Remedy Entertainment dropped the first gameplay footage of Control: Resonant during a PlayStation showcase, and the Finnish studio is shaking up the formula in a big way. Dylan Faden takes center stage as the playable character, trading the original game’s gunplay for up-close melee combat that looks like a character action game got tangled in a reality distortion field.
The footage shows Dylan chain together combo attacks with his fists and melee weapons in what looks like a warped version of Manhattan. Buildings twist and fold into each other, geometry reflects and duplicates across impossible angles, and the edges of reality bleed into white void spaces. It’s the same architectural nightmare energy that made the Oldest House memorable in Control, just relocated to an outdoor urban environment.
The gravity mechanics are the real star of the show. Dylan doesn’t just walk on walls like it’s a gimmick. The entire orientation of the world appears to shift around him. Enemies fall in directions that change based on where Dylan stands, suggesting different zones operate under their own gravitational rules. The gameplay reveal includes a boss fight designed to force players to actually use these gravity powers while maintaining the melee pressure.
Combat looks combo-driven with finisher animations, though the footage also hints at ranged or ability options through what appears to be a chain-link style attack. A voice crackles through Dylan’s earpiece during the action with the line “Just… try to stay alive out there, k?” The UI elements visible on screen appear more standardized than the original Control‘s distinctive design language.
Jesse Faden is nowhere to be seen in the reveal, which is notable considering she was the protagonist of Control and Dylan was the person she spent that entire game searching for. The setup creates an interesting reversal where Dylan is now presumably the one doing the searching. Whether Jesse appears as a playable character, a story element, or something else entirely remains unclear from this first look.
Control: Resonant marks Remedy’s continued expansion of its connected universe that links the Control and Alan Wake franchises. The original Control launched in 2019 and centered on Jesse Faden becoming Director of the Federal Bureau of Control, a secret government agency dealing with paranatural phenomena. That game focused on telekinetic powers and the transforming Service Weapon alongside third-person shooting.
This gameplay direction represents a sharp departure from Control‘s core identity. The Service Weapon defined moment-to-moment combat in the original, with abilities like Launch and Levitate providing support. Resonant appears built around physical combat first, with gravity manipulation woven directly into traversal and encounter design rather than serving as a supplementary power.
