PLATFORM: PC, PS4, PS5 (REVIEWED), XBOX ONE, XBOX SERIES S/X | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (DIGITAL), 2ND MARCH (PHYSICAL)
Originally released in summer 2019, Control certainly tickled many fancies around these parts (review here) with its ultra-cinematic tale of Jesse Faden, a young lady who finds herself named as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Control. While searching for her lost brother, she finds herself in the bureau’s headquarters – a mind-bending shapeshifting building where nothing is as it seems. The story takes Jesse through the Oldest House, as it’s known, where she encounters many sci-fi twists and turns with a bit of horror thrown in – kind of like The X-Files with a bit of Twin Peaks-style weirdness thrown in (which should come as no surprise as the game takes place in the same universe as developer Remedy Entertainment’s 2010 cult hit, Alan Wake).
The new Ultimate Edition contains the original game, all of its updates (including extra end-game activities) and the two previously-released expansions which each add a few extra hours’ worth of content. PS5 and Series S/X players will also find significant improvements to loading times, graphics (the much-vaunted ray tracing, which adds reflections to certain surfaces, might not sound like much on paper but, in practise, is definitely noticeable and adds a fair amount of immersion) and general performance (the original release suffered quite badly with stuttering framerate issues which, pleasingly, appear to have been completely resolved).
Control was fun to play in 2019 and these new bells and whistles ensure that it’s still a fantastic experience today. The graphics, sound design (and some fantastic use of real-world music), voice acting and overall presentation are incredible, its story puts most mainstream TV shows to shame, and the gameplay is solid throughout. It does tend to force you to do a bit more legwork than you might like, but any excuse to fight more baddies with Jesse’s supernatural abilities is more than welcome. It’s one of those games that really ought to be on every Starburst reader’s list – if you missed out last time, now’s your chance!
