Control Resonant GBAtemp review

Considering Dylan’s supernatural powers, the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) recruits him to help manage the crisis. With the Aberrant as his trusty weapon, he takes on the task, seeing an opportunity to search for Jesse in the process.

A twisted Manhattan awaits

Remedy crafted a weirdly unique world with 2019’s Control and expands it further in this sequel. Its warped reality now expands beyond the Oldest House and into Manhattan. The result is an open world that is eerie, unpredictable and full of mystery, wrapped in a dark and cinematic plot.


Control Resonant must be commended for its artistic vision and atmospheric presentation. The surreal and consistently cinematic atmosphere is among its strongest suits, and this deserves praise. Indeed, despite the pile of open-world games out there, this one stands out thanks to its strong presentation.

Control Resonant is filled with scenes that will get you to ask yourself “what is this really?” or “what is going on?” quite frequently. For example, you’ll fight a giant head (one of the titular Resonant) and even a vending machine, and you’ll also encounter visual anomalies such as floating humans and echoes of Jessie as live action snippets in this twisted version of Manhattan. These presentation aspects acutely embody the game’s eerie, unpredictable nature.


Further fleshing this unique world are conversations between Dyland and Zoe (his FBC handler of sorts) over radio and notes scattered in the environment that you encounter when out exploring. The interactions of NPCs in the presence of Dylan is also interesting. If you’ve played the first game, you’ll know that our protagonist does not have exactly a positive past and this is reflected in the attitude of NPCs towards him.

For better or worse, Control Resonant is not very much interested in explaining itself every step of the way. The world as it is can feel vague, as did the first game; and while this adds to the cryptic nature of the plot, it can occasionally disorient the player. It is recommended to play the first game before jumping into this one or you will be left even more confused.

Control Resonant’s tendency to not explain itself also extends to the gameplay and translates better here. Compared to a lot of modern open world games, this one does little in terms of hand holding. You won't find an equivalent of the notorious “yellow paint” here. It encourages exploration and finding your own way, and it works well with the open world design.

With Dylan’s supernatural abilities, exploration and traversals take new dimensions. This involves a lot of parkouring, with Dylan hovering, air-dashing and covering incredible distances across Manhattan that would put Spider-Man to shame. The destructible environments, combined with the surreal scenes, add visual spectacle to the exploration segments.


Of course, with the Hiss making it out of the Oldest House, Manhattan is not exactly safe. Dylan will encounter numerous Hiss-controlled entities, as well as new enemy types such as the Resonants and the Mold (don’t eat it!). Combat is designed to be challenging, presenting with a learning curve to master Dylan’s movesets and encounters can even feel intimidating with the eerie settings and sudden apparition of enemies.

Unlike Jesse’s third-person shooter approach in the first game, Resonant takes a more melee approach with the Aberrant-equipped Dylan. He is able to equip three weapon forms that the Aberrant can morph into. Each form has its own attributes such as the speedy Strike and the slower but more damaging Glaive. There are also Secondary Aberrant Forms that give Dylan access to more specialized attack types. Visiting the Gap allows Dylan to upgrade the Aberrant forms as well as progress along a skill tree to improve his combat abilities and talents.


Combat can get repetitive and sometimes even feels unforgiving. It doesn't get more frustrating than really honing in on a mid boss only to be outnumbered by the minions that burn through your health gauge. Exploring off the beaten path, defeating Resonants to acquire new combat abilities and upgrading Dylan’s skills are recommended to become more competent during encounters. However, the opening hours can feel rough if you are beelining the experience.

It’s not just combat and parkouring involved in Control Resonant but also some side quests that offer additional story context. The main quest also involves some interesting and fun activities such as relaying power from one power core to another. These further flesh out the wonderfully weird supernatural world of the game.


Control Resonant proudly expands the Remedyverse with added weirdness to its original universe. Its dedication to being its own self might not appeal to most at first, but Remedy’s take on the open-world action RPG genre is well executed and slowly grows on the player. If you’ve liked the first Control game, this one makes for a worthy sequel. If you haven't played the first one yet, you definitely should give it a go before sinking yourself in this unique world.

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