I love Remedy-developed games because they are never afraid to be weird. As a studio, Remedy is more concerned with telling the story that they want to tell than meeting any pop culture moment. That approach has made them a studio that helps define the zeitgeist instead of being held hostage by it. From mixed-media game development to otherworldly exploration of the paranatural that becomes multiplayer shooters with FBC Firebreak, Remedy’s genre is its own to craft, and that continues with CONTROL Resonant.
A not-so-connected sequel to 2019’s CONTROL, this title puts players in an alternate paranatural version of Manhattan. In the first game, we followed Jesse Faden, the new Director of the Federal Bureau of Control, a secret U.S. government agency that investigates and contains phenomena that violate the normal laws of reality. In CONTROL Resonant, you find yourself with the Federal Bureau of Control again, only this time, the otherworldly affair is far beyond their control.
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During Summer Game Fest Play Days, we played around 90 minutes of CONTROL Resonant, which included experiencing this new version of Manhattan, a boss battle, and some of the more surreal elements that are driving the unique cinematic yet truly psychedelic world in this sequel.
CONTROL Resonant is a sequel to Remedy that defines itself uniquely.
CONTROL Resonant will place players across multiple areas of a red-soaked Manhattan, which has become an expansive, unfamiliar world as an invading cosmic force reshapes the environment. For those with motion-sickness sensitivity, this view of Manhattan can be a real test.
That said, even without adjusting any settings, it never fully hit me, though, I’m sure more time would have done the job. However, each section of the game that could push you into vertigo holds itself back and lets your eyes rest, using psychedelic elements, sound design, and rapid movement as the perfect amount of flavoring for this nightmare.
The reason is that as you move through the city, visualizations of the natural order of things are being defined. With a path of birds seemingly stuck in a glitch-like way, and other elements that showcase the dissolution of reality through distorted gravity, weird geophysical events, and visually fracturing reality. This vision of Manhattan is gorgeous and weird and just the right amount horrifically tense.
While you aren’t playing as Jess, you are playing as Dylan Faden, whose troubled mind is affecting the surrounding environment in a beautiful, surreal, metaphysical way. Visually, CONTROL Resonant is a showstopper in a way that I didn’t expect.
Having previously gotten motion sickness during another demo, I had a lot to worry about. Here, though, every element of this warped Manhattan landscape is rendered with immense detail. Atmospheric and heavily saturated with a cinematographic style that Remedy has become known for, particularly for 2023’s Alan Wake II. From the opening cinematic to the final boss fight, CONTROL Resonant is the most visually distinct game we saw at Summer Game Fest Play Days.
With the focal point of the CONTROL Resonant demo being combat, Dylan’s unique power set and melee weapons were the core focus. In the demo, we get to scratch the surface of tapping into the power that Dylan will have to learn to master. One of the key features Remedy has highlighted is the progression system that will shape your experience as Dylan.
As Dylan struggles to understand who he is, why he was in the Oldest House, and ultimately, why he is who he is. As you awake with Jesse’s voice right beside you, it becomes clear that you may be the only one in the building left alive. The Oldest House is an astonishing feat for Remedy, with the building’s verticality used to display some of the game’s creepier elements, such as bodily suspensions.
Remedy’s cinematic approach to the surreal leaves you on edge.
An almost polar opposite of Jesse, Dylan is a prisoner, and the FBC isn’t some benevolent organization; it’s his captor, and it’s something to not trust. That said, the New York he enters is one that he wouldn’t understand even if it were the one from the reality we know. That confusion you experience as Dylan is crucial to the game’s tutorials and to the buildup of interpersonal tension you can sense.
With 90 minutes in front of us, I was able to pick the Aberrant’s shape, which you can then adapt further with more ranged options. If you haven’t been seeing Remedy’s videos diving into the world they’re expanded in the game, the Aberrant is an “otherworldly mysterious shape-shifting weapon that can take on multiple different deadly forms.”
For myself, the Scythe provided enough of a blend of melee and gave me a little bit of distance between myself and enemies. This allowed me not to really switch once I unlocked the second element later on, and genuinely made for completely fluid gameplay in combat.
The start of the demo had players work their way through the Federal Bureau of Control’s building, clearing enemies and finding their way out. Once out, you meet Zoe De Vera, who effectively becomes Dylan’s FBC handler, working as a Supervisory Special Agent–an agent in charge of the FBC’s field teams in the Manhattan area.
Their banter back and forth works well, but it’s what she represents as you progress through the demo that matters quite a bit more. She informs you of just how different you are, and as you achieve the ability to jump to great heights and float momentarily as you glide across platformed areas of this surrealist Manhattan.
After meeting Zoe, you begin to see more of CONTROL Resonant’s gameplay as you start to engage with hot-swappable weapons, combos, and, once you hit the boss fight, learn that combat in the air is just as important as it is on the ground.
CONTROL Resonant combat is simple but satisfying.
As I worked my way through enemies, I came up on some upgradeable moments that let me choose what skills I was going to focus on developing. Throughout the game, players will be asked to make choices that shape abilities that manifest and grow as they explore the world and learn more about our protagonist.
That said, while combat was the right kind of sticky and didn’t take much time to adjust to. CONTROL Resonant’s combat system does offer customization elements in terms of skills, but ultimately, the combat is simple, character-driven action game combat that is simple enough to understand, and surprisingly simple to master as well, at least during this demo.
This was highlighted during the boss fight with a really pretty disembodied head that offered a variety of mechanics to navigate. She throws chunks of concrete, cars, and street signs that you have to avoid. She sends out pulses that will also deal damage.
In her second stage, you’ll have to platform and hit beneath her head while in the air. CONTROL Resonant‘s simple combat style may not be entirely engaging, but the world is what you stay focused on, and it is hard to knock it in the face of the visual feast that Remedy has built.
Still, the game’s narrative twists and expansion of the FBC world are what stand out. With just a bit of a tease in the 90 minutes, there is more that I am dying to know. Specifically, as the FBC turns from a force helping the world to one that inflicts violence and isolation on Remdy’s protagonist. While hints have existed, this is where we dive in headfirst to explore the more complex elements. But all of that will come in time.
As a whole, CONTROL Resonant is another big swing from Remedy, carrying the studio’s signature surrealist take on the world. Visually, the game captures Control, and even FBC Firebreak, but combat and larger gameplay feel truly different. This, for sure, isn’t a surprise when comparing it to the in-universe multiplayer game; the gap between the first Control and this one will be truly defined once the game releases in the Fall.
What is easy to say about CONTROL Resonant, though, is that Remedy’s development team continues to push itself for something larger and visually distinct from the field around them. At the same time, that explorative weirdness is also in conversation with larger trends, which you can see in the combat gameplay.
That said, CONTROL Resonant is sure to satisfy fans of the studio’s games, even with only 90-minutes of play time. With an already stacked September release month and Grand Theft Auto on the other side, the uniqueness of this Remedy title stands out effortlessly and is a beacon for players looking for something that cuts against the grain.
CONTROL Resonant releases on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam and Epic Games Store).
