A decade in New York City

The reviewer moved to New York 11 years ago and has watched the city transform while living through lockdowns and major life changes. Control Resonant captures something essential about the city's strange, unshakeable core.

Remedy's connected universe expands

Control Resonant is the sequel to Control and part of Remedy's growing connected universe. The studio is known for creating obsessive, atmospheric worlds where hyper-realistic graphics meet cinematic art direction.

Remedy's history with place

Max Payne needed noir-soaked New York alleys. Alan Wake needed Pacific Northwest mountains. The original Control used brutalist architecture. Each game's setting becomes as important as its story.

From The Oldest House to open world

The original Control took place entirely within an impossible, ever-shifting building. Resonant takes that visual language and explodes it across an open-world New York City with mesmerizing results.

Dylan Faden fights The Hiss

You play as Dylan Faden, brother of original hero Jesse Faden and a former psychic test subject seeking redemption. He battles paranormal entities called The Hiss across New York's laundromats, rooftops, and sewers.

New York as paranormal battleground

The game positions New York as the center of reality against an inhuman menace, echoing Ghostbusters, Men in Black, and Avengers. Fighting supernatural threats in front of iconic city landmarks feels natural.

Spooky, not strictly horror

Control Resonant disorients players by making everything off-kilter. It rotates the New York skyline on its axis for Inception-style tableaus and creates Escher nightmares of infinite folding apartment buildings.

New York is already freaky

Even without floating upside-down streets, New York is a freaky liminal space full of incomprehensible pathways. The game's surrealism feels emotionally true to the city's actual strangeness.

“Control Resonant is a borderline platformer at times, a mash-up of Mirror's Edge and Crackdown”

Emotional truth over literal sense

Like David Lynch or The X-Files, Control Resonant prioritizes feeling emotionally true over making literal sense. Its vision of New York as an impossible space that can be overcome feels incredibly accurate.

A Finnish team's American city

Control Resonant presents New York as the American city for outsiders, created by a Finnish development team. This outside perspective brings fresh insight to the city's character.

Movement defines the experience

You navigate New York with double jumps, air dashes, hover techniques, and gravity shifting. The best gameplay centers on how you move through and interact with the city's architecture.

Platformer meets open world

Control Resonant blends Mirror's Edge and Crackdown, asking you to observe architecture and find optimal routes through twisted spaces. Leaving a parking lot becomes escaping a concrete sinkhole.

Melee combat replaces gunplay

Unlike the first Control, Resonant uses melee combat with light and heavy attacks, dodges, and unique skills. By the end you're setting foes on fire and summoning fungal assistants.

Movement matters more than weapons

Whether you attack with guns or swords matters less than your ability to fly around freely. The shift to melee doesn't feel as big as it sounds because mobility remains the core appeal.

RPG progression feels like busywork

Generic RPG progression with constant upgrades and resources feels like a fussy distraction from the game's visceral entertainment. Fortunately, accessibility options let you skip most of it.

Play with your heart, not your head

Control Resonant's menu system is accessed by making Dylan pass out on demand. The game works best when you stop thinking and embrace the surreal experience.

New York is endlessly malleable

New York can be a beat-em-up backdrop, fighting game arena, or city builder. Control Resonant twists the city into whatever it wants while keeping its singular identity intact.

Grounded before you fly

Because New York is so singular and grounded in reality, the paranormal warping feels even more remarkable. When you're used to being grounded, leaving the ground becomes extraordinary.