secrets and gun mods to pick up. But the bland office settings can be confusing and dull if you run back and forth too much; but you are rewarded. There are also puzzles with answers that aren’t instantly apparent, but I think it comes down to design choice and the game does not hold your hand or tell you exactly what to do, so I don’t count that as a negative. It asks the player to think.

    The biggest problem is that your character can take huge damage quickly. Sometimes you won’t see what’s outside of your field of vision and the controls can be a bit stiff to reacting quickly. So in a few hits you’ll be dead. And then you have to sit through a 20+ second load time. If you’re dying a bunch and having to repeat the process, it’s frustrating enough to consider not playing anymore and that’s the biggest knock. You can also fall to your death easily.

    In all, it’s a solid 6 other than the death check pointing and to a smaller extent, less than fluid controls. I wouldn’t be satisfied paying full price. It’s a good backlog game when you have no big games to play.    … Expand
  13. Springhi
    Jan 1, 2020
    7
    In terms of technology level, this game is great. Magnificent indoor scenes and objects capable of throwing and destroying make this game very impressive in the first few hours. BUT! Unfortunately it becomes boring after that. Obviously this game takes a lot of experiences from other great games, Dark souls, Nioh, The legend of Zelda, Castlevania, for instance. However, I feel that theyIn terms of technology level, this game is great. Magnificent indoor scenes and objects capable of throwing and destroying make this game very impressive in the first few hours. BUT! Unfortunately it becomes boring after that. Obviously this game takes a lot of experiences from other great games, Dark souls, Nioh, The legend of Zelda, Castlevania, for instance. However, I feel that they only learnt bad things from them. Especially boss fights, extremely boring. No unique designs, no impressive skills. Only attemptions to increase the difficulty by a mass of enemies. And, I cant control the time or the place of the battles. This game names CONTROL, but I felt I cant control anything by myself.… Expand
  14. ashwathama199
    Aug 23, 2021
    6
    2 words are sufficient to describe this...."Boring f*ck". Overrepetitive and unoptimised piece of garbage this game is. Not a single moment was there where I didnt want to uninstall this trash
  15. SpectraPrism
    Aug 30, 2020
    7
    I really liked how this game trying to be different than the typical shooter out there, the setting is very unique and cool, although sometime I do feel like it lacks variety. The the pacing is not very good, it's super slow and boring as hell during the beginning, as the pace starting to get better and the story gets more interesting lead to a disappointing ending. The progression of thisI really liked how this game trying to be different than the typical shooter out there, the setting is very unique and cool, although sometime I do feel like it lacks variety. The the pacing is not very good, it's super slow and boring as hell during the beginning, as the pace starting to get better and the story gets more interesting lead to a disappointing ending. The progression of this game is also not good, you unlocks abilities by discovering secret locations that is hidden away and the game doesn't give you hints or clues to these location, so you may finish the game without unlocking or fully upgrade all abilities. Also, too much loading screen and backtracking, the performance is pretty bad pre-patch. The physic is amazing and the graphic is also very good.… Expand
  16. Omarrochloo
    Aug 26, 2020
    7
    I loved the gameplay and things you can do but the timeline of the story was different from remedy’s games i liked game but it has to many problems with the story
  17. Omareltayar
    Sep 17, 2021
    5
    In control you play is a woman that controls stuff, the game should be smooth, the problem is that the game runs on 6 fps on the PS4. Lots of frame drops, bad voice acting, bad characters. Not recommended at all
  18. bassbinho
    May 26, 2021
    7
    The navigation is poor in this game. The most fun starts after 4-5 hours of the game. The plot was too complicated, I didn’t catch all the twists, to be honest. This game is not bad, but is not great also
  19. Ginjarou
    Dec 21, 2019
    5
    The weird and interesting in Control is overshadowed by extremely frustrating and dull combat. There seems to be a need in Remedy games to stuff them with enemies to shoot at - this has ruined this game this time. I would have much preferred this is there was a lot less repetitive combat and more of the weird!
  20. Gohax
    May 24, 2020
    6
    so after i bought astral chain instead of this game because i felt that i wont like it i bought it 8 months later for 30 bucks and i sill think this game isn't worth the money here's why

    cons: the pacing of the game is just horrible the amount of fetch quests that also includes the main story missions is just absurd every time you reach a new thing in the story they cut you out of    so after i bought astral chain instead of this game because i felt that i wont like it i bought it 8 months later for 30 bucks and i sill think this game isn't worth the money here's why

    cons:
    the pacing of the game is just horrible

    the amount of fetch quests that also includes the main story missions is just absurd every time you reach a new thing in the story they cut you out of it and make you go to the other side of the map so you can unlock the next main mission which is really tedious

    the amount of performance issues such as bugs frame rate issues is just to much even making me take a break from the game just because i could not handle the frame drops

    the main story mission is written poorly and overshadows the cool concept of the creepy hunted house

    you fight the same boring looking enemies the whole game even most of the main mission bosses are horrible to look at

    if you want to get the cool content and the good looking bosses you gotta do side quests and search for them which is okay if your main mission bosses aren't boring af

    the main character is just ugly also there is still a bug in the game where she talks and her lower jaw just snaps to the left it is funny but still really ruins the moment

    the ending is meh

    the navigation map is awfully designed i was sometimes stuck 10 to 20 min searching for the place i have to get to just because the map is so hard to read

    the whole monologuing thing while talking to someone does sound cool on paper but the execution is poorly and weirdly done by the devs

    pros:

    the game play is the best part of this game the telekinesis powers and the gun play is the most enjoyable thing in this game

    the whole hunted house concept is really cool and i really loved it although it was over shadowed by the main story there are missions where the concept really shines i think the best example is the head phone mission where the whole area completely changes i can gladly say that that mission is hands down the best part of the game

    the side missions are the best part of the game having the coolest areas and bosses if you play this game you gotta do the side missions

    in conclusion this whole game sounds so good on paper but the way it is made isn't what i expected there are cool moments in it but most of the time i was either bored annoyed by the fetch quests or just searching where to go because of the annoying map which bring me to my final score a 6 out of 10 i just wish the second game will be better than this one    … Expand
  21. wesker2012
    Sep 11, 2019
    6
    This game is a disappointment to rate. The plot and world building is excellent. The art style, atmosphere, and special effects are top notch. The exploration and metroidvania style gameplay is fun. The major problem in the game is the terrible, repetitive combat loop. If you enjoy dying more than actually playing a game, then this is your game. The combat usually involved a neverThis game is a disappointment to rate. The plot and world building is excellent. The art style, atmosphere, and special effects are top notch. The exploration and metroidvania style gameplay is fun. The major problem in the game is the terrible, repetitive combat loop. If you enjoy dying more than actually playing a game, then this is your game. The combat usually involved a never ending stream of cloned bad guys that can kill you so fast and the loading screen after death takes a long time. If you like dying a lot and then waiting for a long loading screen over and over and over again, thats what this game offers. I think this game had a lot of potential to be rated a lot higher if the combat wasn't so hard, repetitive, and a chore to play through.… Expand
  22. WarriorFight
    Sep 10, 2019
    6
    Awesome aesthetic and story completely TORN down by awful gameplay and awful boss fights.

    Remedy should seriously consider adding the ability to change difficulty levels because as is some areas are so incredibly frustrating in terms of plain difficulty on top of being poorly designed in and of themselves that it is prohibitive to progressing for players (like me) who both aren't good    Awesome aesthetic and story completely TORN down by awful gameplay and awful boss fights.

    Remedy should seriously consider adding the ability to change difficulty levels because as is some areas are so incredibly frustrating in terms of plain difficulty on top of being poorly designed in and of themselves that it is prohibitive to progressing for players (like me) who both aren't good at games and don't have the time to spend to "get better" at them. (Also, walked into a boss-fight area, the big font popped up saying I discovered this place, and I couldn't see **** and died immediately. So good planning game).

    I struggle to recommend it because while I love the aesthetic and the story (as much as I have gotten in the first several hours), the gameplay is SO Frustrating and the loop is just not fun enough to merit the difficulty level being where it is. I don't know who's decision that was but they made a serious mistake by not allowing players an option to change difficulty (an option present in I think every single Remedy game prior so its not as though there's precedent). Example: In most games, if there's an area I just cannot get past, I turn the difficulty level down to get through it, then pop it back up to where it was prior. Games like this that go from fairly straightforward and fun go to **** Dark Souls in an instant and it's ALL over the place.

    Watch a Let's Play instead, unless you have hours and hours to improve at the gameplay, or unless you actually think *you'll* enjoy it. Fully subjective, but to me it's not at all worth the effort of the gameplay just to get to the story, which is what i was excited for.    … Expand
  23. meediocre
    Sep 20, 2019
    5
    You are stuck in a labyrinth and constantly have to fight enemies as you move through it, which would be fine if this were a decent shooter, but the combat mechanics are simply ok. The rooms are sprawling and disorientatingly claustrophobic, which was fun for a while, but several hours in, and there's a repetitive pattern creeping in, of opening up new areas, then running into enemies, inYou are stuck in a labyrinth and constantly have to fight enemies as you move through it, which would be fine if this were a decent shooter, but the combat mechanics are simply ok. The rooms are sprawling and disorientatingly claustrophobic, which was fun for a while, but several hours in, and there's a repetitive pattern creeping in, of opening up new areas, then running into enemies, in every corridor and room almost, even the ones you've already cleared. The Hiss are annoying. Then there's the boss fights, which are also annoying, and made worse by the unforgiving save system where you need to start again from a pre-determined save point, which might mean running around for a minute to get back to the place where you keep dying. This game seriously lacks having a buddy companion, either A.I or friend. I think Prey did it better. I gave up.… Expand
  24. bolhoed
    Sep 1, 2019
    5
    The good:
    - Beautiful brutalist level design
    - Interesting story - "Force powers" are fun... for a while The bad: - Slow texture loading / popup - Very bad frame rate, happens very frequently (during combat it can dip below 10 fps!) - Even with the brightness slider set all the way to bright, some areas are incredibly dark, only to absolutely blind you a second later - Mini map    The good:
    - Beautiful brutalist level design
    - Interesting story
    - "Force powers" are fun... for a while

    The bad:
    - Slow texture loading / popup
    - Very bad frame rate, happens very frequently (during combat it can dip below 10 fps!)
    - Even with the brightness slider set all the way to bright, some areas are incredibly dark, only to absolutely blind you a second later
    - Mini map is badly implemented, and also slow to load
    - Repetitive enemies which all looks kinda the same    … Expand
  25. Dottorsky
    Sep 14, 2019
    7
    It Is a wonderful game in an artistic's point of view, but the game don't have a good level of difficulty. The boss fight could be impossible and punitive, expecially with a joypad for the console version, but the regular fight are easy! I don't explain thiis choice, i use to play hardcore game, but a cinematics game likes this shouldnt be to much hard! I want Just to enjoy the story andIt Is a wonderful game in an artistic's point of view, but the game don't have a good level of difficulty. The boss fight could be impossible and punitive, expecially with a joypad for the console version, but the regular fight are easy! I don't explain thiis choice, i use to play hardcore game, but a cinematics game likes this shouldnt be to much hard! I want Just to enjoy the story and the artistic's design choices.… Expand
  26. tibzoid
    Dec 21, 2019
    6
    Fantastic production design but the combat mechanics are atrocious. Deeply frustrating. Uninstalled and got a refund.
  27. Sojum
    Sep 2, 2019
    5
    Interesting, SCP-like concept. And the PS4 Pro handles it just fine most of the time, there are some frame rate drops, but they are few and far between. The 2 biggest detriments to gameplay immersion are the live actors, who are NOT of the same caliber as Quantum Break. And the character models are also a big step back from QB. They don’t look like their human counterparts. The heads areInteresting, SCP-like concept. And the PS4 Pro handles it just fine most of the time, there are some frame rate drops, but they are few and far between. The 2 biggest detriments to gameplay immersion are the live actors, who are NOT of the same caliber as Quantum Break. And the character models are also a big step back from QB. They don’t look like their human counterparts. The heads are weirdly big and misshapen and shadows make them look even worse. The security chief and the main character are the worst.

    Then there’s the constant inner voice-overs in whispery, cringe-worthy form, mixed with closeups of eyes that, don’t match the character models. And lastly the painful grind of having to go through rooms again, every time you die, filled with enemies, just to try to get to your destInation again - also filled with enemies. And any one of them taking you down, means starting over again and again. I’m seriously thinking about putting the game down because I’m stuck in one of these hateful loops.

    Wait for updates. Wait for a sale. The trailer looked soooo good, but that energy doesn’t translate and the artistry is diluted when there’s nothing but that same look over and over and it’s populated with bad distractions. So disappointed.    … Expand
  28. 1manLeft
    Aug 31, 2019
    7
    Control is a a confusing game. No, not the ideas and concepts behind it but the implementation. The concepts and ideas explored in this game are unique and downright ingenious and there's one section where the game really takes off, the ashtray maze. I just wish there were more moments like that in the game but with a few clever twists and turns it still managed to hold my attention andControl is a a confusing game. No, not the ideas and concepts behind it but the implementation. The concepts and ideas explored in this game are unique and downright ingenious and there's one section where the game really takes off, the ashtray maze. I just wish there were more moments like that in the game but with a few clever twists and turns it still managed to hold my attention and fascination. One of the problems I ran into was the confounding map system that was completely terrible and could seemingly have you wandering aimlessly despite following it.

    Which brings me back to the implementation of the wacky ideas. It would have been great to explore more of what was contained in the case files rather than the straight forward plot marching. The side quests were fine but nothing too memorable. Even the boss fights were largely forgettable. The one interesting fight was repeated a second time and I felt that could have been a slot reserved for a different enemy but repetition bogged down the game quite often. There was a lot of world building yet surprising not enough exploring and I hope that's changed with some DLC so we can get into more of the mythos behind the FBC. I won't even get into the console frame rate issues. That kept me from giving it a higher score.

    Very cool ideas in a very good game that needed more time to develop itself.    … Expand
  29. OneTrueOpinion
    Dec 18, 2020
    5
    I played Control for about 15 hours and got the 7th mission. It is relentlessly frustrating, confusing and boring:

    The map is virtually useless for navigating the labyrinthine and repetitive locations and there is no compass. You spend a lot of time wandering around dreary office space and it is not fun. I didn't do any side quests because I was afraid of getting lost forever. The    I played Control for about 15 hours and got the 7th mission. It is relentlessly frustrating, confusing and boring:

    The map is virtually useless for navigating the labyrinthine and repetitive locations and there is no compass. You spend a lot of time wandering around dreary office space and it is not fun. I didn't do any side quests because I was afraid of getting lost forever. The environment is not very interactive, aside from using telekinesis to throw office furniture around.

    The story is odd in the wrong sort of way. It feels like starting the second season of a show you've never heard of. The weirdness is presented in a very unsatisfying way. for example, why are there employees just standing around when there are demons or whatever infesting the building? The protagonist has all the charm and personality of a Terminator. She is so robotic that at first I thought it was some kind of a joke or a bit, but no. It is not a bit. The cinematics are extremely boring: you meet a weirdly animated character who explains some boring aspect of parapsychology and then they send you off in search of another quest item. Every once in a while there is some cool effects animation.
    The gameplay is fun at first, but then the bad guys level up and it doesn't feel like you catch up. So by the time you get to the flying enemies that dodge your telekinetic attach, you spend 2 seconds shooting your underpowered pistol and then hiding for five seconds while it recharges. But they heal faster than your gun reloads, so you find yourself in a truly sisyphean challenge. It is frustrating and not fun, especially when the enemies constantly one-shot you and you have to start over from a distant save point.
    The load time is very long and the save point mechanic and the -10% XP penalty for dying feels unnecessarily punishing.

    The sound design is cool and some of the weirdness is intriguing, but overall his game sucks and I hate it.    … Expand
  30. Kenmei
    Sep 4, 2019
    7
    This is a very typical Remedy game, which includes all the usual pros and cons that come with a Remedy game. Plot revolves around an other worldly type event occurring and your protagonist, this time its introspective Jesse Faden, is dragged into it. They went back to the Noir style monologues from their previous games, like Max Payne or Alan Wake. It doesn't come off as well as it did inThis is a very typical Remedy game, which includes all the usual pros and cons that come with a Remedy game. Plot revolves around an other worldly type event occurring and your protagonist, this time its introspective Jesse Faden, is dragged into it. They went back to the Noir style monologues from their previous games, like Max Payne or Alan Wake. It doesn't come off as well as it did in those games but its not terrible. The gameplay is ok but can be a bit too chaotic at times, which can lead to some very cheap deaths towards the end of the game when a lot of enemies and two or three shot you even with full health. Performance wise, there's a lot of problems with this game. Especially for the consoles. If you are going to play this game on a base PS4 or Xbone then I'd suggest waiting till its patched as there's tons of slow down and performance issues that will grind your game to a halt. It's only slightly better on the Pro and the One X too. If you had to play it now, get this for the PC as it seems to be the most stable version. But if you can play it, there's a lot of fun to be had here, even if the game is very short. Although, I should mention how easy this game is to 100% complete for that Platinum trophy/Gamerscore here. I barely put in 15-20 hours and got it easy. So for achievement hunters, this game will be very rewarding. At the end of the day, its a fun game, that's short and has performance issues. If you can find this for around 30 bucks, do it. But I wouldn't recommend it for much more then that right now. Once the performance issues are taken care of, this is a very solid 8/10 game, just like a lot of Remedy's previous games have been.… Expand
prev
Page:

Awards & Rankings

35
#35 Best PS4 Game of 2019
8
#8 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2019
40
#40 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 63 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 52 out of 63
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 63
  3. Negative: 1 out of 63
  1. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Sep 25, 2019
    90
    Impactful gunplay bolstered by a telekinetic twist, and a mystery you’ll be turning over for a long time afterwards. Welcome to the Oldest House, Director. [Issue#167, p.79]
  2. VG247
    Sep 18, 2019
    80
    The writing, direction, and performances are consistently brilliant. This is Remedy at the peak of its game. Control feels like a company rediscovering itself, waking from a long slumber. Remedy’s legs work as intended once more, the vestiges of sleep paralysis a distant memory.
    Read full review
  3. Quarter to Three
    Sep 17, 2019
    100
    I don’t want to use the word masterpiece lightly, but what else do you call the combination of gleefully chaotic gameplay with earnest storytelling in a setting as refreshingly unique as Bioshock? What else do you call a combat system that goes so far beyond the simple act of shooting a gun without drilling down into a set of intricate menus and complicated controls? What else do you call darkly malevolent horror that doesn’t feel like it was cribbed from someplace else? What else do you call the crowning achievement of a studio with a unique voice, an uneven track record, and 25 years of experience? If there’s a better word to describe what Remedy has achieved with Control, I can’t think of it.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »