Platform(s): PC (version reviewed), Xbox Series, PlayStation 5
Genre: Action Adventure, Open World, Metroidvania, Scifi, Weird

CONTROL Resonant, the new action-adventure game from Remedy Games and the sequel to 2019’s CONTROL, is clearly a different beast. While CONTROL had you playing as Jessie Faden who has a magic shapeshifting gun and kinetic powers, the 2026 sequel has you playing her brother Dylan Faden (who was the antagonist back then, but not by choice) who has melee weapons and all sorts of other supernatural nonsense in play.

And instead of being confined into the Old House and all its oddities and spacial differences, CONTROL Resonant has you exploring a messed-up Manhattan already being taken over by the bad guys, the HISS, and a whole new phenomenon ready to turn the city’s a**hole a new one. And it’s up to the Federal Bureau of Control -sans Jessie- and Dylan, along with his quest for redemption, to handle it. You’re given a bunch of main objectives and a ton of side activities, giving the impression that Remedy might be tricking you into playing an Ubisoft open-world checklist game.

Secure, Contain, Protect

In truth, CONTROL Resonant is a search action title -a Metroidvania- where you explore and gain new abilities to open up previously-blocked pathways and such. And explore Manhattan you will, thanks to Dylan’s awesome traversal abilities that let him shift gravity so he can walk on ceilings and such, double jump and ascend higher while also floating for a good amount of time to get onto higher places.  You unlock these by scouring the map for “faults” that have traces of Jessie’s memories and last-known location that also share some lore between the siblings.

Remedy has taken great pains in making you care for the heroes and its FBC organization. If you’ve been following CONTROL since 2019, you’ll be rewarded for your efforts as CONTROL Resonant opens up more about the world and its predicament while also fleshing out its cast. Chief highlights in this regard include Dylan’s relationship with his new handler Zoe, which is not only insightful and entertaining to follow through, but also introduces you to a bunch of new catchy licensed(?) songs that play in sync in the action setpiece you’re in. It’s rare that a car park, of all places, end up being an elaborate video game level that’s accentuated with some awesome indie-esque rock to keep the mood going.

The HISS have their own army of grunts, giants, and elites they through at you, so thankfully Dylan’s melee attacks are up to the task to deal with them. When you start the game, you get your choices of weaponry. And as you keep progressing through each story level, you get new combat and defensive abilities while also upping your power level. You’re given tons of choices to fit your own playstyle, be it a fast hit-and-run guy or a slow-but-steady defender.

I personally went for the “scythes” at the start for wide arc swings, and the “drill” for my secondary attack that lets me build up enemy falter meter to stun them. Why? Because you can execute stunned enemies to be in Dominance mode, which is a pretty important passive to gain to not only reap more health from enemies, but also kill them quick due to this mode’s big damage output. Though you can just focus on damage; that’s also viable since enemy kills yield health quick.

While your only option for defense at the start is just a dodge -no blocks or parries- the game’s plentiful offensive options are more than enough to just make you go ham on enemies while relying on your invincible evades (that you can cancel easily from your attacks) to avoid harm. You can even gain buffs from perfect dodges, so just evading at the right moment will yield more benefits for your attacks. You do have to enable them on the game’s RPG-esque skill tree for abilities and weaponry, so you may need to do a good amount of on-ground activities and sidequests to get powered up.

Luckily, most of these quests offer up juicy action sequences, solid puzzles that can stump you if you aren’t paying attention to the clues, and offer lovely insight to the world and its lore. Without spoiling anything, let’s just say the most mundane of situations -like exploring a cab or checking out an apartment- are done up really elaborately and stylistically due to Remedy’s care and craft. You won’t be forgetting the game’s story bits and SCP-esque oddities & situations anytime soon.

Paranormal Portal

Having said that, the bosses you fight in CONTROL Resonant -this is an action-adventure game after all- are pretty standard. They are awesome-looking and they have lovely designs, but they don’t break the mold in terms of structure and challenge. And I know it’s a bit weird to complain about too much combat in a character action-styled title like CONTROL Resonant, but I do wish the enemies have lower health and aren’t too tanky by default. This is pretty apparent in the last third of the game.

Thankfully, these are problems that isn’t going to affect the overall experience that Remedy has delivered, and by everything that is holy it is truly sublime. I am honestly shocked that Remedy, a developer known for third-person shooters, aced it in making its first-ever character action hack-and-slash title in terms of flow, control, and upgrade options. I’m not decrying their talent, far from it, but normally the first game outside of a company’s comfort zone would end up being a halfway draft than a full-fledged product. CONTROL Remedy is them skipping that step and going straight to being an amazing search action title.

Even with the aforementioned boss fights that feel normal by Remedy’s standards and its other foibles, it doesn’t change the fact that CONTROL Resonant is doing its prequel incredibly proud. Kudos to the devs for breaking tradition and getting out of their comfort zone, taking chances and winning big with a helluva paranormal metroidvania title with a clear emphasis on combo-heavy melee-style action.

Pros

• Gorgeous representation of a shifting & displaced Manhattan.
• Main story arc hits all the right notes.
• Fun controls and combat, with unlockable skills & weapons galore.
• Metroidvania structure and new traversal powers open up the expansive world.
• Exhilarating side quests (mostly).

Cons

• Enemy mobs can be a bit overwhelming and tanky.
• Boss fights feel standard (save for a couple).

Final Score: 90/100

Review copy provided by publisher.