An 'otherworldly algorithm' is affecting Manhattan in Control Resonant, which is why there are giant floating heads and everything looks like that
Overview & Key Takeaways
When all else fails, start hitting things with a giant hammer.
I have a secret to share with you all: the PC Gaming Show sent me and a crack team of specialists on a clandestine mission to Finland to dig up more information about Control Resonant. The interviews you just saw are the result of that trip, and boy, did we learn a lot.
Control Resonant is Remedy's action RPG sequel to 2019's Control. You're not playing Jesse Faden anymore, but her brother, Dylan. He's been in a coma for some time and, upon waking, realises that the Hiss has escaped the Oldest House and is running rampant in Manhattan—that's why it looks all Inception-ified now.
"There's a new threat affecting Manhattan, it's called the Patterning," art director Elmeri Raitanen told us. "It's taking what is already there and restructuring and reorganising it with this strange, otherworldly algorithm." Is this a threat from another dimension, or is it even more alien in nature than that? Whatever the answer, it's the reason everything looks like that.
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It's not just for show, though: the bosses are a core component of this phenomenon. "The Resonants themselves are often found in this epicentre or this focal point of this localised Patterning," Raitanen said. "The bosses are almost married into the surroundings and into the scene." So, that's why there are giant floating heads and other horrifying creatures for Dylan to fight.
Resonant is a lot more melee focused than the original Control was, and lead level designer Anne-Marie Grönroos took that as an opportunity to add more enemy types into the spaces we'll be fighting in. As you can see in the gameplay clips, while Dylan is smashing foes with the Aberrant in the form of a sledgehammer, he's being targeted by creatures that shoot beams at him—you'll need to stay on the move a lot. The trailer that aired just before the interviews shows Dylan's agility, and the way he clambers up enemies to get at their weak points—it's very Greek saga God of War, I love it.
Fighting also takes a toll on our protagonist. "Dylan is fighting dirty," Raitanen explained. One of the tricks up his sleeve is the ability to utilise gravity shifts to walk on walls and ceilings. "We do have some spaces in the game where every wall you see is actually a gravity anomaly," Grönroos added. Creative director Mikael Kasurinen said that while things can get disorienting, it also leads to players reacting quickly to changes in their surroundings. You best believe I'll react quickly when up is down and left is right suddenly.
There will be a longer cut of these interviews on the PC Gamer YouTube channel at some point in the future, so be sure to keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, you can pre-order Control Resonant on Steam before its September 24 launch date.
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