// THE VERGE — GAMING
Nobody does it like Remedy
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With Control Resonant, the studio expands its range without sacrificing its style.
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Video games have given us plenty of ways to traverse huge open worlds, but none have felt quite as oddly exhilarating as manipulating gravity in Control Resonant’s twisted version of New York City. It’s a game that lets you flip, twist, and fly through the air, while exploring settings that look ripped out of Inception. It’s as if you mashed up the meta storytelling of House of Leaves with the inventive platforming of Super Mario Galaxy and somehow turned it into a coherent experience. That strange combination is just the latest example of developer Remedy making games like nobody else out there.
Resonant is a sequel to 2019’s Control — though the two games are designed to be played in any order — and is centered on a supernatural government agency known as the Federal Bureau of Control, or FBC. The original game followed new FBC director Jesse Faden as she tried to fight off a paranormal force known as the Hiss, which was invading the Oldest House, the FBC’s labyrinth headquarters. The sequel puts you in the role of her brother Dylan as the Hiss and other interdimensional threats start taking over Manhattan.
A few things have changed in the sequel aside from the setting and protagonist. The big one is that Resonant is set in a relatively large open world, as opposed to the confines of the Oldest House. It’s a place that has been warped by the invading forces; buildings twist and bend in impossible ways, and sometimes gravity doesn’t behave as it should. The other major change is that while the original Control was mostly a shooter, Resonant is melee-focused, as Dylan wields a shapeshifting weapon that can mimic things like a whip or a hammer.
Initially, Resonant plays much like a traditional open-world action game. Dylan has two main goals: to eradicate the forces invading New York, and to find Jesse, who has been missing since the events of the first Control game. He does this by taking on missions, defeating bosses, and exploring. For the first few hours I was disappointed because it all felt so familiar, which is the exact opposite of what I expect out of a Remedy game. From Control to Alan Wake, the studio is known for a distinct vibe that blends the tone of weird fiction with gameplay that heightens every emotion.