Control Resonant review
Remedy’s *Control Resonant* returns to its surreal Manhattan hellscape with striking visuals and mobility upgrades, but melee combat remains underwhelming despite weapon versatility and open-world traversal.
*Control Resonant* drops players into a fractured New York where Dylan Faden awakens from a seven-year coma to find his sister Jesse missing and the Federal Bureau of Control in chaos. The game’s opening sequence thrusts him into a metaphysical war against interdimensional forces reshaping the city, blending bureaucratic lore with surreal, physics-defying environments. Dylan’s mobility powers—floating, air-dashing, and gravity manipulation—enable impressive traversal, but the combat quickly reveals itself as the weak link in an otherwise visually arresting experience.
The game’s environmental design stands out, with Remedy’s artists transforming Manhattan into a dreamlike labyrinth of impossible architecture and corrupted cityscapes. Neighborhoods spiral into chasms, roads bend skyward, and the Hiss corruption spreads in oilslick haze, creating a hauntingly familiar yet alien atmosphere. Dylan’s Aberrant weapon, which shifts between melee forms like hatchets and swords, adds a layer of customization, but the combat lacks depth in its early hours, relying on stacking damage buffs to make basic attacks effective.
Combat encounters devolve into repetitive cycles of staggering enemies to trigger temporary damage boosts, with heavy foes requiring protracted setups before yielding to Dylan’s attacks. Boss fights offer more engaging challenges, though their lengthy health bars prolong the slog. The game’s resource system, which fuels abilities like telekinesis and fire damage, often misfires due to inconsistent targeting, further frustrating the combat loop. Despite these flaws, the Board’s interdimensional honks during executions provide a fleeting moment of levity.
Progression in *Resonant* is muddled by enemy scaling tied to weapon upgrades and talent points, forcing players to grind combat encounters they’ve already bypassed. The abundance of upgrade materials doesn’t translate to meaningful choices, leaving Dylan’s power curve uneven. While the game’s visual spectacle and traversal mechanics shine, the combat’s repetitiveness and underwhelming design threaten to overshadow its strengths over a 30+ hour playtime.