4.5/5 ★ – baba19's review of Control: Ultimate Edition.

Jan '22 Presentation Love the atmosphere/mood/tone of the game. I never watched X-files, but this is what I imagine it to be. Similar to how Skyrim and Cyperpunk are based on the "best of" fantasy/cyperbunk genre, Control could be the best of bureaucracy/paranormal genre. The "cutscenes" of director (blue/light) talking was great. Like Lost's dharma initiatives, the Darling vids were great. The tele powers are satisfying. I never got bored of pulling a object and hurling it across the room. Some customization stuff I wish was more tutorialized. I know how to navigate menus and discover stuff, but should it be something discovered? or explicitly stated? Referring to option to upgrade weapons, add mods, assign ability points. I could be wrong, but I don't think any of that is told to the player they could do. Reading the lore/notes, discovering rooms (post-its) was the one of my highlights. It really added to the setting. I could imagine a version of this game (hiss breakout on the bureau) being the regular the day-to-day workings of the bureau with the hiss attack. Imagine if NPCs were trying to just make copies or go to the breakroom and director barges in shooting hiss! I have a complaint about difficulty. Not sure if I'm getting worse at games or the enemy difficulty scaling was not paced well. I found my strength progress didn't keep up with enemies power progression. Very grateful for the options page to allow for tinkering of power levels and straight up offering Immortality and One shot kill options. Towards the mid/end game I just want to enjoy the story/lore and not bother with enemies. I kept the one shot option on. The respawn system is horrible. Accidental falls with evade/levitate ability leads you to restart at some point far away. It leads to a "waste" of 5 mins to get back to wherever you were. Not the worst, but still bad. Not the best end "boss." or story conclusion. I liked Jesse and learning about her past, but her "current" story didn't connect with me. The fake out checkplus. Maze CHECKPLUS. Lots to love. Little to complain about. And if you find parts bad, there are options to adjust to your taste, which is a HUGE PLUS.