Control Resonant preview: Remedy reinvents its paranormal universe, what TheGamer thinks

Remedy is no longer looking at extending Control: with Control Resonant, the studio unfolds the setting of its universe into a nerve-jangling action-RPG, without giving up its sense of mystery. Now at the controls of Dylan Faden, Jesse's brother, the player leaves the cold corridors of the Oldest House for a "paranatural" Manhattan, deformed by resonances, where buildings bend, streets float, and the laws of physics succumb to the pressure of the Unknown. Let's now take a look at TheGamer's first impressions.

The opening act and the "The Sinkhole" mission very quickly set the tone, according to the journalist: Control Resonant is faster, more aggressive, almost close to a mix between Devil May Cry and inFamous. Dylan constantly chains dashes, aerial dodges, and telekinetic combos. Shooting is no longer strictly speaking the complement to telekinesis: weapons have variants via builds that are refined through a skill tree. Remedy speaks quite openly about optimizing its "perfect combat flow," and this is felt controller in hand according to TheGamer, with each arena requiring players to alternate between movement, abilities, reality alterations, and spectacular finishers.

"The Sinkhole" seems to perfectly illustrate this philosophy. Players move through a gaping urban chasm carved into the city, in an environment where floating sidewalks and building carcasses drift in the void. Combat is carried out by exploiting verticality, forcing players to use levitation and the launching of loose objects as improvised projectiles. Readability, the first challenge of the original Control, benefits here from visual effects that make enemy silhouettes visible against the edges of the scenery, more effective damage feedback, and a minimalist HUD that nonetheless doesn't neglect crucial information.

On the technical side, Control Resonant takes advantage of the new Northlight Engine: it produces gorgeous volumetric lighting, the TheGamer journalist tells us, with reflections playing across the glass adorning Manhattan's facades, and carries out real-time deformations of entire environments; every clash is transfigured into a kind of surrealism. Smoothness seems to be delivered as well, with an emphasis on 60 fps, flawless for this resolutely action-oriented turn. It remains to be seen whether this ambitious RPG can hold up over the long haul, but TheGamer's first hours with the game suggest a Remedy more confident than ever in its own madness.