CONTROL Resonant

CONTROL Resonant is an upcoming action role-playing game developed by Remedy Entertainment and co-financed/published alongside Annapurna Interactive. Scheduled for a 2026 release on PC (Windows and macOS), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, it is the highly anticipated, deeply ambitious sequel to the multi-award-winning 2019 paranormal masterpiece, Control.

Core Concept and Story

In a massive narrative pivot, you do not play as Jesse Faden this time around. Instead, you step into the shoes of her estranged brother, Dylan Faden, who was famously corrupted by the chaotic Hiss and left comatose/captive in the depths of the Federal Bureau of Control at the end of the first game.

The narrative kicks off when the FBC is forced to release Dylan at the height of a catastrophic supernatural crisis. The paranatural dangers have spilled out beyond the brutalist walls of the Oldest House and are currently ravaging Manhattan. Tasked with fighting back against a reality-bending cosmic threat, Dylan must venture into the warped, gravity-defying streets of New York—which are now heavily infested by the Hiss and a creeping, invasive micro-organism known as the “Mold”—to master his volatile powers, retain his humanity, and find his sister, Director Jesse Faden.

Gameplay and Features

Following its major gameplay debut at the February 2026 PlayStation State of Play, Remedy made it clear that they are radically changing the mechanical formula. Resonant is completely abandoning its predecessor’s identity as a third-person shooter in favor of becoming a full-fledged Action-RPG:

• The “Aberrant” Melee Combat: Say goodbye to the Director’s shapeshifting gun. Dylan relies primarily on aggressive, hack-and-slash melee combat. His primary weapon is a supernatural tool called the “Aberrant.” Much like the original Service Weapon, it can shapeshift on demand—morphing from a bone-crunching two-handed hammer into swift, dual-wielded blades mid-combo.
• Deeper RPG Progression: Remedy explicitly designed the game to be much more flexible than the original. It features a deep progression system where players can heavily customize how Dylan’s telekinetic, elemental, and gravitational powers manifest and grow over the course of the campaign.
• Expansive Manhattan Zones: The game is not a seamless open world, but it massively opens up the level design. Players will explore large, distinct, and highly explorable zones across a fractured Manhattan, complete with a heavy emphasis on side quests, hidden characters, and optional paranatural discoveries.
• Visual Spectacle: Powered by an upgraded version of Remedy’s in-house Northlight Engine, the game trades the reflective, concrete hallways of the Oldest House for sprawling, outdoor cityscapes. It leans heavily into advanced path-tracing and DLSS 4.5 tech to render a mind-bending, physically distorted version of New York City.

Anticipation and The Genre Shift

Leading up to its planned 2026 launch, the gaming community’s reaction to CONTROL Resonant has been a mix of massive hype and intense curiosity.

Remedy has been incredibly transparent that this is “not a safe sequel.” While fans and critics were universally blown away by the jaw-dropping graphics and the surreal art direction shown in the early 2026 trailers, the drastic shift from a third-person shooter to a melee-focused Action-RPG has sparked significant debate. Some hardcore fans are slightly nervous about losing the iconic, punchy gunplay that defined the first game, but many are excited to see Remedy take a massive creative risk rather than just delivering a simple, repetitive sequel.

Quick Note

CONTROL Resonant is shaping up to be a visually staggering, reality-warping evolution of the Remedy Connected Universe.

In short: It completely throws out the gunplay of the 2019 original, trading it for a deeply aggressive, melee-focused hack-and-slash combat system. If you are a fan of Remedy’s incredibly weird, Twin Peaks-esque storytelling and want to explore a paranormally corrupted Manhattan by smashing monsters with a shapeshifting hammer, this is easily one of the most exciting releases on the 2026 calendar.