I Played 3 Hours of CONTROL Resonant, Remedy's Action RPG Sequel

Remedy Entertainment is a developer that rarely plays it safe, and CONTROL Resonant is no exception. A completely new approach to gameplay and an open-ended world design are just two of the elements that make CONTROL Resonant different from almost anything that Remedy has made before, even the first CONTROL, which Resonant is a direct sequel to. Tonally and narratively, there are many threads that players will be able to draw connections to from the first game, but there are also elements that feel completely new and, for Remedy, were a new challenge to tackle.

I was able to play roughly 3 hours of CONTROL Resonant during a Summer Game Fest preview session, and what I saw left me very eager to see the finished product. Indeed, CONTROL Resonant is unlike anything that Remedy Entertainment has made before, and that makes it just as refreshing as the first CONTROL or even Alan Wake 2. Build variety seems to be the key pillar of CONTROL Resonant, offering players the ability to dial in their version of Dylan Faden to fit their play style. And while I do feel like CONTROL Resonant isn’t necessarily as revolutionary as its predecessor, I do think it brings a lot of interesting elements to the table.

Exploring the World of CONTROL Resonant From the Beginning

The CONTROL Resonant preview session was broken up into three distinct sections.

There was the intro of the game, which sees Dylan Faden wake up from his coma and find out that Jesse is no longer in The Oldest House and that The Hiss have broken out into Manhattan.
There was a brief exploration-focused section that highlighted an open-ended area set in an evacuation zone of Manhattan. This was meant to highlight the different combat options that are available in the game.
There was a mission later in the game called The Sinking Hole that showcased Remedy's knack for delivering mind-bending level design combined with a challenging gameplay loop.

It was likely the most substantial look at CONTROL Resonant that we will get before the game releases on September 24, 2026, but it was more than enough to have me convinced that Remedy has not missed a beat where it matters.

I won’t get into story spoilers, but I will say that fans can rest assured that this is not a side story. Remedy has been very direct in clarifying that CONTROL Resonant is a sequel to the first Control, and I now know that to be true. Likely, if you saw the trailer during the PlayStation State of Play, you would agree. Fans who may have been worried that Jesse would be off to the side of the story or would not factor into Dylan‘s adventure can breathe easy knowing that she is still a key part of the narrative. Moreover, the game seems to smartly weave opportunities to further flesh out Dylan‘s backstory so that we can learn more about the Faden siblings. This might be Dylan's story, but Jesse is not off in the wings waiting for the inevitable third Control game to make an appearance.

But while Jesse is part of the story, she isn't the only character that factors into Dylan's adventure. Early on, he meets up with a character named Zoe who acts sort of like his handler during the parts of the game that I saw. Everyone is uneasy about aligning with Dylan because of his nature as a former Federal Bureau of Control prisoner. Still, his abilities make him invaluable for dealing with the Hiss threat.

Action RPGs Don't Get Much Deeper Than Resonant

Speaking of those abilities, Dylan has quite the kit compared to his sister. Although I didn’t see everything that Dylan has in his arsenal, there was enough available to say that he has a lot of tools at his disposal. Based on what I saw, his Aberrant weapon can take on at least three different forms: one that splits into two dagger-like blades that are good for quick attacks and high critical hit chance, a heavier form that does higher damage at the risk of moving slower, and a third form that is like a scythe that can reach enemies in a wider swath, but is not as high damage or high crit as the other two forms.

On top of that, there is a secondary form (a massive hammer or a spear form, for example) that acts a little like a heavy attack. By either pressing or holding the triangle button, I was able to activate these stronger attacks. So, while you might be hitting the square button to use your primary Aberrant form combos and combo enders, you can mix in a heavy attack or a charged heavy attack at any point to deal greater damage to a single enemy. You are also rewarded for releasing the charged attack at the right moment for even bigger damage.

Those different weapon forms allow for different builds and different ways of tackling Hiss enemies within CONTROL Resonant, but there are also a handful of different abilities that Dylan can use. It wasn't entirely clear, but it seems like after defeating a boss, Dylan will unlock an ability that can take on multiple forms. Players will have to choose which of those forms they want to use, but keep in mind that you can respec anything that you have put upgrade points or upgrade materials into and start fresh. One example of that choice within the abilities involved a heat modifier, where one option buffed Dylan's attacks with heat while the other allowed him to shoot out a heat wave. Another example was having to choose between a kind of force push or a force slam, where you could jump in the air, slam into the ground, and damage enemies in a certain radius.

Combining the Aberrant forms (primary and secondary), different combo ender choices, and these abilities, you might feel like there are too many choices, but I think that’s by design. Remedy wants players to have agency in what version of Dylan they embody and how they want to tackle The Hiss enemies. I mixed and matched different Aberrant forms, different abilities, and different upgrades on the skill tree, and all seemed viable, but each had its own inherited strengths and weaknesses.

At its core, though, CONTROL Resonant is a character action game, where a healthy balance of combo-based attacks and dodging is crucial to survival. Trust me when I say that the game will challenge you — throwing more enemies at the player than Remedy has ever put in a game before.

Juggling enemies in the air with combos, hitting perfect dodges, and mixing in abilities is extremely satisfying in CONTROL Resonant, but what I found most exhilarating were the executions. As you are dealing damage to enemies, particularly while using abilities and those special attacks, you will generate Falter on the enemies. If the Falter bar is full, then that enemy will get a prompt attached to them, and Dillon will literally fly across the environment and do a very flashy finisher on them. Regardless of whether I was in the midst of a chaotic battle, anytime that prompt appeared, it was always satisfying, always flashy, and it kept me motivated towards building into that Falter mechanic.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that CONTROL Resonant is bringing anything significantly new to the table, but I appreciate the unique approach it has to character action and how satisfying it is to mix everything together. Much like the first Control felt the most rewarding when you were aiming for style points, CONTROL Resonant feels the same. And being able to make a build that fits your play style is what will ensure the game has its own level of replayability.

control resonant combat ability selection

That freedom to try new builds and completely respec Dylan is facilitated by The Gap. Similar to the Mind Place in Alan Wake 2 players can enter The Gap at any point as long as they are not in combat. Within The Gap, there are few objects that lead to menus where you can change your build. You can switch between different forms of abilities, you change the primary, secondary forms, or combo enders of the Aberrant, create new artifacts that offer passive buffs to Dylan, and even load up a training area to test out any new upgrade or build tweaks. On paper, The Gap might be little more than a glorified menu, but Remedy makes it a space with its own art design and so many clever little touches that it becomes an environment of its own.

Inventive Level Design is Still Control's Main Appeal

Even before I fully understood how deep the combat can go in CONTROL Resonant, the introductory section of the preview featured a really incredible boss fight. When talking to Remedy, the devs admitted that the first game didn’t fully grasp what it wanted to do with boss fights and therefore relegated many of them to side content. Here, the devs want the boss fights to be a major event. For this first boss fight, Dylan was up against a giant disembodied head that was flinging debris like taxi cabs, rubble, and rebar posts at Dylan. It was the type of disturbing yet cool design that Remedy does so well, and I honestly cannot wait to see even more of the bosses within the game just based on this first encounter.

Similarly, The Sinkhole mission showed a lot of the topsy-turvy level design that is only possible within the world of CONTROL Resonant. You can see that this distorted version of Manhattan offers opportunities for vertical exploration but also for traversal that you might never have seen in a video game before. In one section of the story mission, I was able to change Dylan's gravity to walk on the walls and even eventually the ceiling, which would then shift the perspective. I don’t want to say too much beyond that, but if you were a fan of the Ashtray Maze from the first Control, then this sinkhole mission will be right up your alley. There were some truly jaw-dropping sights within this particular mission.

The first Control didn’t shy away from offering players a challenge, and Resonant is no exception. This demo was plenty difficult, throwing a ton of Hiss enemies at me, including some that continuously respawn unless you eliminate the larger “Elites". You needed to have your head on a swivel, and it was not possible to fight each enemy one at a time. Sometimes it was best to prioritize a ranged attacker because those pesky buggers can whittle away at your health very quickly. Similarly, the larger enemies could come out of nowhere with a really devastating hit, but if you time a dodge just right, you will activate a retaliation mode that lifts that enemy in the air and leaves them vulnerable to some crazy cool combos.

Oftentimes, character action games opt for the flashy combo-heavy combat where it feels like every enemy is just cannon fodder, but in CONTROL Resonant most enemies feel dangerous if you underestimate them. It was very important to be mindful of how you had kitted out Dylan and to cater your place style to that particular build. If, for example, you wanted to focus on Falter, the smart strategy was to use abilities that also build up that meter faster, or if you had a build that was about generating heat, you wanted to find skill tree nodes that favored and improved that approach.

CONTROL Resonant Hands-On Preview: Final Impressions

Remedy could’ve easily played it safe and continued Jesse's adventure in the third-person shooter genre, and I’m sure that many fans would’ve been happy with that. But that doesn’t seem to be the studio's M.O. CONTROL Resonant represents another new direction for the franchise and the developer. While I do love the paranatural third-person shooting of Alan Wake 2, I feel more at home in the character action present in Resonant.

I’m eager to experience more of the unique boss fights, unique level design, and how deep the RPG systems in the game can go, but what I saw and played for a first taste was enough to have me convinced that Remedy has to put a lot of thought and care into making sure that this isn’t just a derivative experience. Moreover, I feel like fans of the first Control will be rewarded with a story that delves deeper into the relationship between Dylan and Jesse and further explores the lore surrounding the FBC. If nothing else, CONTROL Resonant proves that Remedy Entertainment is a developer that wants to surprise and engage its fan base in new and exciting ways. I only played a small slice of it, but CONTROL Resonant seems like another Remedy flexing its creative muscles once again.