CONTROL Resonant‘s headline feature is clear: it's a true melee-action game. Where the original CONTROL centered on paranatural gunplay—a direct line of evolution from Remedy's Max Payne and Quantum Break—the sequel brings close-quarters combat to the freakish threats of its world.

But beyond the combat lies something more expansive. Remedy's ambition extends across multiple design disciplines, each breaking from the series' conventions.

It's Got an RPG's Heart

CONTROL featured skill trees, but Resonant vastly expands them. The newly playable Dylan Faden has a sprawling Talent tree, individual upgrade paths for multiple weapon forms, multiple Secondary Weapons and Combat Abilities, and an entire menu of bespoke combo finishers that can fundamentally alter your approach to fights.

The world itself levels up too. As you dominate fights, find secrets, and complete quests in Resonant‘s warped Manhattan, each area rises in level and offers bonuses. Defeat one of the area bosses—called Resonant Entities—and the world actively becomes more dangerous, as if testing whether you've improved. The result is a game that constantly evolves alongside you, a stealth-RPG hidden within an action game.

It's Got an Open World Game's Breadth

Resonant‘s Manhattan isn't a traditional open world but rather densely packed, highly designed zones, each offering distinct challenges and aesthetics. They're peppered with open-world staples—hidden collectibles, rewarding activities—and stranger discoveries. One sidequest unlocked after hearing something sing from a subway tunnel. The map balances intentional level design and choreographed encounters with genuine exploration, offering the scope of an entire game world.

It's Got a Superhero Game's Movement

While CONTROL‘s Jesse gradually became powerful, the wider world of Resonant demands more efficient mobility. Dylan can jump, glide, dash, and run so fast that physics objects get caught in his orbit. Later, he can subvert gravity, travel up vertical surfaces, or move upside-down. Within moments, scaling entire buildings becomes second nature—you're effectively moving through the world like a superhero.

It's (Sometimes) a Comedy

Beneath the hostile extra-dimensional forces twisting physics and spawning freakishly distorted buses lies a workplace comedy. Piecing together the Federal Bureau of Control through found people and redacted files reveals frequently hilarious backstory. Watching governmental bureaucracy collide with impossible objects, possessed people, and unbelievable events is a genuine joy—and keeps the player from feeling alone in a world that purposely makes no sense.

One standout moment occurs in a corner of an early Field Office where, if you listen to guard chatter, two FBC employees slowly try convincing their boss that he is, in fact, a ghost.

CONTROL Resonant arrives September 24 on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC, playable on both console and PC at no additional cost with Xbox Play Anywhere.