Control Resonant Hands-On Preview – Shifting Reality
Control was some of Remedy Entertainment’s best work to date when it was released in 2019, so much so that it earned itself multiple Game of the Year Awards, cementing itself as one of the best new IPs in recent years.
It leaned heavily into the paranormal, focusing on protagonist Jesse Faden. Equipped with a service weapon that was capable of quickly changing form and function as the situation called for, and combat was first and foremost shooting-centric, combined with some special powers Jesse received as she continued on her quest to become the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Control, whether she was aware of her destiny or not.
Naturally, a sequel would be in order. However, many weren’t expecting the sequel to shift not only to an entirely new protagonist, but also to an entirely new genre, shedding the third-person shooter combat for a full-blown action hack-and-slash.
This might just be Remedy’s riskiest leap of faith, but based on what we have played so far, fans of the studio have little reason to worry. Even with the dramatic shift to visceral melee combat, the team’s unmistakable DNA—unapologetic weirdness, masterclass atmospheric world-building, and mind-bending cinematic flair—proves that nobody handles stylish psychological chaos quite like Remedy.
Dylan Is Now Playable
Remedy has flipped the script. Dylan, the brother of Control’s original protagonist, is one of the most powerful paranormally gifted people the Bureau has ever seen, and while the agency’s decision to raise him inside The Oldest House went about as well as you’d expect such a moronic plan to work, it seems that, at least externally, Dylan wants to help rid the world of the Hiss, stop the AWE from destroying Manhattan or perhaps even the whole world, and to save lives. Naturally, because the FBC knows what Dylan is capable of, this will be a cautious alliance that will be tested as the adventure progresses.
The protagonist isn’t the only big change in store for Control Resonant. As is obvious with even a cursory glance at gameplay footage, melee combat will be the main way Dylan will dispatch enemies. He receives a new weapon called Aberrant moments after the story begins, and it can quickly change forms depending on the situation. It can shift from a sword form to a whip, hammer, and other forms, which will unlock as the story progresses and/or the player unlocks new capabilities by choosing new abilities in the skill tree. Naturally, some weapon forms will be more effective against certain enemy types and less effective against others.
DO NOT INGEST the Delicious, Delicious Mold
During our hands-off demo, we saw a segment of the game that wasn’t shown publicly. By the time we pick things up here, the city has been widely infected with the mysterious, delicious mold which controls everyone’s mind once ingested, causing them to become effectively mindless as the mold seemingly exists only to expand its reach. Dylan appears to be somewhat resistant to the mind-altering influence of the mold, though not entirely without external help from Zoe, the FBC agent he met in the game’s introductory chapter (which was playable on the show floor). This gives the player reason to be cautious around the mold, even if they are controlling such a powerful paranormally-enhanced human.
We were also shown one of the game’s bosses, dubbed The Collective. It’s a sprawling mass of distorted flesh, giant tentacles included. Because the fight takes place within a gravity anomaly, part of the combat happens on the walls and even the ceiling of the large room The Collective has sequestered itself in. The boss had three phases, each more hectic than the last. Smaller (and larger) enemies spawned at various points to both damage Dylan and offer up some potential healing if he could defeat them, since killing enemies often causes health pickups to drop.
Collectively Challenging
During our demo, the dev tasked with playing Control Resonant found it difficult to defeat The Collective, which sported a wide array of attacks at all ranges. This ended up being a great time to showcase the sequel’s many difficulty options available in the Assist Mode. Players can use this feature to increase or decrease the game’s overall difficulty, or just tweak certain parameters to make the game play more in line with a player’s expectations. There’s even an immortality toggle for people who can’t be bothered with worrying about health when there’s such an intriguing story to play through. The Assist Mode is nothing new to Control fans, but now it’s here from the start, and further refined.
While this was a hands-off demo, based on the time we did spend with the show floor build, Remedy Entertainment appears primed to continue their delightfully disturbing storytelling with a melee-focused twist.
We also managed to sneak into the hands-on demo on the show floor and can confirm combat felt solid, while traversal felt buttery smooth. Dylan makes for an intriguing anti-hero, while this time around Jesse plays the mysterious Director operating outside normal protocol in a government entity that normally exists solely to execute those policies.
The all-encompassing mold is concerning enough, but combined with whatever is capable of quickly killing the Hiss, it makes for an entertaining adventure full of action, crazy-ass multi-phase bosses with tough-as-you-like fights thanks to an Assist mode which lets you tweak the difficulty to your heart’s content.
We are rapidly approaching Control Resonant’s release date of September 24, 2026, on Steam, Epic Games Store, GeForce NOW, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 (physical release will follow on October 15), and you can bet we’ll have our review ready to let you know how it all shakes out.
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