Control Resonant Made Me Feel Foolish For Ever Doubting It — IGN First

I first played Control Resonant back in June after finishing the same few hours as IGN’s first preview writer, Mitchell Saltzman. While I enjoyed getting into the series' new melee systems and hacking gameplay, I felt the overemphasis on action might detract from its open-world design. Stepping into an exclusive two-hour demo hoping to discover what made Remedy's previous games special, I was thoroughly impressed.

New York City's familiar art deco architecture is reimagined in Remedy's style, full of oddities and unexpected twists. An early mission leads you deep into the subway system, where traversal abilities teach the story of protagonist Dylan and his sister Jesse. The Metro Vault is a dungeon-like area where you learn these new skills while experiencing the narrative.

The level design cleverly blends both gameplay and storytelling, challenging you to question your assumptions and adapt to the game’s non-conventional rules. Combat in Control Resonant is satisfying and flexible, with minimal menu time spent on character builds. Enemies like the Mold pose unique threats due to their armored casings, but adaptability in combat allows for various solutions, such as using shape-shifting abilities or even using a rock shield to stun them.

Boss encounters, like the Central Resonant, are engaging and keep the momentum going by eliminating weaker enemies after the larger threats are defeated. The open world challenges in Resonant extend beyond combat, testing your problem-solving skills with puzzles involving Altered Items, or objects with supernatural properties in the Control Universe.