It’s easy to see why that’s the case, with Delsin being able to harness some impossible powers in a game that lets you soar across Seattle and lay waste to anyone who opposes you by hijacking their powers or turning the very world around you into potent weapons, while shaping the course of the city through your choices. Well, Control Resonant may not bring all of that to the table, and it certainly isn’t trying to replace inFAMOUS, but it might be the next best thing you can play on the PS5 if you’re looking for a power trip.

We’ve got a few reasons as to why we think that’s the case, and, as always, are happy to share them with you. Let’s get right to it!

The Fantasy of Night On Unlimited Power

Let’s begin by taking a closer look at what inFAMOUS was all about before we pit it against Resonant and bring out the similarities. Sucker Punch’s take on unlimited power is best looked at through the lens of Second Son, which gave us superhuman powers, some very cool traversal abilities, player choice, and some brilliant combat, letting us loose in a version of Seattle that was taken over by the D.U.P.

Delsin had the unique ability of absorbing the powers of other Conduits, giving him literal superpowers that let him take on enemies with style and substance, while traversing Seattle in ways that gave an interesting layer of verticality to the game’s world. It was all designed around creative player expression, and the presentation made his powers look and feel spectacular.

All of this is going to sound familiar if you’ve been keeping up with Resonant’s promotional material, except that it’s Manhattan that serves as the stage for the action. The Hush has turned it into a warped version of itself, while Dylan has a transforming Aberrant weapon and powers that let him harness the elements to devastate his foes in a combat system that’s quite a radical departure from what was on offer in the first game. It isn’t a direct copy, but the similarities are there.

The biggest difference we can point out is tonal. While inFAMOUS had a vibe that screamed comic-book rebellion, Resonant brings hints of the supernatural, with cosmic horror, bureaucracy, and psychological weirdness that stems from the collapse of reality in Manhattan, thanks to the FBC being unable to keep up with the threat currently plaguing the city. Its predecessor was about being confined in a lonely house, while this one is about letting loose in a city that seems built for it.

Between inFAMOUS and Resonant, there are two very different takes on superpowers, with the former making them feel almost fashionable, while the latter aims to make them feel frightening and unstable, and we wonder if the world is going to be able to contain them as the story unfolds and reality continues to collapse in on itself.

Well, that’s the similarities dealt with. It’s time to dive deeper into how Resonant could set itself apart, whilst still being a respectful nod to inFAMOUS.

An Ever-Shifting Stage For Some Spectacular Fights

Manhattan has often been presented as a major draw in Resonant, with Remedy pointing to its perception-bending locations, gravity anomalies, and shifting landscapes, and the entire city being transformed by an almost god-like force. When combined with the rest of what’s on offer, it becomes more than just Control being taken outside of the bounds of the FBC’s HQ, but a whole new experience that takes the gameplay loop in a new direction. On its own, that change could make Resonant feel sort of like a homage to the superhero city sandbox that inFAMOUS was, albeit packaged with an exciting new premise.

Of course, the combat system is where that direction becomes an exciting journey. Dylan’s Aberrant weapon takes many shapes, and the entire system is driven by controlled aggression that feeds into unbridled power. Your combat resources constantly recharge the more scraps you get into; your abilities can stun enemies to keep them out of the fight while you deal with their buddies, and you even get a damage buff when executing one or more of them.

Pit that against Control, which was more about telekinetic chaos, and Resonant seems geared towards sustaining your forward momentum with a more visceral approach to taking on enemies. You’re always on the move, flitting between enemies and keeping them on the back foot to retain control of the battlefield at all times. It looks and feels like a power fantasy, a facet of the experience that Second Son understood very well.

However, the action-RPG layer that Resonant is bringing to the table could be seen as a difference from Second Son, where new powers came to you as part of the story and from exploring Seattle. You were simply unlocking them before learning how to use them, whereas Resonant brings weapon forms, supernatural abilities, and talents, all of which can’t be obtained in a single playthrough.

It’s a more build-focused approach, and is one in which you’re not just unlocking new powers, but transforming Dylan into a para-natural weapon that you then get to wield as you see fit. But despite that difference in progression philosophies, Resonant does feel like it pays homage to Second Son by making its protagonist the center of the game’s power, feeding all of it into him, and allowing players to mix and match between abilities to put their own stamp on how they take down the threats they face.

The Illusion of Power

With all that’s been said, you might think that we’re saying Resonant is the new inFAMOUS, but that’s hardly the case. It isn’t integrating a morality system into its gameplay loop, for starters, which was one of the things that made Second Son stand out, and a great reason to dive right into a new playthrough on that one.

Its premise doesn’t dive into rebellion as a core theme, which was a major part of Delsin’s character arc as he tried to save his tribe, and the Conduits, from an antagonist who was hellbent on destroying them. Dylan’s on a different, more personal journey in Resonant, though, and although his story might seem like a similar kind of superhero urban sandbox like the one on offer in Second Son, that’s far from it.

Remedy’s take on this unique niche isn’t about sticking it to the man in the way that Delsin found himself forced to do, thanks to the circumstances that were set up by the first two inFAMOUS games. Things are different in Remedy’s upcoming title, and in a way that makes sense for the kind of experience it’s trying to sell.

Resonant is a tad weirder than that, and brings handcrafted zones with shifting factional alliances, secrets to uncover, environmental challenges that lean into the paranormal elements that the Control franchise is known for, World Quests, and a combat system that might use the same superhero concept, but expresses it in an entirely different way. The goal isn’t just to blaze a path through the main story, or to just “clear” the map, but to let all of that happen organically as you explore its take on Seattle.

It’s a kind of game design that had begun to take root around the time Second Son came along, but has since evolved with the advent of current-gen hardware that makes presenting such an experience as seamlessly as a studio can possibly manage in ways that the PS4 couldn’t manage. It’s about facing a warped version of Manhattan on your own terms, without the game dictating the kind of abilities you were given, which is a marked departure from Second Son, where a lot of Delsin’s core abilities came via the story.

However, the two titles do coincide by filling a very specific gap: giving players a game where they get to be stylish superheroes in a modern city. Control Resonant might not fill that gap in the same way as any of the inFAMOUS games, but it does take its own approach to those specific needs for players.

It’s a more violent, bizarre, Remedy-flavored take on a beloved formula that’s been seriously underutilized in the years since Second Son graced our screens. It’s not the superpowered fantasy that we may have wanted from another addition to the inFAMOUS lineup, but perhaps it’s the one we need right now after a very long gap from Sucker Punch’s famous (pun intended) franchise.

And for that, we’re just delighted.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

With instructions from The Board – which is interesting considering their silence after a specific point in the first game – he takes out enemies with some basic combos. Thankfully, it’s not long before a second form unlocks, allowing Dylan to transform the Aberrant into a giant hammer to smash foes.

From there, we move towards a later section in the game where he actually has some abilities unlocked, from a ground smash to stone-like gloves for melee strikes. He can even toss out some explosive bursts from his hands and swap surfaces to battle on different planes. It can get awfully disorienting, especially when exploring massive sections, but the presentation, especially the music, is on point throughout.

Perhaps more reassuring is that this is footage from the PS5 version, and it seems to run fairly well. Control Resonant launches on September 24th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, and final tech details have yet to be revealed, but you can check out the preliminary PC requirements in the meantime.

Speaking to Insider Gaming, art director Elmeri Raitanen said that going from Jesse to Dylan was “always the plan, from the get-go.” Players had already seen one side of the “Faden sibling coin,” as he calls it, and now the team wants to present another. The obvious follow-up then is: What’s next?

Far be it from Remedy to not have something in mind for the future, after all. “That was always the plan,” notes Raitanen, “and let’s hope that we do well so we can do even more stories in the Control universe.” We don’t know what expectations the developer has for the project, but it’s going all out to provide a sizable marketing campaign.

Of course, it’s had some significant setbacks en route to Resonant’s release. FBC: Firebreak released to disappointing sales, leading to Tero Virtala stepping down as CEO and Jean-Charles Gaudechon taking over. And there hasn’t been any indication that the former Electronic Arts executive wants to change anything about Remedy’s direction.

In the meantime, Control Resonant is set to launch on September 24th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Head here for more details on its side content and how the team wants players to engage with the world.

According to Raitanen, the fact that the Oldest House had its distinct visual identity certainly helped, and when it came to designing the open-ended world of Resonant, he said the team is “standing on the shoulders of an aesthetic giant.” However, Grönroos noted that the jump from the linear level design of Quantum Break to Control’s Metroidvania-styled design that included backtracking, and now the more open design of Control Resonant, has been a challenge.

“From the design side, well, we did the first Control, [and] I think we were a bit naive back then, we didn’t really realize how big of a jump it could be, [you] could go from Quantum Break, which was like a completely linear game, to something [Control] where you’re actually supposed to backtrack, and it’s more open, and it has a main mission, it has side missions, and so on,” Grönroos said.

“So, there definitely was a lot of stuff in there we learned, but it was impressive what we did back then, but there were still a lot left out of out of there that we couldn’t really get done in the first game, so this one, we are now outside [in] Manhattan, so the world is much bigger, the areas are more distinct from each other, they have more of this identity that has been thought of.”

It is also worth noting that, according to Grönroos, Control players primarily just focused on wrapping up the main story and didn’t engage too much with the side content. The team “really wanted to push more for in this game,” she said, referring to the side content in Control Resonant. “We want the player to get lost in the world in a good way.” Raitanen then added, hopefully in a light-hearted manner, “And force them to have fun.”

Making the act of navigating around the Manhattan setting of Control Resonant fun has also been a major focus for the team. With its larger map that isn’t limited to the inside of a building like the Oldest House, the developers have been able to add visual landmarks that “can attract somebody’s curiosity into some direction,” according to Raitanen.

“In the indoors we couldn’t have those landmarks from very far away, and you couldn’t have those visible from other sectors at all, but here now… the game is not fully open, it is separated in a disc, similar things to sectors, but the sectors themselves, the city zones, they are a lot more open than the sectors where the Oldest House, and in fact, like that big red building, for example, you can see that from three other zones over, you can see this big global landmarks from a lot of other zones,” Grönroos explained.

“One key thing has been that we want to make it like the city is not necessarily your enemy; it might actually feel deceitfully pleasant. [It] occasionally invites you to explore, but then there might be this layer of paranatural threat and chaos that kind of is overlaid on top of the normal city, so that’s definitely been one of them key tools to make the zones feel like they have identity, and if you take screenshots of different places of the game, you can immediately tell that, hey, that’s from Evacuation Zone, and that’s from the molding park, or an abundant part of the oldest house, something like this,” Raitanen added.

Grönroos went on to tease the fact that players will be able to find some linear content, which the studio calls “dungeons,” during their time exploring Control Resonant’s world.

“These spaces, which are not in the part of the overworld, [are a] more content-linear experience, and there’s not a ton of other things distracting you there,” she said. “It is all about the story [in this area], although when the story is done, then we might be doing something different than there.”

“There might be a side quest that opens up that in the place where you are just about to go, and in fact, later on in the game.” Generally speaking, however, Remedy Entertainment wants a player’s first run through the game “to be very graded in a very similar [way] to how we did the main quest in the first game.”

Control Resonant is being developed for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, and is slated for release on September 24th. For more, check out how the studio plans to market the upcoming title.

We already know that it is Remedy’s “biggest, most ambitious” title yet, which makes us quite excited for its release date. However, things could get pretty intense for it even before that, as Remedy’s communications director, Thomas Puha, has told IGN that it has planned quite an elaborate marketing campaign to get as many of us invested in what Dylan brings to the table.

“The release window is challenging; there is no denying that, but there is always going to be competition, but ultimately, we have to trust the quality of our game. We are giving Control Resonant, by far Remedy’s biggest marketing campaign, to support the game. It is very competitively priced, and much more is coming in the days ahead now that we have announced our release date.”

That could be what the game needs to stand out from the crowd, though we’d argue that the existence of multiple factions for you to navigate around, and a combat system that already shows potential for some sick combos are reasons enough to keep an eye out for this.

Either way, it’s great to see Remedy going all out to make Control Resonant a title that’s as much a “must-have day one purchase” as its previous work. We suspect we’ll see a lot more of it before September 24th, so stay tuned.

He’s still going to have to work for his victories, as The Hiss brings all kinds of otherworldly creatures to Manhattan’s twisted streets in a combat loop that sees him use slams, uppercuts, aerial launches, and dashes, and some excellent combos irrespective of whether you’re battling enemies on the ground or in the air. He’s also got some deadly finishers that see him transform into strange creatures of his own, including a knight that looks like it’s capable of tanking quite a bit of damage thanks to its suit of armor.

Those moves aren’t just for the battlefield, as we see him use them to navigate environments that might give you a case of the dizzies if you’re not careful. Manhattan’s shaping up to be quite the playground for our new(ish) hero, and it’s apparently going to be more complex than the trailers are letting on. This one drops on September 24 this year, and you can bet that we’re going to be all over it like one of the Hiss’s swarms of enemies.

The trailer, along with an interview with the developers that gives us a lot of insight into how this one was designed, are showcased below.

If nothing else, treat this as a showcase of Remedy Entertainment’s incredible environmental design. The brutalist corridors of the Oldest House give way to impossible architectural sights in the city. You’ll see plenty of bodies floating about, most likely due to The Hiss, and new enemies who aren’t afraid to attack Dylan at first sight.

It’s a lot to take in, much less get your footing in, but Control Resonant is easily shaping up to be one of the most impressive games this year. Leaning further into an action RPG gameplay loop, Dylan can leverage different abilities and Aberrant forms to craft unique playstyles. He’ll need it to survive against the Resonants – powerful paranatural entities with mysterious purposes.

Control Resonant launches on September 24th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Unfortunately, the Deluxe Edition, which retails for $70, only offers 48 hours of advanced access for PlayStation players. At least the base game only costs $60.

Communications director Thomas Puha clarified this on Twitter, confirming it’s a PlayStation-exclusive benefit. Strangely enough, it’s not specified on the PlayStation Store, despite the platform-specific trailer indicating as much. Either way, if you’re on PC or Xbox Series X/S, it’s kind of a bummer.

Aside from this, Puha also confirmed that hands-on impressions are on the way, with Remedy venturing to Mexico City, São Paulo, Warsaw, Berlin and London to provide game access to the press and content creators. “We’ve been working on this the entire year. Setting this up all on our own has been a mammoth effort. Very excited to have folks get a good feel for the game and combat especially,” he said.

Pre-orders are now live for Control Resonant, and unlike many titles which have adopted the $70 price tag, the Standard Edition costs $59.99. This is despite being Remedy’s “biggest and most ambitious” game to date, right down to the 100 GB of installation space required on PC.

The Deluxe Edition costs $69.99, and aside from advanced access, you get an AWE Mission Outfit, a starter resource bundle, a digital art book and soundtrack, and an Untapped Artifact which serves as a “wallet.” Stay tuned for more details and gameplay in the coming weeks.

The obvious standout is that players will need 100 GB of installation space on a solid-state drive. Compare that to Control Ultimate Edition, where, even with the base game and both expansions, it only requires 42 GB. It seems Remedy wasn’t kidding about it being their “biggest and most ambitious game” to date, especially when it comes to the installation space.

On the minimum side, you’ll need an Intel Core i5-8500 or equivalent AMD CPU, 16 GB RAM and a GeForce GTX 1070 or Radeon RX 5600 XT. The recommended requirements include a Ryzen 7 3700X or equivalent Intel CPU, the same RAM and an RTX 3070 or an RX 6700 XT. The graphics settings, target resolution, and more aren’t mentioned, but these are simply “initial” requirements. At least it supports Windows 10 64-bit alongside Windows 11.

Aside from PC, Control Resonant launches on September 24th for Xbox Series X/S and PS5, with Remedy aiming for 60 FPS on all platforms. Expect more gameplay and the final PC requirements as we near its release.

As for the new trailer, it’s somewhat hard to pin down. After some brief flashbacks about his sister and the torment he felt in containment, Dylan Faden is told about a powerful resonance that emanated once the FBC’s lockdown ended. Someone admonishes him for not being FBC, and apparently not even human. Not that he’s going to stop playing hero, but the stakes are high.

Taking place over seven years after the original’s events (pretend FBC: Firebreak wasn’t a thing), Control Resonant sees Manhattan overtaken by a paranatural threat of massive proportions. Having awakened from his coma, Jesse’s brother ventures into the city to cull the threat, helping the Federal Bureau of Control and maybe finding his sister in the process.

Remedy has described Control Resonant as its “biggest and most ambitious game” to date, with the Southern Reach trilogy, The X-Files, and Roadside Picnic serving as inspirations. Combat has expanded significantly to include many more builds, whether it’s combo-focused melee attacks or paranatural abilities against foes. It expands even further in New Game Plus, which opens up a fourth Artifact slot for even crazier possibilities.