Remedy is known for developing some of the most interesting sci-fi games like Alan Wake, and brilliant shooter games like Max Payne. In terms of both gameplay and story, Control has to be Remedy at their best.
Control is a sci-fi horror game that takes place within the FBC, a top secret government facility tasked with keeping other worldly and supernatural phenomenon from invading the world. You play as Jesse Faden, a women in search of her brother as well as the secrets of a past event in her childhood, all while an unknown threat invaded the FBC.
Control was one of my favorite games of 2019, especially as a sci-fi horror fan. I thought the game blended those two genres perfectly. I loved the story, the characters, and the world. It's brilliantly written with plenty of drama, horror, and even some comedy sprinkled in. And overall just a great story to play through, thrilling and unpredictable from start to finish.
Aside from the story, which clocks in at around 12 hours, there's plenty of other side missions to do, all of which are great. Even the fetch quests are still fun to do, and with a surprisingly large open world styled map, there's plenty to explore to, as well as research to collect if you're interested in the games fascinating lore. Either way everything along the way as you go through the story is just as great as the story itself.
Aside from the story and concept is another shining point in the game, the highly anticipated gameplay, which absolutely doesn't disappoint. The traversal and combat is a blast. Armed with a supernatural pistol with multiple firing modes, the shooting is great, but it's your supernatural abilities that is the most fun. Levitating, picking up rubble and objects and hurling them at enemies, using rubble as a shield, all of this feels smooth and fun as hell.
The graphics are phenomenal, and the gameplay overall is pretty smooth, with only a few bugs along the way. The stutter in the gameplay after opening the menu gets really annoying, and the frequent map glitches are all things I really with the devs patched up upon release. But after playing this game three times since launch, it still isn't fixed. It's not game breaking by any means, but it gets old. Throughout the game enemies also start to get a bit annoying with frequent respawning all the time. I find myself towards the end of the game just running past enemies to get to my objective. Luckily the game is generous with save points that offer fast traveling options.
Overall Control is one of my favorite games of 2019. If you're a sci-fi horror fan, or just a fan of great shooting mechanics and overall gameplay, then this game is 100% worth your time.