CONTROL Resonant preview — The FBC is changing hands

Well, color me surprised. You may have just gotten stunned by the CONTROL Resonant trailer, and I don’t blame you. Not only does it look wild, but the change of protagonist and combat stylings makes for something different from Remedy. As the resident fanboy, I still hold the team to a high standard despite being biased. In a quick preview event where I got a look at the trailer and heard from Creative Director Mikael Kasurinen regarding Resonant, I’m confident the game is heading in the right direction.

For those unfamiliar with where Control left off, Jesse Faden has fully assumed control of the Federal Bureau of Control, which deals in supernatural events – including what has occurred over in Bright Falls via our friend Alan Wake. Throughout that game, Jesse manages to free the Oldest House (the location of the FBC), find her brother Dylan, and free him from the evil presence infecting him known as the Hiss, but leaving him in a comatose state. Resonant takes place seven years after the original game, with Jesse mysteriously disappearing, breaking the lockdown on the Oldest House, allowing a new threat to leak into Manhattan and reshape reality, and of course bring new terrors to fight along with it.

This is where Dylan Faden wakes up. With Jesse missing, it’s up to him to get a grasp on his abilities and be the hero the city needs. Remedy has worked hard to set up Resonant to be its own game; you won’t need to play Control in order to understand it. Each one sets up each sibling, and hopefully we’ll get even more intel at the end of Resonant with a convergence of their paths.

While the setting may be familiar, don’t think you’re just going to walk around the streets of everyday Manhattan. As you’ll have seen in the trailer, the city is warped beyond belief, with the mind-bending aesthetic Remedy loves to inject. Seriously, I’m getting some major Inception vibes looking at it. Although I was assured in the session that this won’t be a full-on open-world, there will be a lot of player freedom in the exploration of it in an action-RPG fashion. Oh, and the ominous red you’ll remember from Control is here in spades. Just like Control, you’ll also have different NPCs – including multiple factions – to interact with in hopes of saving more people, along with receiving quests (and side missions) from them.

I was shocked when we got the first glimpse of combat. Where Control went for fast and precise shooting, Resonant returns the fast and precise, but gives you a weapon called the “Aberrant”, which pushes you into close-quarters combat. The short slice in the trailer almost makes me think of Devil May Cry, somewhat detached from the feel Control has. I’ll wait until I get my hands on it to judge for myself, but it’ll be interesting to see Remedy yet again step into an arena and try something new. The supernatural abilities still look really cool and frenetic, alongside the Aberrant’s shapeshifting capabilities (I saw dual blades and a warhammer for starters) adding some awesome variety to attacks. With plenty of wild enemy variation planned (both in scale and style), all of these elements should mesh into something epic.

Kasurinen responded to a question I had on combat design. Was the move to close-quarters combat a challenge as Remedy has largely focused on third-person shooters? It was, but they wanted the game to continue with the fast-pace they achieved in the first game. How can you push the envelope even more? Go with something unique like the Aberrant that utilizes the momentum and abilities, and in turn opens up new types of enemies that will be satisfying to take down because of your new arsenal.

All of these things blend into Remedy’s attempt at moving Control from action-adventure to action-RPG. They don’t want side missions to be filler, but carefully designed to be integral to the world. Open-ended exploration, meaningful progression, and real choices support this new goal. There will even be build-crafting; shaping your Dylan to fit your playstyle. It’s not safe for a sequel, but Remedy rarely takes the simple route – a big reason why I love the games they make.

The final piece to the puzzle is when the game is arriving, and it’s sooner than you might expect. Remedy has dated CONTROL Resonant for 2026, and while there’s a lot of room for moving it around, I’ll be interested to see where the final date lands when you have heavy hitters like Grand Theft Auto VI, Marvel's Wolverine, and more on the way. One thing is for sure, whenever that date comes, I’ll be sitting in front of my console or PC, playing away to my heart’s content.