Control Resonant is the direct sequel to the critically acclaimed Control. While playing Control will help you better understand the plot and the many people you meet, it is not required, but it is highly recommended. This is because the game also has a recap that tells you the gist of what happened in Control.
Control Resonant gives us a new protagonist in Dylan Faden, brother to Jesse Faden, who is the protagonist in Control. Dylan was a prisoner inside the FBC Building, or the Federal Bureau of Control. Jesse was able to free him from the control of the Hiss. The Hiss is the prominent enemy in Control and also in Control Resonant, but the game also introduces us to new threats. The Hiss has now taken over Manhattan, and it’s up to Dylan to fight off these new threats and also to find out what happened to Jesse.
I like that the game introduces us to a new protagonist but still keeps the progression of the story intact. The game also introduces us to new abilities and gameplay. Where Control was mostly a bullet-hell kind of game, Control Resonant is all about melee combat and being able to think quickly and position yourself correctly.
You see, in Control Resonant, you can’t just keep whacking at every enemy that shows up on the screen. You have to be more strategic than that because there will mostly be two types of enemies: the big mobs and the small mobs. The small mobs will continually spawn on the screen unless you first take care of the big mobs. This kind of combat is very interesting because you can’t just brute-force your way into getting rid of enemies. So if you don’t plan ahead and seek out the bigger mobs first, then you’ll have a harder time clearing mobs in the game. This makes the combat more challenging than your average melee game, but thankfully, the game also has an “easy” mode of sorts if you just want to get through the game to enjoy the story.
But have no fear, the game also equips you with an arsenal and skills that will help you strategically clear out enemies. You are given three choices of main weapons and secondary weapons that will complement the playstyle you are going for, whether you want to quickly eliminate mobs by dishing out critical hits here and there or be able to take out more enemies with one single swipe of your weapon.
What is also good is that you can easily change your loadout anytime you like while navigating the world. There’s this mind space that Dylan can go to where he can change the weapons, skills, or abilities that he uses. However, you do need to gather the materials required to craft new weapons.
You will also acquire skills that you can get by defeating a new type of enemy called Resonants. The Resonants are mainly boss encounters throughout the game that become increasingly difficult the more of them you fight. Each Resonant, when defeated, gives you a specific skill that is patterned after the Resonant that you just killed. It could be anything like being able to push enemies back or light them on fire. And because of the very open-world nature of the game, you can track down these bosses in any order that you like.
Another thing that you can acquire in this game is the many passive traversal skills that Dylan can use to navigate the world. One skill lets you jump higher, while another skill lets you hover. I really like the fact that there are many things that you can do in the world, and any task or quest that you complete fills up your area gauge, which levels up and grants you perks based on the level. This makes it so that everything you do in the game has meaning, and you get rewarded for doing these things, making you all the stronger in the fight against the enemies.
The world of Altered Manhattan is beautiful and stunning, and sometimes I just find myself stopping and looking at the world around me. Mind you, it’s also creepy at the same time because you never know when an enemy will show up. I still think that the overall design of the game is very well made, and the enemies have varying degrees of uniqueness and difficulty. The world also feels alive despite the fact that there are enemies here and there because you also meet a lot of people who need saving in the world.
I also like the soundtrack and the sound effects of Control Resonant. You can really tell the difference between a sound that’s coming out of a radio and someone who’s talking in front of you. The sound quality is really great and very well done. Some of the soundtracks throughout the game are also really good and are something that you would probably want in your playlist.
There are also many things that you can do in the world aside from the main quests. These include side stories that contain new challenges and puzzles that are very interesting. So going down the path of a side quest is actually fun and not at all boring.
The only thing that I really wasn’t too fond of was how the lighting in some of the game’s areas is too dark. There are places in the game that are so dark that you can’t really see where you are going even if you turn the brightness up. This is problematic because you can spend an eternity running in circles and not find the actual path that you need to take. I really hope this is just a bug and that the developers can fix it.
Overall, Control Resonant is a fun action-adventure game that reminded me a lot of the days when I played Prototype and Infamous. If you like a solid action-adventure game with challenging combat, then Control Resonant is something that is right up your alley.
Control Resonant (PS5)
Control Resonant is a fun action-adventure game that reminded me a lot of the days when I played Prototype and Infamous. If you like a solid action-adventure game with challenging combat, then Control Resonant is something that is right up your alley.
The Good
- Challenging combat
- A lively open world with many things to do
- Great story
The Bad
- Inconsistently dark lighting
