Control

[mfnick]

Completed both the DLC packs now. They were ok but I wouldn’t have recommended paying extra for them. All good if you got UE with PS+ though. 
 

In Foundation I found the environment really boring for the most part although it did have one of the best combat rooms in the entire game. A multi-storey office block which was just incredible fun to smash to smithereens. 
 

AWE has some decent ideas set around lighting & it was cool how they linked it to that IP but to be honest I was a bit bored by the end of it. 

[Nag]

Finished both the base game and both dlc's (which I didn't play on Xbox)... same as @mfnick I liked the light aspect of Awe, didn't overly like The Foundation at all to be fair.

 

As a whole I still think the game is massively overrated, PS5 definitely helps out with the performance of the game (the map now actually loads) ray tracing is pretty cool but other than that I think it's really ugly game to actually play. The room destruction is probably the most impressive thing to me.

[one-armed dwarf]

It's more technically impressive than artistically, I think DF overrate its looks a fair bit as well tbh but I get why the RT is a big deal. It's like a peak into the future.

 

The DLC sucks though IMO, the full game was enough

[one-armed dwarf]

10 minutes ago, DisturbedSwan said:

 

Looking forward to giving this (another) go on Friday.

 

 

?‍♀️*
 

 

I seem to have messed the quote up but you can't do a super meaningful comparison with a 30fps lock. DF found a way around that with the photo mode tho because the framerate is unlocked in it, where the delta in performance mostly tracked with the teraflop advantage of xbox

 

 

[DisturbedSwan]

Why can't you do an apt comparison with two equal 30FPS locked RT modes on each system? @one-armed dwarf

 

Anyway, in this mode PS5 was equal with XSX, maybe a little better thanks to the stutter on XSX. That's in DF's words.

 

I didn't even know this photo mode etc. existing nor is it an apt comparison in my view if it's not a standard game mode a layman can access. 

[one-armed dwarf]

Just now, DisturbedSwan said:

Why can't you do an apt comparison with two equal 30FPS locked RT modes on each system? @one-armed dwarf

 

Because a 30fps lock is a software constraint, not a hardware limitation. The photo mode is unlocked and closer to a pure 'stress test'/benchmark in this case.

 

My 3070 can match a 3090 for framerate if I could have the 3090's framerate limited to something within the capabilities of a 3070

[DisturbedSwan]

11 minutes ago, one-armed dwarf said:

Because a 30fps lock is a software constraint, not a hardware limitation. The photo mode is unlocked and closer to a pure 'stress test'/benchmark in this case.

 

 

But we're talking about the 'RT setting on Xbox' (and PS5) here, we're not talking about benchmarking. We're talking about how it runs in general to a laymen, and in that regard both are equal with PS5 being possibly a little better thanks to the stutter on XSX. 

 

I've never played Control on anything but a PC, I was just saying your statement before was incorrect.

[one-armed dwarf]

3 minutes ago, DisturbedSwan said:

we're not talking about benchmarking. We're talking about how it runs in general to a laymen,

I'm definitely talking about benchmarking though, because imo it's the way to truly separate the two machines based on their capabilities. Which makes it relevant to how much is going on in Metro cause it goes way beyond even what Control did especially on console

 

Like yes fundamentally it makes not a difference in playing this actual game, but as a datapoint it does show favourable performance for RT on Xbox which is why I brought it up.

[DisturbedSwan]

6 minutes ago, one-armed dwarf said:

I'm definitely talking about benchmarking though, because imo it's the way to truly separate the two machines based on their capabilities. Which makes it relevant to how much is going on in Metro cause it goes way beyond even what Control did especially on console

 

Like yes fundamentally it makes not a difference in playing this actual game, but as a datapoint it does show favourable performance for RT on Xbox which is why I brought it up.

 

XSX photo benchmarking mode = win

PS5 30FPS RT mode = win (very slightly). 

 

?

[HandsomeDead]

I've been playing this on and off for months (UE on XSS) and I've not been able to figure out where I fall with it.  I'm finding it equal parts interesting and a damn slog.

 

I haven't finished it (I've just met the brother) but I'm getting the sense that the story is pretty one note, but a note they've written to within an inch of its life.  I've stopped looking into the lore because it doesn't really build up to much.  I could be missing something.  I was enjoying it at the start, having this X-files style paranormal mystery but I've just been disappointed by how it isn't amounting to much despite there being so much of it.

 

I'm also pretty frustrated at the gunplay.  It seems to be entirely designed around the default weapon and using the other variations is only for very situational moments, and you can only equip two at a time so that option is hard to explore; plus, I don't think you can do any meaningful builds with the buffs you can equip so play styles are limited there too.

The shield can be useful but I have no idea why I'd use levitation in combat as that seems like a good way to die.  And telekinesis is used in the simplest way it could.

 

I'm just surprised with all this stuff the ways available to play are so underexploited.  Sprinting around with your default weapon is always the best option, by some margin.

 

I love me a 'Metroidvania' so I thought, on paper, I'd really like Control but it's under-delivering in most ways and I dunno if I'll see it to the end.  I keep having to really talk myself into playing it.

[DANGERMAN]

Levitation is useful for going on the attack, I used it all the time. You get a better view of enemies for telekinesis 

[Maryokutai]

It's been a while (how the hell is this 2 years old already?) but I remember it also being useful against rocket launcher enemies as it lets you avoid splash damage.

 

I'd also recommend sticking with the game. It has a very bumpy quality curve but there are some good-to-great moments in the latter third and the gameplay is best towards the finale when you have a bunch of levelled-up skills.

[Maf]

So I played some of this on PC. I'll try not to get in to all the technical stuff but a short summary on that side of things is I don't understand a lot of the options it's giving me, especially with it's two resolution settings. Baffled by that. It kept breaking the window too. I'd be happy to turn it down to 1440p for higher frame rates but essentially it wouldn't let me do it. If I took it off 4K it would break the window, and clicking any button would reset to full screen and back to 4K, but then the second resolution option was 970 or some weird number. No idea. What hassle. 

 

I have played this game twice before. Once on Xbox One X and once again last year on PS5. So you would think I would be really familiar with how this game looks and would notice the RT upgrades. But it kind of just looks like the same old Control. I can see the reflections and things, and there was one cutscene with Ahti in his office that did look particularly good and moody, but I can't lie. I can't tell you those reflections weren't in the console version or if that scene looked like that on console. I guess the overall point is I don't think it really elevated the game that much. I knew I wouldn't be able to remember the console version clearly enough to point out specific differences, but I thought I would at least be familiar enough with the game at this point to notice if overall the game looked significantly better or anything. But it kind of looks like the same old Control. I'm sure it does look better, but from what I saw, uh. It didn't improve the game for me in a big or noticeable way. 

 

I even tried turning all the RT stuff on and off for a test. Maybe I was in the wrong area but I couldn't tell the difference. I guess maybe the game looked a little flatter. But I'm not sure. 

 

Also I don't know if this is the Gamepass version or what but this game is buggy. There was a point where all the textures disappeared, the game kept hitching, at times the FPS bottom'd the fuck out, the sound kept glitching out in cutscenes. 

 

I'm sure the PC version is better. Maybe I should have looked up some recommended settings before starting the game instead of trying to figure it out myself. I momentarily forgot that the PC would be a prick about the best way to set the game up so I should have looked first. But from the hour or so I just played it didn't really seem that much better than the PS5. Sure no RT (Again not that it did anything to the game for me), but less bugs, steady FPS and HDR. I'm not saying it's better because what do I know but it's definitely not that much worse 🤷‍♂️

 

Also very annoying it started popping achievements. Nooo I've already done this game twice I can't do it a 3rd time. So I'm going to have a game with like 100 points sitting on my shit forever. 

 

Woe is me life is pain. 

[one-armed dwarf]

PC also has HDR, you enable it by pressing the windows key, alt and B.

 

Anyway I dont believe there's any differences between console and PC with reflections, I think they have the same stuff there. It's global illumination I think that's new (also 'diffuse' lighting or something, which I dont understand as such). The two resolutions stuff is dlss (watch a DF video on it). But for RT, the biggest thing it adds to games is the way light bounces around and reflects the colour of neighboring objects, and shadows pool more realistically in places out of reach of light. It's not really a big shiny thing that's super noticeable, more like when it is turned off after long periods of looking at it turned on you notice objects sticking out weirdly (or flatly lit). RT is more about consistency than shiny, I notice it more when it's turned off than on TBH

 

I didn't have any of those bugs but I was on steam when I played it. Gamepass has a different system for patching games, eg it has a completely different version of Nier Automata. I think it's cause MS lockdown that stuff and make it more of a headache but I dunno.

[Maf]

I've played some more of this on PC over the weekend and think that DLSS in this is actually quite good. I can drop the internal resolution down to 1080p yet what it's reconstructing looks exactly the same to me. I didn't test it against native 4K because what's the point. There'd be such a performance drop it's not a real option anyway. But dropping the internal resolution from 1440 to 1080 didn't seem to affect it at all. Which is good because it got me much higher FPS.

 

I know @one-armed dwarf said he didn't like DLSS because it made things fuzzy and noisy. Definitely a thing with this game, but taking DLSS off didn't seem to cure it for me. Just is what it is, I think 

 

But dropping res was much better I can have all RT options + mostly high settings hitting between 70-100fps depending on the size of the area and what's going on and to my eye no difference in image quality. 

 

Still not sure what all the RT options do. I think I can leave it with reflections and shadows and take off the other options and it'd probably look the same to me. But sometimes it's not the seeing it's the knowing so I leave it all on regardless 

[one-armed dwarf]

I think you will notice the RTGI stuff more when you play lots of games with it on and go back to games which don't have it at all. 

 

The best thing about the PC version btw is just using cheat engine to unlock all the abilities. That shield move is actually amazing when fully levelled, it turns into a way more fun game. But I think cheat engine doesnt work with gamepass.

[Maf]

Yeah, maybe. I think Metro is up next. 

 

Oh, I do want to say quick the worst thing about this game is the name. Try google any computer question/problem with the word control in it 

[one-armed dwarf]

A Remedy employee made a HDR mod and 'Ultra' level ray tracing setting for Control in their spare time. They call it a 'mod' but it's actually an official update, released through unofficial means. I think because they would have to pay valve to put it on their service or something, as well as Sony and MS presumably. So a mod is the way that they've chosen, weird. Console players don't get to participate, for now. Maybe they might release it properly when the sequel or AW2 releases (the HDR part at least)

 

https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/2581-control-hdr/

 

Anyway, I took some footage. I'm not completely sure about how I feel about HDR in Control, which always went for a very muted kind of look. The highlights in fights look cool though, if this youtube can manage to preserve those highlights I dunno (you need to watch on a HDR device to actually see the HDR. I guess that's obvious but I dunno how many people realise Youtube actually supports HDR. Mouse movement a bit twitchy on this, sorry)

 

 

I don't notice the difference in RT, but people say it reduces the very 'noisy' look on surfaces that Control has with this setting. I remember being driven crazy by that, some surfaces look like they have bees in them. It's one of the bad things about RT currently in some games so it's cool if that is reduced by this

 

edit there's another video in that link which is probably better than mine, albeit in UW

 

 

[regemond]

This is something I tried a couple of years ago and bounced off it. I don't know if I'd just had a few too many beers when I started it or if I just wasn't in the headspace for this type of game, but it just wasn't for me. 

 

Anyway, I hopped on the PS5 (much to the chagrin of Rosie) and stole her PS+ benefits to download it. 

 

This time I'm massively enjoying it. I've only unlocked a couple of powers up to now, but the theme is grabbing me completely. I'm not a fan of horror games, but this straddles the line of atmospheric without being frightening, and the gameplay just feels like chaos right now in the best way. 

 

It feels very Kubrick to me. In the colour palette, the carpet patterns, a few different aspects, but more of a respectful homage than a straight up rip off.

 

But yeah,  I know it has mixed views on here, however I can't complain at all at the minute. 

[Metroid66]

I got this a while ago. It looks great, but I'm planning a wake/quantum/control/wake 2 play binge in the very near future (well, after I've finished my current 2 games, far cry new dawn and fenyx rising)

 

Are you using any of those gameplay tweeks they added after everyone complained about the difficulty, or are you going in raw?