CONTROL Resonant Is Out Now – Critics Praise Its Atmosphere and World, but Clash Over Combat

Remedy Entertainment has released CONTROL Resonant, the follow-up to 2019’s Control. The game is out now on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, with Jesse Faden’s brother, Dylan, as the protagonist this time around.

The action is no longer confined to the Oldest House. The paranormal crisis has spread to a distorted Manhattan, where reality shifts under the influence of a new cosmic threat. Jesse has disappeared, and Dylan has to use his own supernatural abilities to make sense of what’s happening.

Remedy calls CONTROL Resonant its biggest game to date and places it in the action-adventure and action-RPG genres.

A Transforming Weapon and Melee Combat Instead of Gunfights

Compared with the first Control, the developers have overhauled the combat system. Dylan’s main weapon is the Aberrant, which can change shape mid-fight – shifting from a heavy hammer into paired blades, for example.

The focus is now on melee combat, movement and combining weapons with the hero’s paranormal abilities. Manhattan is split into several large interconnected districts with vertical locations, gravity anomalies, side quests and secrets.

According to its Steam page, CONTROL Resonant is a single-player action-RPG with character progression and the ability to choose how abilities develop.

Average Score Holds Around 84

Early critic reviews are largely positive. At launch, both major aggregators show a score of roughly 84.

On OpenCritic, the average sits at 84/100 from 77 reviews. Metacritic was also holding at 84 – GamesRadar recorded that figure after 56 reviews.

Reviewers most often single out the art design, the paranormal atmosphere, the scale and Manhattan’s unusual locations. At the same time, scores for individual elements vary widely.

For instance, some critics see the shift toward more aggressive melee combat as a successful evolution of the Control formula. Others criticize it as repetitive and consider the original’s gunfights more varied. Pacing, navigation through the large districts and some drawn-out fights also draw debate.

So the 84 reflects a fairly good overall reception, but it doesn’t mean full consensus on the changes Remedy made to the sequel.

Russian and Ukrainian Text Included

The PC version supports 15 languages. They include Russian and Ukrainian – both offer interface and subtitles, but no full voice-over.

Steam also lists single-player, HDR, Steam Cloud, controller support and achievements. Full voice-over is available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese, among others.

CONTROL Resonant launched on September 24, 2026 on Steam, the Epic Games Store, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. A Mac version is due later in 2026.