I’m fighting a possessed bus with a weapon that morphs from an axe to a whip whilst the skyscrapers of Manhattan fold in on themselves like I’m in a dream from Inception. Nowhere else could this be the case than in a Remedy game.
Releasing its third entry in the Remedy Connected Universe, Control Resonant has the Finnish developer’s DNA all over it. It’s inventive, weird, gorgeous, and as far as sequels go, a pretty hefty step up from the 2019 original – although I still have my issues.
Resonant is a much different game from its predecessor, and for me that’s a good thing. While I adored the setting of The Oldest House, I found too many aspects of Jesse Faden’s adventure a little dull, namely its lengthy chats with expressionless NPCs. That is more or less gone now, with many conversations taking place over the radio, and in-person conversations being a lot snappier.
Set seven years after the original, Resonant switches out its protagonist, this time opting for Jesse’s brother Dylan – the near-mythological P6, a parautilitarian whose Hiss possession caused the death of hundreds of FBC agents. However, awakening from his lengthy coma, Dylan has a chance at redemption as the Hiss break containment from The Oldest House, and are spilling out into the streets of Manhattan.
Manhattan is drop-dead gorgeous in this twisted and malformed rendition, ensuring that Resonant has its own unique look. It loses a bit of the edge that The Oldest House has, especially since Resonant plays out like an open-zoned game, but across its 25-ish hour campaign, I was regularly taken aback by some of the best-looking environments of the console generation.
Roads fold at 90 degree angles, entire cityscapes are consumed by blue mould, and there’s a particular show-stopper of a level later in the game that still impresses me, even after hours of exploring its streets. Remedy is clearly going wild with this sequel, and it results in one of the most visually interesting games on PS5.
Even better is that it’s not just an aesthetic thing, as Resonant’s folding city is also worked into the game’s mechanics. A double jump, light forms of flight, and an endlessly cool shift ability that lets you latch onto a new axis of gravity make Resonant’s world a delight to traverse.
The story that unfolds across these weird settings is a bit more personal than the original Control. It at times digs into the horrendous life that Dylan has led, trapped within the clutches of the FBC, and I really liked this moral ambiguity for those who still work for a knowingly shady government organisation.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/ps5/control-resonant
