In case you watched The Game Awards last night, you’d have seen a lot of different things. One of the announcements, however, swept across one particular community—the weird, lore-addicted, occult community—and that was the news of the new installment of Control. Not just Control 2 or something like that, to be precise, still it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the sequel will be dubbed Control: Resonant, and Remedy Studios has called it the biggest game they have ever produced. That’s a strong claim indeed.
Let’s settle it down as the details are insane. First of all, the most fundamental things—the game is a sequel of the original title, PS5, Xbox, and PC will receive it, and the game is targeted for release in 2026. So surely the wait is quite long. But still, they promise us that the serving will be worth the wait as they are not only going to do the same things but they are going to open up the Oldest House and bring the chaos to the people. Literally.
The game’s setting is “present day but supernaturally ruined Manhattan.” Thus, no more boring office building. Say hello to the limitless action RPG located in immense New York City areas. The landscape is described as “alive, odd, and repeatable” that offers several paths of missions and events which you can handle in any sequence. Being curious leads to new findings. This seems like a huge shift from the linearity, mission basis of the first game closely attached to that exploration vibe that people loved, but now the whole world is the playground.
The major character change is that not Jesse Faden but her brother Dylan is now the main character. Do you remember him? The one who was in trouble? Yes, that’s the one. The story develops that Dylan is sent to the FBC when the supernatural event is at its peak. He is both looking for Jesse and for forgiveness, and the teaser indicates that he could be more than just a passive participant in the havoc that is swallowing. It’s a new entry point so that unacquainted with the series players can join in, and it seems that the ones already familiar with the storyline will also get a lot of references.
What follows in the gameplay details is where it gets really exciting. An in-depth character development system is incorporated which lets you choose your combat style, exploration, and supernatural abilities and also allows you to pick up buffs and arms. Besides this, a new melee weapon called Aberrant has been introduced which takes the form of the user’s needs—like it could be a huge hammer one moment and dual blades the next. That’s some Devil May Cry-like weapon swapping right there, which is a far cry from the Service Weapons’ more gun-like forms. People are already dubbing it Devil May Control in the comments and honestly I can see why.
The reaction on the internet is a mixture of sheer enthusiasm and the ever-present gamer dispute. For instance, Kevo Spaceboundlego couldn’t keep his excitement in and just yelled: “I CANT FCKINGG WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” which was pretty much the mood of the entire audience. Another commenter, Koahlah thought it “looks genuinely amazing” and that was it. However, there is always someone who is a little skeptical. Some would say they want Jesse to be the main character. LeahBelly sounded disappointed, and this led to a discussion in which someone jokingly remarked “You’re just mad it’s a dude,” and the answer was that the audience has a strong emotional connection with Jesse. Another user, AkebiAkira said, “nobody is angry because it’s a dude, we are unhappy because we miss Jesse.” That’s a fair point.
On the other hand, there’s the whole… Remedy Connected Universe aspect of it all. And right away the comments dive straight into the intricate lore. Users are arguing about the place of Quantum Break in the universe (Remedy has made it clear that it is not officially part, but the hints are pretty strong), trying to figure out the identities of characters like Tim Breaker and Mr. Door, and just keeping up their reputation as the smartest ones around. It’s an epic tale. One user, AldousBurnstein, said bluntly, “Tim Breaker and Mr Door are both from Quantum Break. They’ve just been renamed to avoid lawsuits from Microshit but Quantum Break is 100% part of the universe.” The dedication is amazing.
A ‘real-life’ question was raised: Do I need to play the first game? The official answer is no, it is a new beginning. Nevertheless, giferisto user shared a pertinent personal experience regarding Alan Wake 2: “I have played AW2 without playing AW1… You do not need nor have to play AW1 to enjoy AW2.” So this looks like the boundary that Remedy is exploring with their new controllers for immersive gameplay.
