Control was a criminally overlooked third-person metroidvania about Jesse Faden infiltrating the Federal Bureau of Control’s shape-shifting headquarters to find her missing brother, only to end up leading the Bureau against a reality-warping paranormal invasion known as the Hiss. The surreal plot, infectious dialogue, and otherworldly visuals gave it a distinct identity, and the fast, free-flowing shooting and reality-warping gameplay made it a hit with players.
A righteous third-person supernatural shooter though it may be, the sequel, Control Resonant, shifts into a fast-paced, melee-focused action RPG with deep skill trees and character customisation. As Jesse’s story wraps up after finding her brother Dylan, his path takes shape as the opposite of hers. What the hell happened to Manhattan? What is the Patterning, and what did the FBC do to Dylan?
Control Resonant is seemingly designed to be a retread and an inversion of the first game’s story. While Jesse ventured deeper into the SCP-like Oldest House, armed with a gun to fight the Hiss and find her brother Dylan, Resonant focuses on Dylan’s journey, wielding a melee weapon as he battles his way out of the Oldest House. Set in a reality-warped Manhattan where the Hiss has broken free, Dylan fights through the chaos in search of his sister Jesse. The surrealist offices were an enigmatic setting, but the twisted streets of Manhattan are like something out of The Backrooms crossed with the dream distortion of Inception.
The main plot is fairly thin and is designed to foster exploration and combat. The bulk of the writing is relegated to the side stories and all the neat lore notes, recordings, and videos that build a weird world that connects to the Alan Wake games of all things. There’s a lot to take in, and it’s all intricately connected and could take a lifetime to piece it all together to fully understand everything. Thankfully, most of it is background info, and the emotional hook involving the Faden siblings works thanks to the writing and performances. Even without playing the first Control, Resonant‘s driving narrative surprisingly holds together despite the ridiculous technobabble and bizarre visuals. It’s a compelling world, bolstered by sharp dialogue and brisk pacing.
Regretfully, the gameplay is a mixed bag. Remedy has always made solid action games, but they were always shooters. Control Resonant is their first attempt at doing what most would consider a “character action” game. At first, things seem promising; Dylan has responsive, fluid controls, and the camera stays far enough away to fit lots of foes on screen at once. The range of movement is impressive; Dylan’s animations and jumps look and feel great, and he can glide, air-dash, and double jump right at the start. Though his attacks with any of the three starter weapons feel slightly floaty, with kinesthetic feedback that could pack more punch, Dylan’s starter combo flows smoothly and transitions naturally between enemies thanks to a soft lock-on.
After a while, it becomes clear that Dylan won’t learn many new moves or inputs and mostly gets stat and passive upgrades. The few moves he does learn are mostly for traversal or to modify his basic combo. Some weapons look great and have flashy animations, but everything Dylan uses depends on the same basic inputs and charge attacks, giving Control Resonant about the same depth as a PlayStation 2-era God of War game. Simplistic combat works for PS2-era God of War because they’re only about ten hours long, so they’re over before they get tedious. Control Resonant is over thirty hours, and it does not have the depth of Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden,or even Kingdom Hearts II.
Dylan’s growth system seems deep at first, but it doesn’t take long for it to become clear that the skill trees and perks are tacked on. Control Resonant wants to have flexible builds and options for gamers to customise playstyles, but Dylan’s core mechanics are too simple to make for varied combat. There’s a takedown move that triggers when staggering enemies with certain attacks, and while it looks cool, it doesn’t require skill, just patience to charge attacks when foes leave an opening. Remedy makes good gun action games and spent decades perfecting the art of shooting, but all that theory crafting did not translate to compelling melee action.
The abundance of RPG stats and passive ability effects creates an illusion of depth, but half of the issues also stem from the way enemies behave and how they’re designed. The new Hiss have chaotic designs that defy explanation and even more confusing animations that compound with Control‘s distinct style that relies on refractals and splitting effects. It’s not too bad when Jesse can shoot them from a distance, but Dylan has to get up close and read their moves, which is way harder than it should be, especially when he’s surrounded by dozens at once, some playing keep-away and striking from long range. There aren’t enough defined audible cues to react to, and the foe’s anatomy gets too confusing to follow. Getting into battles feels less like a fight and more like a chaotic scramble, full of clumsy moves where half the time it doesn’t even seem like the hits land.
Amusingly, Remedy seems to admit the combat isn’t worth the effort, as they’ve added menu options to freely adjust damage levels, timing windows, and cooldowns. Using these features has no drawbacks or trade-offs at all; even achievements are still earned with everything stacked in Dylan’s favour. Switching on all of these makes him godlike, and the rest of the game unfolds as a ridiculous action platformer where enemies and bosses die instantly. These kinds of features used to be something earned in the post-game or unlocked, but Control Resonant has them sitting in the options menu ready to go at the start. It makes the whole experience feel hollow.
At the very least, Control Resonant looks and plays beautifully. While the combat is limp, the same can’t be said about the visuals and the overall polished sheen. Like in the last game, there are a ton of destructible objects that dynamically explode when caught in Dylan’s scuffles. The effects are marvellous and help make the boring fighting look way more exciting than it really is. The strange, twisted Manhattan architecture feels otherworldly, and Dylan’s agility lets him traverse vast distances with ease, almost like Alex Mercer from Prototype, all while the game smoothly holds a steady 60fps.
Cubed3 Rating
Control Resonant has a lot going for it. It’s a technical and artistic achievement, with amazing visuals, memorable characters, and a lot of platforming… but it fumbles with the combat. Sadly, fighting is incredibly boring and repetitive, and fighting is something Dylan does a lot. The most frustrating and disappointing aspect of Resonant is that it’s a brilliant idea that’s executed so utterly flatly.
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Control Resonant
Formats: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
