Control - is it worth persevering?

[defblade]

Picked Control up for free from Epic a while ago, so there's not even a waste of money question here...

The game looks amazing and sounds lovely.

But god, I'm struggling with it.
The combat is annoying and your character highly squishy; the constant area re-spawns in a game that appears to need you to go back and forth across the map just exacerbate this. The mod system is clunky and hard to follow. The exposition is soooooo sloooooooow, especially the tapes (the videos are a bit more entertaining). I've played much, and the puzzles are already starting to get me feeling they're a bit too random. Oh, and only saving at control points... not that I wan to save scum, just that my gaming time is limited, and I like to be able to stop when I want to, not when the game lets me.

I've just about struggled through to get the Hotline and am losing the will to live a bit as I go through 4 tapes you then pick up.


Does this game pick up? Is it worth pushing on through? I don't like giving up on things, but I'm really not sure "beating" this one will be worth the effort.

[Steven_RW]

People will say it is worthwhile but like you, I gave up and parked it early.

[deanobeano]

Stick with it.
You'll soon be able to levitate, which will allow you to get to more places.

The power of your weapons will also increase. When engaging enemies, always be moving.

[franki68]

defblade said:

Picked Control up for free from Epic a while ago, so there's not even a waste of money question here...

The game looks amazing and sounds lovely.

But god, I'm struggling with it.
The combat is annoying and your character highly squishy; the constant area re-spawns in a game that appears to need you to go back and forth across the map just exacerbate this. The mod system is clunky and hard to follow. The exposition is soooooo sloooooooow, especially the tapes (the videos are a bit more entertaining). I've played much, and the puzzles are already starting to get me feeling they're a bit too random. Oh, and only saving at control points... not that I wan to save scum, just that my gaming time is limited, and I like to be able to stop when I want to, not when the game lets me.

I've just about struggled through to get the Hotline and am losing the will to live a bit as I go through 4 tapes you then pick up.


Does this game pick up? Is it worth pushing on through? I don't like giving up on things, but I'm really not sure "beating" this one will be worth the effort.

It's a relatively short game.Don't recall dying more than once or twice so not so sure about the character being too squishy.I enjoyed it,certainly helps when you get a few powers although like many games you find you become almost too powerful.

[Jimmy No Hands]

I am a huge Remedy fan (Alan Wake, Max Payne) and picked up Control after finishing Quantum Break (which I really enjoyed) but ended up shelving Control after a few hours. I just didn't really click with the narrative or the combat too well. I regret not persevering, but once I've 'checked out' of a game I find it hard to return.

[Douglas Quaid]

Finished quantum break and enjoyed it but control is not as enjoyable to play. Maybe I should give it another go but it seems like a real drag.

[Scantily]

If you’re struggling with combat, focus on upgrading launch to max first, and then get multi launch. This will take out every enemy in the game quite easily, and is very powerful against bosses.

[Sporky]

I made it quite a long way through and gave up.

I liked the setting and atmosphere, but the combat has ridiculous spikes and it got to the point where I just wasn't enjoying it.

[fuzzymonkey]

In the options, there are a full set of options that you can use to customise the difficulty.

[SturdyHSV]

I flogged away at it for a good while, I imagine about 60% through the game perhaps, but in the end I just didn't find the narrative interesting enough to continue floating around the same looking areas etc.

A bit like LOST (the TV series) whereby you sort of buy in that something interesting might be happening but eventually just lose the will to carry on with it as it just gets stranger and stranger.

It had a good tone / feel to it which kept me plugging away, but yeah, was playing it regularly and then one day I just didn't fancy playing more of the same thing, and haven't touched it again...

[a7x88]

One of the first games I played through when I got my PS5. Thoroughly enjoyed it - and a section towards the end was probably one of if not the best gaming experience I’ve had.

Stick with it I say

[Sporky]

fuzzymonkey said:

In the options, there are a full set of options that you can use to customise the difficulty.

But not one to make the difficulty more consistent, which is all I wanted. There'd be rooms I'd die three times in, then breeze straight through next go (and through the next several encounters). It was the spikes that ruined it for me.

[Matty_]

It was a strange game for me - I wanted to play it, but also didn't like playing it; it messed with my anxiety and all in, its quite an 'uneasy' game.

I found it to be a little unsatisfying at the end. The problem is that the 'Throw' is pretty much all you need. It smashes through everything and does far more damage than you weapons. I didn't even both using any other powers.

As with most games, if you're past that 3-4 hour mark and still not clicking then it's unlikely you'll get much more out of it.

[defblade]

Thanks folks, I think I'll move on and play something else... might leave it installed for now though.

Daughter had a positive lateral flow this evening, so there may be 10 days of gaming time arriving in my near future...

[defblade]

I've managed to avoid the 'vid this time around, so not as much gaming time as I thought

However, started up Dues Ex Mankind Divided and found myself up playing past 1am most nights, so it's definitely goodbye to Control!

[8bit]

Matty_ said:

It was a strange game for me - I wanted to play it, but also didn't like playing it; it messed with my anxiety and all in, its quite an 'uneasy' game.

I found it to be a little unsatisfying at the end. The problem is that the 'Throw' is pretty much all you need. It smashes through everything and does far more damage than you weapons. I didn't even both using any other powers.

As with most games, if you're past that 3-4 hour mark and still not clicking then it's unlikely you'll get much more out of it.

That's an interesting point about the Throw power - I think I've just recently got the Shield power (and obviously all the ones that come before it) and part of me thinks I'm doing OK just using Throw for the most part but part of me thinks I'd get on better if I learned to use the other ones a bit.

I've not played it in a while, I find I have to be in the mood for it but the story and aesthetic appeal to me. They won't for everyone though. I think I found myself feeling like it was already a little bit on the long side and I don't often say that about a single-player, story-driven game these days.

[zedx19]

I've put a couple of hours into this on Gamepass and started thinking whether it was for me, sounds like it's not worth the slog. I'd actually downloaded Psychonauts 2 last night after thinking whether Control was for me, think I'll stick with that now, seems fun.