Control Resonant is a technically confident sequel that struggles to recreate the strange appeal of its predecessor. Remedy Entertainment expands the series into open-world territory, adds melee combat and gives its story a new lead, but the broader design rarely matches the imagination of the original.
The 2019 Control drew players into The Oldest House, a government facility where paranormal objects, unsettling bureaucracy and shifting architecture worked together. Jesse Faden’s personal story was not always the strongest part, yet the building itself provided an extraordinary reason to keep exploring. Its spaces suggested that something inexplicable might be waiting just beyond the next corridor.
That standard looms over Control Resonant, a direct sequel set seven years after the first game. It is also Remedy’s first open-world release and its first major attempt to centre melee combat. Some individual systems are more polished than before, but the sequel’s larger scale leaves its world feeling less distinctive and its action less satisfying.
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A bigger world with less to discover
The Federal Bureau of Control has failed to contain the Hiss. Jesse is missing, and her brother Dylan wakes from a coma to become the game’s protagonist. The Bureau distrusts him because of his role in the earlier catastrophe, but with the threat spreading, Dylan is sent into a distorted version of New York City.
New York is divided into several zones, each filled with activities, missions and map markers. The Resonants have warped the city into striking, dreamlike landscapes, producing some memorable views. Unfortunately, the open world rarely gives those sights meaningful context. Most optional tasks involve familiar activities such as opening chests, protecting FBC agents or befriending dogs.
Each area also has a world score that rewards further upgrades, encouraging players to clear repetitive content. The structure recalls a conventional 2010s open-world action game more than the tightly designed mysteries of The Oldest House. Individual zones may contain one worthwhile mission, but the surrounding activities seldom develop their own identity.
Movement is similarly uneven. Dylan eventually gains a double jump, floating, gravity manipulation and a grappling hook. These powers can be enjoyable in isolation, but chaining them together lacks the smoothness the game needs. Even compared with the original, moving through New York never delivers the same effortless thrill as gliding through the Bureau’s open interiors.
Melee combat lacks impact
Instead of Jesse’s Service Weapon, Dylan uses The Aberrant, a shape-shifting rod designed to support a character-action system. Players choose one of three forms at the beginning, with further forms and a secondary option becoming available later. Telekinetic abilities and extensive skill trees add plenty of apparent flexibility.
On paper, this is Remedy’s most elaborate combat system. In practice, fights are weakened by damage-sponge enemies, repetitive encounters and attacks that lack convincing weight. The upgrade menus promise increasing power, but the numbers rarely translate into a more satisfying feel. Large groups of enemies appear frequently enough that battles begin to blur together.
The game’s accessibility options are unusually extensive and deserve recognition. They may also be useful for players who want to reduce the time spent on routine encounters rather than repeatedly fighting the same kind of battle.
The best combat arrives during the Resonant boss encounters. These creatures are visually inventive, use multi-stage attack patterns and demand more attention than standard enemies. One early boss is a gigantic severed artist’s head surrounded by floating debris, turning the battle into something close to a bullet-hell sequence where dodging matters as much as attacking.
That contrast is telling. The bosses demonstrate how creative the combat could have been, while the ordinary enemies feel like obstacles placed between objectives.
Dylan cannot carry the story
Remedy is usually at its strongest when building unusual narratives, but Dylan proves to be a difficult centre for this one. Jesse’s presence gave the first game a personable anchor; Dylan remains emotionally distant. Sean Durrie attempts to portray a man learning to navigate ordinary social interaction while dealing with guilt and a search for redemption, but a weak script and flat line delivery make the character hard to connect with.
Jesse felt like a friend; Dylan feels like a colleague you put up with.
The story repeatedly returns to familiar ideas about trauma, turning an inventive paranormal setting into a more predictable tale about a troubled man and his past. A major narrative reveal is stretched well beyond its dramatic value, creating frustration rather than the intended shock.
The Federal Bureau of Control and The Oldest House remain the most compelling parts of this universe, yet they receive less attention here. The best writing is often found in optional missions, where the setting briefly regains its strangeness. Even Dylan’s awkward karaoke performance works better than much of the main plot.
Jesse does return through traversal challenges called Faults, with Courtney Hope reprising the role, but she is largely sidelined. The first game ended just as Jesse’s story was beginning, making her reduced role feel like a missed opportunity.
A glimpse of the sequel it could have been
One mid-game section shows a more promising direction. Dylan enters an area that recalls the wonder of The Oldest House, with twisting spaces that use his movement abilities in a much more fluid way. Combat becomes secondary to a story about FBC agents trapped by a paranatural force, and the result is tense, strange and difficult to put down.
Those moments are rare, but they reveal the sequel’s unrealised potential. Control Resonant is not broken; its systems function and some encounters are striking. The problem is that competence is not enough when the series’ appeal came from its sense of discovery.
Control Resonant is scheduled for release on 24 September for PlayStation 5, Windows PC and Xbox Series X. This review was conducted on PS5 using a prerelease download code supplied by Remedy Entertainment.
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