Control Resonant is absolutely "not a safe sequel" as Remedy brings its surreal reality warping to the streets of New York

We knew Control 2 was on the horizon, but when you're dealing with a studio as experimental and creative as Remedy, that's about all you can be sure of. That, and plenty of reality bending… In terms of where it'll take you, who you'll play as, and what kind of gameplay you'll find, that's much harder to predict. Well, with the reveal of Control Resonant at The Game Awards, you'll be left pondering no longer. Taking you out of Jesse Faden's shoes and promoting her brother Dylan to playable protagonist, Resonant makes many more radical changes than that. In the words of the game's creative director himself, "this is not a safe sequel."

Control is one of the most unique and beloved single-player games ever - while Remedy had shown plenty of streaks of surrealism in the past, this was, at the time, a culmination of all the studio's ambition and, well, weirdness. However, it's been over six years since Control dropped, and with the changing times comes the desire to take it in a slightly different direction: A bigger world, where the chaos of the Oldest House spills out onto the streets of New York; a new "cosmic" enemy threat; and more of an RPG feel than its predecessor.

Remedy describes Control Resonant as having an "open-ended world" during a pre-TGA preview event, something that initially had me worried - is there some Ubisoft-ication going on? However, the game's creative director, Mikael Kasurinen, assures that "open-ended" doesn't equate to bloat or an experience that is spread too thin. I also found Remedy's decision to base the game in Manhattan a strange one at first - it's a very recognizable location, and has been used on many occasions as the backdrop to blockbuster games like Insomniac's Spider-Man series. Surely it would want somewhere more leftfield? However, my concerns were once again quickly soothed on seeing its Inception-style distortion of the city streets and some very abstract environments. It looks as unusual, warped, and freaky as you'd hope a Control game would.

While Manhattan is the main setting for the game, Kasurinen confirms that you will still visit the Oldest House, but doesn't specify when in the story this will be or how frequently. While this latest paranatural outbreak has spread beyond the Oldest House's walls, there are still human survivors and FBC operatives that you'll be able to encounter as NPCs. The forces of a new cosmic antagonist have erected an "otherworldly barrier" around the borough, which will act as the boundaries of the game's more open world.

As mentioned, Remedy has passed the baton on to Jesse's brother Dylan, who has been kept under lock and key by the FBC but is now the organization's only option against this new threat. He comes equipped with the Aberrant, a shapeshifting melee weapon that can take many forms - including a delightfully huge sledgehammer. Nice. Kasurinen says it has a "raw, function over form" design, which lends itself to Control Resonant's more dynamic combat. Its versatility also feeds into the expanded buildcrafting that Remedy is offering in Control Resonant as part of its transition to more of an action RPG, versus the action adventure experience of the first game.

Powerful, elemental abilities are also in Dylan's arsenal, and combined with his more spritely movement speed, it looks like you'll be able to chain together some mouth-watering, satisfying combos.

There are certainly some big gambles and evolutions here, and Remedy's not pretending that isn't the case. "This is not a safe sequel," Kasurinen declares when summarizing all of the changes and additions coming to Control Resonant, and while that brings dangers, it's heartening to see Remedy still willing to take creative risks. Better still is the fact that this isn't a project that'll be dangled in front of us, only to disappear for the next few years - at most, it's just 12 months away.

Control Resonant will be released in 2026 on Steam and the Epic Games Store for PC players, as well as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. This is now one of my most anticipated games for next year. It's not a guarantee that those RPG innovations will pay off, and Remedy's last experiment - multiplayer Control spinoff FBC Firebreak - didn't exactly go as planned. But from what I've seen and learned so far, I think Resonant looks sensational.