Watch On
When it comes to developer Remedy, you should always expect the unexpected. So we probably shouldn’t be surprised to discover that its new Control sequel, announced at The Game Awards tonight, swerves on pretty much everything you’d think would carry over from the first game. To break it down:
- It’s not a third-person shooter—it’s a melee-focused “action-RPG”.
- It’s not set in the Oldest House, but instead an open world New York.
- It doesn’t star Jesse Faden—you play as her brother, Dylan, who was the first game’s villain.
Perhaps appropriate, then, that it’s not called Control 2—it’s Control Resonant—though it does seem to follow on from the events of the first game. Dylan, seemingly now free of the influence of the Hiss, has been deployed by the FBC to combat a new supernatural disaster—namely, reality-warping forces that have spilled out of the Oldest House and into the outside world, twisting an entire city into new forms.
Where Jesse wielded the Service Weapon, able to transform into a variety of different guns, Dylan instead has the Aberrant, an artifact that frankly looks like a cursed crowbar. It too can shapeshift, but into a selection of melee weapons, including an enormous hammer and a pair of swords.
What it’s most reminiscent of isn’t any previous Remedy game, it’s Devil May Cry. I don’t just say that because it’s a melee action game—it seems to be a key touchstone across the board. The Aberrant’s exaggerated forms (that is one seriously big hammer) are much more like Dante’s weapons than Jesse’s more subtle arsenal, and the fast, explosive combat looks equally familiar. Enemies are more surreal and twisted, and though the city has more than a touch of Inception about it, it also looks a lot like the weird dreamscapes of Ninja Theory’s DmC.
It definitely feels far removed from the claustrophobic, bureaucratic horror of Control, and I wouldn’t be surprised if fans are hesitant about so big a shift. I’ve got some misgivings myself for sure.
Will it be able to maintain that wonderful atmosphere and sense of humour of the first game in such a different environment? Will the more outlandish visual design clash with the series’ established tone? And is an entire open world city a step too ambitious for Remedy, even carved up into metroidvania-style chunks?
But on the whole, I’m excited. When Firebreak came out, I found myself disappointed by the idea that Control’s narrative would still be trapped entirely within the Oldest House, and it made me realise I did want a proper sequel to break into a different setting—even if I didn’t expect quite so dramatic a shift.
And frankly, Remedy’s drive to try new and surprising things with each of its games is exactly the thing that’s made it one of my favourite developers over the years. It’s always taking risks, it’s always reaching a little beyond its means, and in my book the results are almost always fun, interesting, and unique despite any flaws.
Hopefully, we shouldn’t have too long to wait before we can try Control Resonant for ourselves, either—it’s currently planned for a 2026 release date. Remedy hasn’t gotten any more specific than that yet, though I’d imagine “a date as far away as possible from GTA 6” would be a safe assumption to start speculating from.
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