Game Journal
Game Journal #1 - Control
With my new graphics card purchase, I decided to replay Control. On my first playthrough I couldn’t enable any of the fancy ray-tracing settings so it was my opportunity to do that. I’m also on a journey to play the Alan Wake games and I had never played the Control DLC that connects to that so it seemed fitting.
The game holds up really well and the visuals with all the ray-tracing features enabled still feel “next gen”. The reflections sometimes make it a bit difficult to read the space of a level, but that’s the only criticism I have. The vibes are still immaculate.
I rarely replay games, so it’s a testament to how good the game plays that not only did I replay it, but I also completed a good chunk of the optional side-missions. I just love how the powers work in this. From levitating and crashing down on the enemies to telekinesis and throwing chucks of the environment around, smashing everything in sight. It all feels great.
The DLCs were the parts that I hadn’t played before, and I enjoyed them as much as the game. I think “The Foundation” was probably my favourite one. It had a more interesting story (especially the “lore” that referenced the origins of The Oldest House) and it connected to the side-missions of the game that I felt lead nowhere in my original playthrough. This DLC was also combat heavy, and it was a nice challenge after the main campaign.
The Alan Wake DLC was more of a mood piece. The FMV parts were cool and the light/dark theme fit the game perfectly. However, there wasn’t much story and I found the boss mechanics annoying. I still enjoyed it, but it felt more like a tease for Alan Wake 2 than an expansion of the Control universe like the first DLC. To be fair, it was pretty obviously set up like that.
I enjoyed coming back to this and playing it in its full glory. Looking forward to Control 2 whenever that releases.