Control Resonant’s review embargoes have lifted, but I’m still working through Dylan Faden’s sizable paranatural adventure. We’ll publish our scored review sometime next week, before the game’s launch on September 24, but in the meantime, here’s a quick summary of my thoughts so far.
As a fan of Control, I’m having a lot of fun with Resonant. Despite its many differences in combat and world design, it feels the same in several ways. The game’s world and lore are as weird and fascinating as ever; if anything, moving the setting beyond the Oldest House has allowed Remedy to concoct even stranger scenarios now that the general populace is exposed to the full force of the paranatural. While I’m enjoying the main quest, some of my favorite moments in Control Resonant have occurred in the side stories. Many of these optional excursions tell fascinating tales that vary in humor, surrealism, and disturbance, and they sometimes flip the gameplay in unexpected ways, making me excited to experience each one I stumble upon. The game’s myriad recordings and other heavily redacted documents remain as much of a highlight to absorb as in the first Control.
The melee action, which resembles games like Devil May Cry, feels good. Not quite to the level of a DMC or Bayonetta, as points of comparison, but good, even if it feels repetitive during the early hours due to your initially limited options. This improves dramatically as you unlock new forms for your transforming weapon, the Aberrant, and new supernatural powers. Mixing and matching main and side weapons, combo finishers, and superpowers becomes a deeper, more strategic treat that caters to multiple playstyles. The game is more difficult than I expected; enemies’ levels often keep pace with you and swarm in large, sometimes wave-based mobs. But I appreciate how the difficulty pushes me to rely on my ever-growing arsenal of powers, whether it’s igniting foes by unleashing explosion-inducing punches or force-pushing them off ledges and into hazards. I suspect, however, that the difficulty will catch many off guard, as some main missions will seem like wars of attrition if you don’t invest some time into completing other primary objectives and the different tiers of sidequests. Thankfully, those are worth checking out anyway.
The distorted Manhattan is a surreal visual treat. Beyond the predominantly kaleidoscopic sights that make the city resemble the Mirror Dimension from Doctor Strange, other, even wilder locations keep the game aesthetically interesting. Combined with the fun side quests, this makes Manhattan fun to explore over a dozen hours into the adventure. If you miss the Metroid-esque process of unlocking areas of the Oldest House, take some solace in the fact that Manhattan, despite being a large hub, also feels like a bigger version of Control’s main setting (which you do visit in Resonant). Numerous areas are gated by abilities or keys, and other, typically optional locations require careful searching to find their entrances. Though it can be frustrating when the path forward isn’t as obvious as it seems, entertaining traversal powers gradually make getting around easier and more quickly.
At the time of writing, I seemingly have a substantial chunk left before rolling credits on Control Resonant, but I’m largely positive on the sequel at this juncture. I always look forward to jumping back into it; the combat and world continue to become weirder and more interesting to engage with; I have to regularly curb the desire to uncover every hidden mission, area, or secret to get the review done in a timely manner (so much for that, obviously). I’m also enjoying the fun banter and dynamic of the genuinely likable Dylan and his sassy FBC agent partner/handler Zoe (not to mention hanging with returning faces like Pope and Langston). If the remainder of the adventure continues this positive momentum, Dylan’s quest to save the world will rank right up there with his sister Jesse’s.