Remedy gave us an expanded look at Control Resonant that brings a new protagonist, a new setting, and new combat. Based on everything we’ve seen, the sequel looks more ambitious than we expected.
I firmly believe that the original Control is one of Remedy’s best games – and I backed that up with a high score of 90 in my review. The game wasn’t perfect, but it tickled me exactly where it needed to be: an intriguing story intertwined with crazy locations, fun combat where you used supernatural powers and the environment as a weapon, and an atmosphere that looked like an episode of The X-Files set in a brutalist building full of living refrigerators and flying rubber ducks. If the original Control was the pilot episode of that same series, the production of Control Resonant looks like a big season finale.
We had the opportunity to take a look at the expanded version of the gameplay shown at the recent State of Play, along with a number of new information shared by the team from Remedy. And based on everything we’ve seen, Control Resonant seems to be aiming to be everything you’d expect from a sequel – bigger, faster, and better in almost every way.
We don’t play like Jesse Faden anymore. The protagonist of Resonant is her brother Dylan – a character we know to some extent from the original game. Dylan is a powerful but somewhat unstable and antisocial character who has spent his entire adult life in isolation – first as a prisoner and then in a coma. Now on the loose, Manhattan has literally collapsed in on itself as a result of the Hiss anomaly, and Dylan may be the only person who can stop it all. The good news for those new to the Control universe is that Remedy confirms that prior knowledge is not necessary as Resonant is designed as a standalone entry point.
Despite the more open world structure, story-wise this feels like a relatively linear action-adventure / RPG. The dialogue where you choose what to say doesn’t lead to different outcomes, but serves to give Dylan’s interactions their own notes and along the way learn more about the rich world that Remedy is building. Dylan is not alone in his adventure. One of the characters featured in the gameplay shown is Zoe De Vera, an employee of the Federal Office of Control who assigns him missions and takes responsibility for his actions.
Dylan is not alone in his adventure.
Zoe was away during the events of the first game so she has no idea what was going on there – she’s learning about Dylan while he’s learning about the outside world, and that dynamic relationship, cold and distrustful at the start, seems like one of the game’s key narrative drivers. It is also interesting that music plays a specific role in bringing them together. Zoe has her own carefully selected music collection and Remedy emphasizes that music is not just a backdrop but an active part world buildinga. For those loyal to the original, Jesse Faden has some presence, but Remedy confirms that he is not a playable character.
The original Control had tons of potential to explore, but it was all crammed into one building called the Oldest House. Resonant turns that upside down and practically gives you a big chunk of anomaly-ridden Manhattan as a playground. In Resonant, it is divided into several zones that are visually different from each other, and Remedy apparently used the exit from the Oldest House to fantasize. The segments of the city seen so far are impressive, chaotic and grandiosely opulent in a way that the sterile corridors of the first Control simply could not be. Those Inception-inspired visuals where the streets and buildings have folded in on themselves as a result of a space-time collapse are especially eye-catching, and it’s the visual identity that gives Resonant a ton of character and instant recognition.
The segments of the city seen so far are impressive, chaotic and grandiosely opulent in a way that the sterile corridors of the first Control could not be.
Along with the visual variety, the research structure is more open than before. There is a linear path to the main story and separate side quests within the zones, with plenty of freedom for spontaneous exploration in between. The movement certainly contributes to this, which, judging by what we’ve seen, is one of the most striking parts of the publicly presented gameplay. Dylan floats, rushes, literally manipulates gravity and clings to surfaces that defy every law of physics, so that a trip through Manhattan looks like a treat in itself.
In terms of combat, Control Resonant is something completely different compared to the original. Jesse mainly attacked opponents from a distance using transforming firearms, while with Dylan, fighting is a much dirtier, more intimate experience. First of all, the concern that I have seen from some players should be dismissed: Resonant does not go in the direction soulslike games. Remedy has explicitly confirmed this, and by all accounts this is a classic, fast-paced action game – so fast-paced that at times it feels like it’s approaching the Platinum Games workshop, to my general delight.
Resonant is not going in the direction of soulslike games. It’s actually a fast-paced action game that at times approaches the works of Platinum Games.
Dylan’s transforming weapon is called Aberrant. Where the first game’s Service Weapon changed to long-range options, Aberrant transforms exclusively into melee weapons that you can switch quickly and combo freely in combat. Each hit means something within the combat loop: melee attacks fill resources for supernatural abilities, abilities stun opponents, you can execute stunned ones, and the execution temporarily boosts your next attacks. Remedy himself states that the intention was to create a system where aggressiveness is rewarded instead of waiting, and from everything seen, it seems like a complete hit.
Along with Aberrant, Dylan has a number of supernatural abilities, the full extent of which has not yet been revealed. But even the little things seen like levitation, telekinesis, attracting gravity anomalies and summoning allies were enough for me to finish watching the gameplay with a smile on my face. The system of Resonant bosses, which Dylan must find and defeat, and whose supernatural abilities he inherits after winning and incorporates into his own fighting style, looks particularly interesting.
The system of Resonant bosses that Dylan must find and defeat, and whose abilities he incorporates into his fighting style after victory, looks interesting.
The progression revolves around the Gap, Dylan’s inner mental space that you enter with the press of a button outside of combat. There, you build your playstyle through three pillars: the supernatural abilities you inherit from defeated Resonants, the Aberrant upgrades, and the talents that glue it all together into a coherent whole. Each boss offers a choice of multiple abilities upon defeat, so there’s added motivation to spin Resonant at least twice.
However, it is worth emphasizing that in the presentation we saw quite fragmented gameplay from different parts of the game, without a continuous experience that would show how it all fits together into one whole. It certainly remains to be seen if the pacing, story and stage setting will ultimately support what the gameplay mechanics promise.
What we have seen so far definitely inspires confidence. Control Resonant feels like a game that has taken the real lessons from the original and decided to apply them in a much more ambitious framework. For fans of Remedy’s games, this should be another treat, but the more open structure and faster combat make it a potentially good entry point for those who never liked the closed, labyrinthine design of the original, or simply for a team that lacks a good open-ended action title.
Control Resonant is coming out this year for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, but we still don’t have a precise release date.