A Strange Trip--Control

I just finished my first playthrough of Control (Ultimate Edition) and I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the story and the ending...and just the general weirdness of it all.  Even though the story is a bit hard to grasp, the gameplay in Control is superbly enjoyable.  Let me do my best to sum up the strange trip that is Control.

In Control you play as Jesse Faden, a loyal sister who is just trying to locate her brother.  Locating said brother is no easy task though--he was snatched by a mysterious governmental organization after both siblings survived a catastrophic event.  Jesse shows up at the office of the Federal Bureau of Control and quickly realizes that something is seriously wrong--much of the office staff is currently floating....and chanting in an extremely creepy manner.  But what does this strange, unheard of part of the government even do?  Looking for answers, she heads toward the office of the director, only to arrive just in time to witness him commit suicide!  A strange internal voice seems to be prompting her to pick up the gun....and once she does that a strange entity (represented by an inverted black pyramid) informs her that she's now the director since she has the service weapon....umm, okay, that escalated quickly.  It's her job to figure out what's happening at the Bureau and fix it ANNND to look for her missing brother.  I won't spoil anything, but let's just say that the situation, the Bureau, Jesse's brother, and certain...other factors....are complicated.

Some gameplay stats from my first playthrough--I completed the base game and both DLC's in 38.9 hours.  Like normal, I tried to complete as many side missions as I could find.  I didn't spend too much time messing around with the "Expeditions" (I will explain them later).  It would definitely be possible to finish the base game much more quickly as there is some optional content that players can choose to skip.

Pros:

+ By far, the best part of Control is the combat.  Jesse is equipped with the service weapon, a kind of supernatural weapon that can shift forms (which can be found throughout the main story).  Two different forms can be equipped at a time and it's very easy to switch between them.  The forms echo weapon types found in other shooters--the base form is a pistol but there's also a shotgun-like form for short-range blasting; a charged, long-range sniper-like form; a rapid-firing submachine gun form; and a form that functions a lot like a missile launcher.  That's about where the traditional shooter-like mechanics end--there is no ammo to pick up as the service weapon regenerates ammo after a short cooldown period.

Jesse wields a number of paranatural powers.

If you're just planning on blasting away, you're in for a painful experience.  Both forms of the weapon share an ammo pool with more powerful weapons being capable of only a few shots before the gun needs to recharge.  Luckily, Jesse is capable of acquiring powerful paranatural abilities that enhance her combat capabilities--when used in conjunction with the service weapon I am reminded of the joy of BioShock...combining abilities and shooting for a damn good time.  Jesse's special abilities are powered through a pool of energy that regenerates over time.  As you progress through the story Jesse is able to learn a number of very useful powers--telekinesis for launching chunks of basically anything at enemies; a shielding ability that creates a wall of debris to protect from damage for a short time; a super fast dodging ability; the ability to take control of enemies for short periods; and the ability to levitate.  Being effective in combat means balancing Jesse's powers with attacks using the service weapon--you can't rely solely on one or the other as they both have a limited pool that needs to recharge.

The enemies that Jesse faces come in a number of varieties--some have paranatural abilities similar to Jesse and require extra attention.  There are also several "boss" fights sprinkled throughout the game that present a unique challenge and require you to fully utilize all of Jesse's abilities.  There's one boss fight in particular that is a pretty challenging, but they're all definitely doable.

+Enjoyable destruction.  One of my other combat related favorites was walking into a new setting, getting attacked, and then just demolishing the area.  Most objects are capable of being hurled at enemies using the telekinesis ability...and they cause visible damage to other stuff that you hit.  In a lab?  Hurl some random lab equipment at an oncoming baddie!  In a rocky area?  Rocks'll do.  It's fun to witness the aftermath of broken glass, destroyed furniture, and office spaces that no longer resemble anything office-like.  I loved the realism of the object physics and how most objects seemed to react to your actions.

+ A great environment that's not only fun to destroy (FYI, your destruction is temporary as the areas reset the next time you visit them), but has a unique aesthetic that corresponds with the story.  The Federal Bureau of Control has the trappings of your typical government building, but is anything but typical.  You'll travel through typical offices but also through labs where there's some strange research happening.  Things get a lot weirder as you progress through the story and learn that the FBC deals with paranatural phenomenon and needs lots of space to store certain powerful items and to study bizarre world altering events.  The items and research is dangerous and the building itself is subject to sudden "shifts" which mean that certain areas are altered which can give you a real Alice in Wonderland kind of feeling.

+ Documents, recordings, and other items serve to flesh out the story of the FBC.  It's enjoyable to explore and find collectibles that help to explain the very bizarre nature of the mysterious Bureau.

Just your typical day at the office.

+ Graphically, it looks great.  It also has options for people who want to do fancy things like ray tracing.

+ A main story that is very weird.  I'm still not completely sure exactly what happened or even what was going on throughout the story.  If you're the kind of person who wants a story where all the dots are explicitly connected you might be a bit unhappy.  It's the kind of game where you'll probably want to Google some stuff to figure it out.  I haven't, but I'm content with my confusion.

+ Secrets and cosmetic items.  You can unlock special outfits for Jesse by accomplishing certain tasks.  The game doesn't explicitly tell you about these tasks, but you can also Google them.  It's fun!

+ Talents and loadouts to customize Jesse.  The talent system can improve and add capabilities to Jesse's base abilities (for example, you can use talent points to upgrade telekinesis to allow you to fling explosive items back at enemies).  Enemies have a chance to drop special weapon mods or personal mods--each type can be used to accomplish the playstyle you're going for.  I buffed my launch ability quite a bit and had a genuinely good time flinging everything around.

+ The Ultimate Edition includes two story DLC's which are both enjoyable.  One deals with the story of Alan Wake (a character from another game which I haven't played) and the other is more rooted in the story of the FBC.  Both DLC's include new versions of mods, some new enemy types, and a couple of fun boss fights.

Along with the story DLC's, you also get Expeditions,  which are a type of timed combat challenge.  The Expeditions throw special combat modifiers into the mix which make them particularly challenging (enemies might have 100% health or your energy might only regenerate at 50%).  I attempted the easiest one a couple of times and failed.  There are two levels above that one (and you can unlock a special outfit for completing the top tier)!  They're a nice addition for anyone who wants an additional challenge after the main story.  If you're looking for other challenges, there is a set of arcade machines

+ Lots of side missions and tasks to keep you busy.  You can also opt to participate in special events that only occur for a short time (they will periodically pop up).  These special events are a good way to earn drops like mods or special materials that are used to upgrade your weapon.  Many of the side missions help shine some light on the strange objects contained by the FBC.

Photo mode is perfect for capturing the strangeness of Control.

+ Photo mode.  It's fairly basic, but the environments are very cool and it's fun to snap some pics.

Cons:

- Graphically demanding.  I was a bit bummed that my settings defaulted to low/medium.  The game still looked great, but I could tell that my GPU was running a bit on the toasty side.  You can choose to run the game in DX11 or 12 (I chose 11).  It felt like it shouldn't have been that way, but I'm no technical expert.  There have been some complaints that the textures in the game don't load properly for some people.

- If you owned the base game on Steam prior to the Ultimate Edition, the DLC has been pulled from the store and is no longer available for separate purchase--you have to buy it all again.  Sad face.

Recommendation:

I wasn't sure what to expect going into Control and I had a blast with it.  The combat is great, the environments are weird and creepy without being scary and they look cool, the main story is memorably strange, and when it was all said and done, I wanted more of Jesse and the Federal Bureau of Control.

I managed to grab Control on sale for $19.99 and was happy with that price (a definite bargain--and, it seems to go on sale fairly frequently).  Have fun storming the castle.