But it is largely the same on current generation consoles
Check left a mark on 2019: I’m still thinking about it.
It’s hard to believe it came out about a year and a half ago, but here we are, a console generation later, and we’re still talking about Check. With the PS5 and Xbox Series X / S editions coming out today, that’s not going to change.
So let’s break down what the Ultimate Edition actually is. On PS5 and Series X you get ray tracing, improved frame rates (as usual there is the option to go with performance or visual fidelity), better load times, all free updates (duh) and the previous DLC (that’s exactly two add-ons : The foundation and AWESOME).
First: loading times. They are good! In my tests, charges took about four seconds or less to reach their target, and cutscenes, after skipping, basically loaded the next section immediately. Yes you can skip cutscenes here, so if you’ve already played some part of the game, you don’t have to watch it all over again.
I was only able to test the PS5 version of Control: Ultimate Edition, and found it to be comparable to some of the other cross-gen ports that I’ve tried. Again, charges are fast, the DualSense is up to the task (and feels great with the heavy emphasis on gunplay in Check), and the game itself runs extremely smoothly – especially in performance mode.
Speaking of which, the performance mode aims to hit 60FPS at 1440p, which is accurate based on my tests. “Graphics mode” (the previously mentioned visual fidelity focus switch) is 30fps, but adds ray tracing at 1440p. You have to pick one or the other, but given the good performance (it looked great on previous consoles too, mostly because of stylistic aesthetic choices), I can live with it. A note: Remedy points out that the Xbox Series S only supports performance mode.
As a reminder, you can upgrade to it Ultimate Edition on PS5 and Series X / S if you use the Ultimate Edition on the affected console of the previous generation. Remedy “couldn’t” be able to create an upgrade path for base game + DLC owners, so keep that in mind. Also, this edition still uses the “much newer version of the Northlight Engine”, so keep files from non-Ultimate Edition versions are also incompatible. It’s coming to PlayStation Plus today.
If in doubt about the Ultimate Edition of Check, read Brett’s fantastic reviews for the base game, AWE DLC, and The Foundation add-on. It was not for nothing that it was on many of the Game of the Year lists.
[These impressions are based on a retail code provided by the publisher.]
