# Control Resonant review – save New York from paranormal phenomena

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/control-resonant-review-save-new-york-from-paranormal-phenomena/
- Published: 2026-09-22T09:00:53+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-22T09:54:46+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/sep/22/control-resonant-review-save-new-york-from-paranormal-phenomena
- Topics: Art, Culture, Entertainment, Gaming, Offbeat, Paranormal, Software, Technology, Weird & Viral

## Key points

- Remedy's sequel is competent but disappointingly conventional
- New York setting lacks the original's distinctive paranormal horror
- Strong movement mechanics can't redeem bland, blunt combat

## Summary

Control Resonant, the latest game from Finnish developer Remedy for PlayStation 5, Xbox and PC, is an accomplished but disappointingly conventional sequel to 2019's Control. The review criticises the game for abandoning the distinctive weirdness that defined its predecessor, moving from the atmospherically rich, architecturally impossible Oldest House to a generic New York City setting—a backdrop already explored extensively in games like Spider-Man, The Division and Max Payne.

The game casts players as Dylan, brother of the original protagonist, using supernatural abilities and a shapeshifting weapon to combat paranormal entities that have escaped into Manhattan. Whilst it features satisfying character progression, imaginative movement mechanics (including triple-jumps and gravity-shifting across vertically warped buildings) and a free-form mission structure, the combat feels blunt and the game fails to capture the oppressive, otherworldly atmosphere that made the original distinctive. Remedy, celebrated since 2001's Max Payne for mastering Lynchian horror and unsettling dream sequences, appears to have sacrificed imaginative strangeness for safe, conventional gameplay.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.