Review: Control Resonant
Here, Not Even Gravity Can Keep Control
CONTROL Resonant finally puts Dylan Faden at the center of the story. One of the franchise's most enigmatic characters, Dylan spent much of the first Control under the care of the Federal Bureau of Control, while his sister Jesse tried to understand the paranatural phenomena threatening the Oldest House. Throughout that journey, it was hard not to wonder what would happen when he finally awakened and what role he would play in the events to come. Now, Remedy turns that anticipation into a new adventure, taking the franchise in a different direction. Rather than remaining confined to the Oldest House, the story expands into a Manhattan consumed by paranatural phenomena, where Dylan must confront the consequences of his past while trying to find Jesse.
However, the changes go far beyond switching protagonists. Dylan moves more quickly, wields the Aberrant, a melee weapon capable of taking on different forms, and possesses abilities that considerably expand his combat options. CONTROL Resonant preserves the franchise's strange and unpredictable identity while changing fundamental elements of the experience. The approach works because Remedy does not simply repeat the previous formula. Instead, it builds on the universe it has created to experiment with new ideas and deliver an adventure with a personality of its own.
GAMEPLAY
One of the first differences lies in combat. While Jesse used the Service Weapon and her powers to fight enemies primarily at range, Dylan wields the Aberrant, a shapeshifting weapon that takes on different forms for close-quarters encounters. This change completely alters the pace of battles, giving each encounter a different dynamic from those in the first game. The camera is also positioned considerably farther away from the protagonist, providing a better view of his movements and the scale of the fights. With higher jumps, lighter movement, and the ability to perform a double dash early in the adventure, Dylan is extremely agile. It feels like controlling a character with far greater freedom to move around the environment and respond to threats. Before long, he reaches a level of power that rivals and, at certain moments, surpasses what we saw with Jesse. This transformation works remarkably well and shows that the sequel is not afraid to change its core mechanics to establish its own identity.
The scale of combat is also impressive when compared to the first Control. Enemies that posed considerable threats to Jesse early in her journey can become common opponents against Dylan's expanded abilities. The different forms of the Aberrant, supernatural powers, and available upgrades allow players to develop varied combinations and adapt their playstyle to the challenges they encounter. Equipment also contributes to this progression, although it took me a while to find options that made a meaningful difference to my build. The lighter, for example, was one of the pieces of equipment that finally gave me a more noticeable improvement. This progression helps keep encounters interesting, but it also requires players to pay attention to their choices throughout the campaign. At one point, I decided to follow Jesse's storyline directly instead of fighting the Resonants available in the Central region. I appreciated the freedom to choose my own path, but that decision made my progress more difficult because I had skipped encounters that were important for progression. CONTROL Resonant allows players to explore different routes, but that freedom does not mean every path will offer the same level of difficulty.
Exploration represents another fundamental change. We finally leave behind the predominantly enclosed structure of the Oldest House and venture into a vast Manhattan filled with distinct regions, secrets, hidden items, side stories, and highly creative entities. The freedom to decide where to go is one of Remedy's greatest achievements, especially because Dylan's movement makes traversal enjoyable in its own right. The city features environments that challenge perception, with gravitational anomalies and structures that change how we navigate each area. Rather than serving merely as a backdrop, Manhattan actively shapes the experience, presenting situations that explore the unpredictable nature of this universe. The main story provides direction, but players can step away from it to investigate optional activities and confront additional threats. My main criticism concerns the minimap, which could provide clearer directions, similar to those available when consulting the full map. At times, the lack of guidance disrupts navigation and breaks the flow of exploration. I also would have liked more consistent door interactions, as some passages do not respond as expected and end up interrupting movement. During more intense fights, clearer visual indicators for incoming melee attacks would also help. With so many enemies and effects happening simultaneously, it is not always easy to track every attack and identify where the next threat is coming from.
Jesse's presence from the beginning is another important narrative element. She is not simply a familiar character from the previous game, but the Director of the Federal Bureau of Control herself, and her involvement gives the events greater weight. For those who followed her journey in the first Control, there is something particularly satisfying about seeing how she fits into Dylan's story. Throughout much of that adventure, it was difficult not to wonder when her brother would finally awaken and what would happen after everything he had been through. CONTROL Resonant builds on that anticipation to deepen the relationship between the characters and explore the consequences of previous events. Dylan's connection to the Hiss and his desire to help the people he harmed, including employees of the Bureau itself, add a personal dimension to his journey. Rather than portraying the protagonist solely as someone who must face new threats, the story also follows his attempt to come to terms with the consequences of his own actions. This expands our understanding of the franchise's past while opening the door to new narrative possibilities.
Remedy also rewards players willing to investigate every corner of Manhattan. References to its wider universe appear through optional discoveries and environmental details, such as a television showing dancing characters with the letters AWE on their clothes. This kind of surprise is especially appealing to those who follow the studio's games, reinforcing the feeling that far more is happening in this world than what the main campaign directly reveals. Between side activities, hidden objects, parallel stories, and uniquely designed entities, there are plenty of reasons to temporarily abandon the main path. Exploration does more than extend the adventure: it also reveals new facets of this universe and provides additional context for the events surrounding Dylan. Combined with ability progression and freedom of movement, this structure makes Manhattan one of the sequel's most successful changes.
VISUALS AND SOUND
CONTROL Resonant features some of the most impressive and visually interesting graphics of this generation. The Northlight Engine demonstrates its ability to build detailed environments, deliver dynamic lighting, and transform seemingly ordinary spaces into settings that defy the laws of physics. The art direction is one of the game's greatest strengths, particularly in the way reality distortions are integrated into exploration and combat. The city conveys a constant sense of strangeness, while its environmental transformations help preserve the visual identity that made the first Control so memorable. Rather than simply presenting detailed graphics, the game uses its visual capabilities to create situations that would hardly have the same impact in a conventional setting.
The musical sequences also deserve special attention. These moments are so unique and memorable that they make me wish there were many more of them throughout the adventure. They break up the usual pace of the journey and create distinctive experiences that linger in the memory long after they end. However, this technical ambition comes at a cost. Even when testing the game on an RTX 3090, I found its performance demands quite high for the hardware. Since I also had the option of playing through the Xbox Play Anywhere version, I decided to continue my adventure on Xbox Series X. I still encountered some frame drops, although they were not frequent enough to compromise the entire experience. The visual result is impressive, but the demands of the Northlight Engine deserve attention, especially for those planning to play on PC with high settings.
ACHIEVEMENTS
CONTROL Resonant has one of the most enjoyable achievement lists I have come across. Despite being a large-scale game with an extensive campaign and numerous activities scattered throughout Manhattan, its achievements are directly tied to gameplay. The list encourages players to experiment with the mechanics, upgrade Dylan, explore optional areas, and discover everything the world has to offer. There are achievements related to upgrading the Aberrant, acquiring abilities, crafting artifacts, combat challenges, and completing side activities. There are also objectives tied to particularly unusual discoveries that reward players willing to investigate every corner of the map.
The biggest positive is that full completion does not depend on a series of absurd requirements or so many missable achievements that players have to follow a guide throughout the entire campaign. The list encourages exploration and mastery of the mechanics without turning these activities into a tedious obligation. The only drawback is one specific objective that requires advance preparation to prevent a particular situation from going wrong. It is a somewhat inconvenient detail in an achievement list that is otherwise so well integrated into the experience. Overall, the achievements function as a natural extension of the adventure, rewarding both Dylan's progression and the curiosity of players who want to discover everything CONTROL Resonant has to offer.
TRAILER OFFICIAL
FINAL THOUGHTS
Despite its strengths, CONTROL Resonant still has areas that could be refined. The minimap needs clearer directions, some door interactions unnecessarily interrupt exploration, and the lack of more noticeable visual indicators for certain attacks makes intense encounters harder to read. Performance also deserves attention, both because of the Northlight Engine's demands on PC and the frame drops I encountered on Xbox Series X. In addition, equipment progression could provide more noticeable improvements more consistently. These issues do not undermine the overall quality of the experience, but they prevent every idea from working as well as it could.
On the other hand, Remedy succeeds in transforming the gameplay without abandoning the franchise's identity. Dylan's movement, the double dash, the Aberrant's different forms, and the expanded powers make combat extremely enjoyable. The freedom to explore Manhattan broadens the possibilities of the adventure, encouraging players to discover secrets, side stories, and references to other games from the studio. The narrative also deserves praise for finally giving Dylan the spotlight I had been hoping for since the first Control, with Jesse involved in the events and a story that explores the consequences of the past. Even the achievement list reflects this quality, offering objectives that reward exploration and mastery of the mechanics without turning full completion into a tedious task.
CONTROL Resonant is one of the most impactful, immersive, and enjoyable games I have played this year. Changing the protagonist, overhauling combat, and expanding exploration were decisions that could have distanced the sequel from what made the original so special, but Remedy turns these changes into its greatest strengths. The first Control remains one of my favorite games, but Dylan's journey won me over with its freedom, mechanics, and the importance of its story. More than simply repeating a successful formula, the sequel demonstrates that a franchise can expand by exploring new directions, as long as its defining qualities remain intact. It is an exceptional adventure that leaves me even more curious about what Remedy will develop next.
Nota: 9.6/10
Review by Gamertag: SCOULZ
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