Control: Ultimate Edition

Control was not only one of the best games of 2019, but also the culmination of the writing, worldbuilding, and third-person shooter skills that Remedy had been cultivating since Max Payne. But its ambitions were too big for most of the systems it was on, which led to its embarrassing performance on anything that wasn’t a PC. Control: Ultimate Edition is the chance for the game to finally flourish on consoles that can better support its vision. And because of the power afforded to it by the PS5 and Xbox Series X, it’s finally able to live up to its potential.

One thing I used to say about 2019’s Control, arguably the best game ever created by Remedy Entertainment, is that it was a next-gen game running on severely outdated then-current-gen hardware. It looked great, its gameplay was fantastic, its art direction was one of best I had ever seen up until that point, but it suffered from severe loading times and framerate issues. It was just too much for the Xbox One and PS4 to handle, regardless of whether you’re talking about the base or Pro ver...

For those who've never played Control before, Ultimate Edition is a must-buy.

Control shines on next-gen hardware. Whether you're delving into the Oldest House for the first time or are revisiting the facility to get a taste of the new ray-tracing features or 60 FPS performance mode, Control: Ultimate Edition is a stellar experience that provides the definitive way to play Remedy's latest title.

Control’s road to release on PlayStation 5 has been a bit of a rocky one. Between the Ultimate Edition boxing out early adopters from a next-gen upgrade, certain users accidentally being given the upgrade they were told wasn’t possible, and now Control: Ultimate Edition releasing as a PlayStation Plus title on day one, things have gotten ugly. But the game itself is anything but. This is one of the best PS5 overhauls to date.

Control is, and always has been, a fantastic game – that's not in doubt. Remedy's skill when it comes to creating a highly-detailed game-world is world-class, and the gloriously dynamic combat is second-to-none – once you've unlocked the required skills in-game, at least. The Nintendo Switch may not be the absolute best place to play Control if you're looking for crisp 60fps graphics and rock-solid performance, but it's perfectly good if you've got a relatively stable internet connection and a Pro Controller.

Control’s PS5 port does a tremendous job of improving the sluggishness of the original release, too. By and large, players should have no issues navigating the game’s environment and feeling the improvements current-generation hardware offers them. However, aiming the Service Weapon still feels like trying to track enemies while wading through quicksand. Even when increasing the sensitivity, aiming can be a tedious affair whether utilizing Aim Assist option or not. The game also makes use of the DualSense controller on PS5. Every action emits a response from the controller, whether feeling the...

As a next-gen update then, Control does a decent job of taking advantage of both the power and unique features of the new generation of consoles, especially if you happen to be playing on a PlayStation 5. While the ray-traced effects might not make this a must-replay, it’s still a far better and (crucially) more stable experience than the game has ever been on consoles, not to mention the joy of playing with the 60fps option instead. At the end of the day Control is a game worth checking out for the first or fifth time, so now’s a better time than ever to get on that.