Some early impressions from Control Ultimate Edition on Series X (finished mission 3).

Graphics are really really good. Great reflections even without ray tracing and very good effects. The faces aren't quite top tier (compared to Jedi Fallen Order for example). They could've used more detailed faces in cutscenes but during gameplay they are certainly good enough. I'm playing on performance mode and the 60 FPS feel very very smooth.

Not much that I could complain about with the combat sections so far. Aiming feels not quite spot on though. Maybe the reticle is a bit too small as I'm missing quite a few shots by only a hair. Really like the throwing ability.

Story is surprisingly the weak point right now. Absolutely loved the story in Alan Wake and Quantum Break but here it's just weird thus far. It's mysterious sure, but there are far more questions than answers and every character acts like there is nothing to explain. (Minor spoilers ahead though everything happens within the first mission).
"Oh hey you must be the new director".
Jesse is like... "okay sure. I'm just looking for my little brother."
"yeah we have a little supernatural problem right now so everything is on lockdown. You need to speak with X who was last seen in location Y."
"Sure I'm on my way there killing some dudes along the way."

I hope it will pick a little because it's not what is driving me to continue playing. Right now it's only the gameplay but once that gets too boring/repetitive I need something else to hook me.

Another weak point (thus far!) are the environments. I mean yeah the game is set in a government building so I shouldn't be surprised walking around corridors and bureaus but so far they can't keep up with their previous games. But hey I saw a glimpse that might hint at other environments being in the game as well (and I'm not talking about the Assassin's Creed animus style tutorial sections).

At this point I would give it something around 8.0 or 8.5 out of ten.

In the UK last month, Xbox Series S/X was the best-selling console. That's 3 different best-selling consoles in the UK over the last 3 months (November: PS5. December: Switch)

— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) February 5, 2021

I'm not surprised it beat the PS5 but the Series S/X must be going pretty good numbers to beat the Switch which I thought would win most if not all of the months in the first half of 2021.

Do we get the ultimate edition upgrade as gamepass members? i held off on playing control on gamepass when i saw it didn't have series x enhancements

I noticed something weird today. When I'm buying games through the store on Series X, my Xbox One (regular, not the One X) will turn on. As if that isn't already weird enough, the Series X and One aren't even connected to the same TV. No idea what's happening there. When I'm buying something using the browser on laptop or smartphone, it won't turn itself on.

It was on sale a while back for 30$ I believe, I bought it since it came with the DLC too and the season pass alone was like 20$ at the time so it was a good deal.

it's on sale rn for $28, I had $10 reward auto credit + $2 left in my MS wallet and $10 paypal credit. I paid literally $6 out of my own money. Considering it comes with all the DLC I couldn't pass on it.

Honestly KI isn't worth building a studio around.

It saddens me that Gearbox owns the rights to the Homeworld IP, i dont trust Gearbox at all. I understand they are only publishing the game however has me wondering what evil tactics they will bring to the iconic IP.

Yeah i really liked Deserts of Kharak, if Homeworld 3 is painted in the same light than perfect. Blackbird really care for the IP aslong as their is no corporate implementations it should be okay. I am fine with MTXs, what worries me more is an Epic Game Store exclusive deal etc.