CONTROL ULTIMATE EDITION REVIEW

I'm a huge fan of Remedy's Control. Not only was it one of my favourite games of 2019, but it also made the Explosion Networks list of the Top 10 Games of 2019. It's an exciting action game with some genuinely next-generation systems and technology. Unfortunately, consoles missed out on much of Controls biggest visual showcases including ray-tracing as the last-gen consoles struggled to even pause and un-pause the game without a struggle. It was easy to understand why the PC was the only platform to receive ray-tracing. But everything's changed now, and with the release of Control Ultimate Edition for the new consoles, the game looks better than ever, and more importantly, plays better than ever before.

There are two visual options available in Control Ultimate Edition, and you're able to switch better them at any time in the pause menu, without having to reload your game. The first is "Graphics Mode" and the second a "Performance Mode."

Graphics Mode targets 30fps with ray-traced reflections at 1440p with temporal upscaling to 4K. The most impressive feature of this option is, of course, the ray-tracing. Control features many shiny and reflective surfaces and is undoubtedly a showcase for how RT can make a video game world look more realistic. There's no level or location that doesn't benefit from RT reflections. From the glass in the many office rooms you pass to the reflections off the marble hallways, it's all beautiful. As for the frame-rate, I'm sure Remedy stated it "targets 30fps" to cover their ass, but as far as I could tell, it is hitting 30fps without a drop. A significant improvement over the 30fps target of the PS4 Pro which dropped constantly.

The Performance Mode targets 60fps with 1440p render resolution and an output of 4K. This mode does not use any ray-tracing. What you do get, however, is that buttery smooth 60fps, which is a real game-changer. Control is a very fast-paced action game where you're whipping the camera back, forth and all-around to shoot and throw objects, and at 60fps it makes the game easier. Boss fights where I struggled to hit the enemy on PS4 Pro have been so much more comfortable at 60fps. The amount of debris and exploding enemies and abilities also look substantially better at 60fps.

For my money's worth, Performance Mode is the way to play Control. As much as I love ray-tracing, once you experience the game at 60, it's impossible to go back. With that said, however, it does bring me to my one major critique of Control Ultimate Edition. A "Performance RT" mode that ran the game at 1080p/60fps/RT as seen in Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales would have been the option of choice for many if that had of been included. Maybe Remedy could patch this in down the line as Insomniac Did, but we'll have to wait and see.

One of the PS4's most annoying issues when playing the game was a constant FPS drop and stutter when exiting any of the game's menus. It didn't ruin the experience but was a pain nonetheless. Well, I'm happy to report it is completely gone and in both of the visual modes. Top marks for that fix.

Loading has been improved across the board here as you'd expect. Booting up the game now takes 4-5 seconds. Reloading from death around the game, and fast travelling just a couple of seconds. A staggering improvement from the 30-60 seconds it'd take to do any of those on PS4 Pro.

Control Ultimate Edition also uses all of the PS5's nifty new features to good effect. Haptic Feedback produces small taps as you walk across a metal bridge, and firing the different Service Weapons forms all make different feelings in the triggers. The game also uses PS5 Game Help. And it's nice to have it an option for the handful of puzzles in the game, or if you get lost.

As a package Control Ultimate Edition includes, as you'd expect, everything that's been released for the game. That's both "The Foundation" and "AWE" expansions, as well as free updates like expeditions and the photo mode -- which, by the way, is even better to use with ray-tracing. The only downfall is you cannot import your save from PS4 or any other console. Which is disappointing as I'd love to have just jumped to the Ashtray Maze to test the game out and I'm sure some would have enjoyed being able to play both expansions on PS5, without having to replay the game from the beginning.

Control is Remedy's finest work and the foundation of what they're building towards as a studio. I loved it on PS4, and I love it even more now. With all of my technical issues removed, this is the ultimate way to play one of 2019's most exhilarating, and weirdest games.