The Remedy-verse is incredibly fascinating, and recently, fans got the newest entry, Control Resonant. Control Resonant picks up right where the original Control left off. This time, you play the role of Dylan Faden, who wakes up in the Oldest House. Upon waking up, Dylan realizes something very bad has happened. He leaves his cell to explore and find out what happened, and that is where Remedy immediately throws you into the story and the action. For spoiler reasons, I won’t share much more story detail in this review because it’s something everyone should enjoy for themselves, without spoilers or knowing what is coming next. Control Resonant further confirms the fact that Remedy is absolutely insane, and I mean that in the best way possible.
After a bit of action, players will quickly see that the playstyle has shifted in this sequel. In the original Control, there was a lot of gunplay, projectiles, and similar elements. Control Resonant does still have some projectiles, to be clear. Just not as many as the original. This introduces several changes to the formula and creates an entirely different experience from what fans experienced in the original game.
Most of Control Resonant takes place outside the Oldest House. Manhattan is in a bad way right now and has become completely unrecognizable. Some streets and buildings have been twisted and, instead of looking how they normally would, point straight up into the sky. At certain points, streets suddenly change, and instead of being horizontal, they become vertical, essentially creating a wall. At first, this new phenomenon limits Dylan’s ability to explore, but eventually he gains a power that lets him bend gravity, making traversal much easier.
Earlier in the review, I mentioned that combat in Control Resonant is melee-based. This comes in many forms, and the player is asked to decide how they want to play almost immediately. Weapon forms include “strike,” “wide edge,” and “drill.” You can also choose abilities such as “Shield,” “Inferno,” “Ground Slam,” and more. The good thing is that if you aren’t happy with your initial decision, you can change your mind and use a different form or different abilities. Once you complete the loadout, you will see a number representing your build power. This gives you a quick, detailed look at how your build will perform. For example, choosing “Strike” might do 48-97 damage, while “Drill” might do 145-427. For those wondering who might pick “Strike” instead of “Drill” in that case, you also have speed and maneuverability to consider. I personally chose “Strike” during my playthrough because I could easily duck and dodge enemies in combat, and I could move around really quickly while doing that. Another weapon might do more damage, but you might also put yourself in more danger by moving slower or not adapting as quickly to a changing situation. For me, the overall gameplay is fantastic and feels really good. The progression feels nice as you unlock more abilities, and it feels good to zip around Manhattan as you progress through the game.
One of the great things about all these Remedy games is that they’re incredibly lore-heavy. A lot is going on in this universe across the different games. To get the full experience, players will want to explore as much of the environment as possible and then look at the items that appear in their Archives. Control Resonant has plenty of collectibles to find, plus enemies to fight and tutorials that introduce new concepts as they appear. All of this is found in the Archives. It is imporant to look over everything but it is crucial to watch the videos there in their entirety. I mention these videos because players are introduced to them in spurts while playing through the game. Once it shows up in the archive, be sure to play the whole video so you can understand the full picture; things that seemed confusing when you first saw those snippets will make sense. There are documents to read, tapes to listen to, and as players progress in the adventure, different music will become available to listen to in the archives as well. While none of this is required to go through and finish the Control Resonant story, players who take the time to absorb all of this lore will understand what is going on a lot more easily and have a more enjoyable and fulfilling experience.
I have mentioned many times that there is a lot going on in the world of Control Resonant, so during my playthrough I really appreciated the Quest Log that Remedy created. This quest log shows the main story missions currently available to you, describes some of the enemies you will face, and lists the side stories you have activated while exploring Manhattan. It also gives you details about each mission. For example, during the “Evacuation Procedures” mission, it talks about how I had to get a security card, and then once Dyland acquired that, I had to find the source of some tremors and reach the evacuation zone. It is broken down in a way you will appreciate.
The original Control was a lot of fun to play but suffered from really bad map design. Fortunately, Control Resonant is much better in this department. It isn’t perfect, but it’s much better than what we had. Players can scroll around the map to areas they have already opened up and the map does a great job showing what’s available. For example, it shows all the fast travel doors Dylan has found and unlocked. Another thing to keep track of is the timed world events. Icons also show some checkpoints, various resource crates, power core stations, and more. Keep in mind that a lot of this is optional content, so if you want to experience the main story of Control Resonant and nothing more, that is also an option.
In the past Remedy would also offer assistance to players who needed it. They would allow you to turn on infinite health, infinite ammo, and that type of thing, essentially a “god mode” for people who want to experience the story but not the challenge. This wasn’t available at launch, though, and usually arrived as an update to celebrate the game’s first anniversary.
That has completely changed with Control Resonant, with these options and more available on day one. Remedy took it a step further and now allows players to adjust their experience at a more granular level. Now players can enable assist mode, and once that is turned on, a world of customization opens up. You can decide how quickly Dylan recovers, how much damage eneimes will inflict on Dylan, how much damage you will inflict on enemies, how big the perfect dodge window is, and more. It is pretty awesome to be able to control things to that degree, making the game more accessible to everyone. For those who like the game and want to play it on default settings you can completely ignore these options. If you can’t get through the game for any reason, or don’t want to deal with some of the challenges Control Resonant throws at you, this is available. It also doesn’t affect your ability to earn achievements or trophies, so have fun playing the game however you want. If you don’t want to deal with that level of detail, you can simply turn on immortality and one-hit kills, which lets you kill any enemy with one hit. That only takes a second or two to flip on those options, and then you can get back to the game.
Remedy games are known for many things, but one thing is certainly the audio. I enjoyed the cast’s voice acting during my adventure, but I need to say something about the soundtrack. Like other Remedy titles, the soundtrack in Control Resonant is top-notch. The music they put on here is incredible and something you will want to listen to multiple times. Remedy is also known for dropping big, seemingly random musical numbers into their games, and Control Resonant is no exception. The musical number they put in the first Control is fantastic, and then the one they put in Alan Wake 2 is even better. Remedy fans should like what is in store for them here, and that is all I will say about that. Aesthetically speaking, Control Resonant is a beautiful game. The different environments look great, and the overall way the world presents itself is truly fantastic.
I’m trying to think about if I have any big complaints about Control Resonant and I really don’t. There are a couple of minor things. As I said, while the map is much better than the original Control, it could still be improved. Some people might get a tad confused about how the upgrade system works in certain instances, so that could be explained better. Other than that, I don’t really have anything negative to say. The game runs really well on my Xbox Series X, and I am happy with my overall experience.
Control Resonant is an excellent addition to the Remedy-verse. I highly recommend playing these games in release order. Begin with the first Alan Wake, and then then Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, all the way up to Control Resonant, including Quantum Break. While technically not in the universe because Microsoft owns the Quantum Break IP, it is definitely part of the universe. Once you do that, then play Control Resonant and enjoy what Remedy has created. If you aren’t interested in doing all of that, you can still play Control Resonant and have a great time. This game will absolutely stand on its own; you just won’t appreciate it as much if you don’t know the backstory and what happened in earlier games. Remedy always seems to put out great games, and you can see the heart and soul poured into every adventure. Be sure to pick up Control Resonant if you want something fun and weird, in the best possible way.
Score: 9/10
Originally posted on Shadow’s Gaming
Please Note: Remedy Entertainment provided us with a code for Control Resonant for review.
