// SPACE.COM — SPAZIO & SCIENZA
'Control Resonant' takes inspiration from 'Devil May Cry', 'Neon Genesis Evangelion', and 'Inception' to craft a trippy sci-fi action game
The more things change, the more things stay the same.
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You certainly can't accuse Remedy Entertainment of playing it safe and sticking to what they know.
2019's Control was a third-person shooter, last year's multiplayer spin-off, FBC: Firebreak, was a first-person shooter, and now this year's direct follow-up, Control Resonant, is a melee-focused action game. Despite the genre flip, though, it's undeniably Control — a freaky sci-fi horror mash-up that's dripping with atmosphere.
We played 40 minutes of Control Resonant at Summer Games Fest, and spoke with lead level designer Anne-Marie Grönroos about the new enemy designs, architecture, and sci-fi influences. Here's what we learned about one of this year's most anticipated upcoming sci-fi games.
"Control Resonant" has a new protagonist, but we're keeping things in the family as we take the reins of Dylan Faden, troubled brother of "Control" protagonist Jesse. Dylan Faden wakes up inside the Oldest House — a paranormal, space-defying skyscraper in the center of New York that acts as the headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC).
Jesse promptly stabs Dylan, who wakes up surrounded by blood, death, and the massacred bodies of his FBC jailers. With no idea what's going on, Dylan flees the FBC to find that the Hiss — otherworldly crimson monsters from another dimension — have overrun Manhattan.
To fight these monsters, Dylan wields a unique weapon called the Aberrant (which just so happens to be the bar that Jesse stabbed him with). Much like Jesse's Service Weapon in the original, Aberrant can morph into multiple kinds of weapons, such as dual swords, an axe, and a scythe.
As a third-person action game (or spectacle fighter), Control Resonant feels like a toned-down version of Devil May Cry. It's just a bit slower and a bit more reserved, but it's still exhilarating to pull off combos and beat the snot out of the Hiss.
Combat is usually locked into arenas, locking you into an encounter until you've killed the Hiss. Larger enemies need to be prioritised, as the smaller Hiss will keep respawning until they're destroyed.