Last Updated on Sep 18, 2026 @ 14:00:28 PM.
After 7 years of waiting, fans of Remedy’s Control are finally getting a sequel in the form of Control Resonant, where we instead move on from playing as Jesse but instead play as her brother Dylan, as we replace the familiar shooting gameplay from the first game with a more up-close and personal melee system as we go toe-to-toe with the hiss and other enemies that lurk within the outside world.
During my time with Control Resonant, I did as much exploring of the game’s open world as I could, as I attempted to find all the different secrets that were hidden within, with many surprising me and some keeping me intrigued enough to keep going. While also fighting my way through the various bosses and incredible set pieces that Remedy Entertainment are known for with their games.
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The World Has Changed in Numerous Ways
From the get-go, the first thing players will notice and be surprised about when it comes to Control Resonant is simply how the game world is now a part of the actual world and not just a building like the first game, as players can now explore small open-world sections within the game that each have their own secrets and quests to complete.
When I first started playing Control Resonant and I explored these open-world locations, I was quite happy to simply go around and explore the game’s world, as there was a lot to find even in the early chapters of the game. There are a rather large number of stores you can enter either by walking through the door normally or by breaking down doors and ceilings to enter each with resources and upgrades that aided me in my journey.
This was a big positive for me, as the game massively encourages the idea of exploration in order to rank your character up to keep up with the enemies and their toughness, and being able to explore all these different streets, shops, train stations, warehouses, and much more in order to keep myself in line with the enemies around me was such a fun detail.
In terms of the actual design of the game world, I will say for the majority of the time I was mesmerised by the different locations that I explored, with some of them keeping in line with what made the Control franchise so memorable due to the bizarre situations that go on, such as the buildings being turned inside out, the duplicated offices, and even buildings hanging from the sky.
All of these details were something that constantly kept me interested in what was going on around me and allowed me to explore a lot more than I normally would, especially once I got more powers to allow me to do so, which I will talk about later, but ultimately exploring the game world was such a blast, as you weren’t always sure what you were going to find and in what state you would find it.
Although it is only a minor complaint and something that can be seen throughout Remedy Entertainment’s games, there was a small amount of copy and paste throughout the games in more compact areas, as I often found myself stumbling into the same rooms but in different locations with only minor changes to make them look unique. In some situations this works, as these games do feature cloned locations, specifically locations that loop and share similar characteristics, but after so long it just began to feel less like gameplay design and more like simple copy and paste to fill the area.
When it comes to what you can find within the game world, I was pleasantly surprised by how in-depth exploration was while also being rather spread out, encouraging me to explore as I was constantly tripping over boxes to open, side quests to complete, and shops to barge into, but instead they were relatively spread out with some of the puzzles and side quests spanning entire areas, encouraging some rather inventive puzzle-solving skills.
What made me even more interested regarding exploration in Control Resonant was that not all the exploration was based around fighting enemies. Although it was a large portion of the game, there was a lot to find and do that you didn’t even need to raise a weapon at, such as helping a dog find their toy, hiding from a camera, playing an arcade machine, and quite a few more. Which was a nice change of pace from the simple ‘go here, fight enemies constantly’ then ‘go here, fight enemies’. There was enough to divide this situation within the game and allow you to take a breather between fights.
Combat Gets Up Close and Personal
A big change for in Control Resonant was how combat played out within the game, as the first game allowed you to resort to ranged combat with a gun and the ability to throw items at your enemies. Instead, Control Resonant completely moves away from this and changes into a full frontal assault where you are launching yourself at your enemies (sometimes literally) in order to take them down.
Right away, Dylan gets a choice of various different melee weapons that the player can use during their time with the game, which is one of 3 variations. I personally took the glaive, as I prefer to be able to do a sweeping attack at my enemies while also being able to move quickly in and out of combat. While there is also the option of a completely different weapon for your heavy attack, which again you can choose from 3 variations, I took the hammer out of these weapons because big things go bonk.
When it came to fighting with these different weapon styles, I had an absolute blast as being able to choose these different options and try them out in a practice range to see which version works best for me, and ultimately choosing a combat style that can act both fast and painful or slow and full of stuns was such a fun idea, as it allowed me to create a personalised gameplay loop right from the start and throughout the entire game, as these choices just kept coming with abilities also being provided as a choice.
Due to these constant changes and choices for me, the combat never really got boring, as I was constantly upgrading my weapons, choosing new upgrades, and just simply adapting to new combat methods. Eventually I became the thing the Hiss was running away from rather than me running away from their threatening attacks.
This became even more evident when you started including the various buffs you can earn within the game, one of the main ones being Dominance which essentially puts you on a power trip once you learn how to gather it consistently, as it can only be acquired by either using a finisher on an enemy or by collecting a rare orb in combat, but once you acquire this buff, your attacks get increased massively in terms of damage, allowing you to shred through enemies.
Because of this, I constantly found myself moving around the enemies, trying to balance stunning the basic enemies so that I could gather Dominance before running back at the stronger enemies with a supersized set of attacks in order to take them down rapidly.
Although the combat was a lot of fun, I did begin to struggle to enjoy it while fighting bosses, not because the bosses were bad because they were phenomenal both in design and combat mechanics, but simply because their minimal mechanics and constant running away to the other side of the arenas made the fight drag out as I was constantly giving chase to the behemoth-like enemies that should have been crushing me beneath their feet, not running away to throw attacks at me from range.
Granted, there were ways to break the distance between me and these enemies quite quickly, as there is a sprint included within the game that can rapidly take you from one end of the arena to another, but because you are also dodging attacks while trying to break this distance, it can be quite annoying to simply run around before getting an opportunity to whittle down the boss’s health.
The Story We’ve Been Waiting For
Since 2019, when the original Control was released, gamers around the world have been asking what is next for Jesse, what is going on with Dylan, and what is going on in general with the entire game and its story. Well, now we finally get some answers while also gathering a few questions along the way.
As always, I won’t spoil the game’s story, as it is quite interesting, especially for those who are a fan of Remedy Entertainment’s games and how they all interlock with each other, but simply put, Control Resonant continues to bring the games together in an incredible tapestry that players will be unravelling for years.
Not only does Control Resonant resort to filling in the blanks through its main story, but there are quite a few additional moments in the game that will surprise players and catch them off guard as they explore the deepest sections of the game world to discover what is hidden within. Whether it be the drawing collectibles that provide a deeper understanding towards Dylan and Jesse, the various notes left behind that look into their pasts, or even some special collectibles, most notably one named The Nightwatchmen.
Each of these features combines to tell an amazing story that players have been waiting on for years with a rather decent payoff that again will keep people guessing while also adding intrigue to what is coming next from Remedy Entertainment.
In terms of actually completing the story and earning these different tidbits, I personally found exploring around the game world and running between the different quests to be a lot of fun, as once I completed one quest and unlocked more of the story, I couldn’t help but want to continue to find out more about what is going on and what will happen next.
Not only was this regarding the main story of Control but also regarding the different characters within, as each character has some form of connection to the main characters Jesse and Dylan, with some characters like Pope and Arish from the first game returning but going through their own experiences that change their character in a deep way to new characters like Zoe that bring a new level of intrigue to the game as we learn not just about the protagonists but about the characters and world around them.
Simply put, Control Resonant does what these games are now famous for, and that is to simply blow our minds with confusion that somehow works and will somehow fry our brains if we think too hard about it while also providing some form of cathartic ending that will keep us happy until the next game in this complicated web of connections releases.
Control Resonant
Control Resonant is the second game in the Control franchise, as we follow the character Dylan, the brother of the original protagonist Jesse, as he fights through a city filled with Hiss and Resonance in order to free the city and find his sister, who has mysteriously vanished.
Summary
Overall my experience with Control Resonant ended with me being very pleased with everything involved, as the combat was very in-depth and was constantly shifting, allowing for new gameplay styles and combinations.
The story followed Remedy Entertainment’s usual style that kept me guessing right to the credits, and even then I wasn’t sure what I saw was the truth or if there was more to find.
Finally, the game’s world was simply a lot of fun to explore with the various abilities being unlocked that made it easier while also providing me with enough challenges that I had to come back in the future.
- Adaptive combat that allows for complete control of how you fight enemies.
- Fun exploration that makes running around aimlessly quite fun.
- Story is just as phenomenal as the last game with plenty of twists and turns.
- Locations could become slightly repetitive.
Control Resonant is set to release on September 24th, 2026, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
For your next read, why not check out our review for Trivia Murder Party 3 or our review for The Blood of Dawnwalker.
Thumb Wars reviews every game based upon the structure of our review policy, and every review is on OpenCritic.
Liam is a Senior Editor, Writer, and Critic for Thumb Wars and has been working with the team since day one. Liam is a big fan of all things gaming, as you will catch him playing all of the new releases from every genre you can imagine. Whether you find Liam gaming just for fun or spending his free time streaming, you will always find a smile on his face when it comes to all things gaming.
