CONTROL Resonant vs Control, side by side
The studio’s Lead Gameplay Designer says Resonant “marks a massive shift from the original CONTROL.” Said in Steam announcement: How We Built CONTROL Resonant's Expanded Assist Mode The table below sorts that shift into rows, and each cell carries its own source.
| Topic | Control | Resonant |
|---|---|---|
| Who you play | Jesse Faden. The Resonant store text recalls that “Jesse Faden walked into the Oldest House to confront the threat within.”Listed on Steam store page (appdetails API) | Dylan Faden, described as “our only playable character.”Stated in Steam announcement: the release date announcement |
| Setting | “The first Control was about isolation, being trapped inside a shifting brutalist labyrinth.”Written in PlayStation Blog: A deep dive into combat, buildcrafting and player choice | “This time, we step into Manhattan as paranatural forces tear through the everyday world.”Written in PlayStation Blog: A deep dive into combat, buildcrafting and player choice |
| Shape of the map | Lead Level Designer Anne-Marie Grönroos contrasts the new city with “being constrained inside the Oldest House.”Said in Xbox Wire: Control Resonant, self-publishing and Xbox Play Anywhere | Not an open-world game, but built around “large, distinct, and expansive zones filled with side activities, hidden encounters, and optional discoveries.” See open world.Explained in PlayStation Blog: New gameplay details on Control Resonant's supernatural action |
| How you fight | Jesse’s gunplay, the thing the studio says it swapped out.Said in Steam announcement: How We Built CONTROL Resonant's Expanded Assist Mode | Dylan’s shapeshifting melee weapon, the Aberrant. Steam describes hammer blows that flow “seamlessly into the swift precision of dual-wielded blades.” See weapon forms.Listed on Steam store page (appdetails API) |
| Difficulty | “In the original CONTROL, the sliders only allowed you to decrease the challenge.”Said in Steam announcement: How We Built CONTROL Resonant's Expanded Assist Mode | “In Resonant, they go both ways.” The studio describes “a granular control panel” instead of a single difficulty toggle. See difficulty.Said in Steam announcement: How We Built CONTROL Resonant's Expanded Assist Mode |
| The story | Jesse becomes the Bureau’s Director, fights the Hiss, and “finally found her long-lost brother, Dylan.”Written in Steam announcement: Previously on CONTROL | Dylan “emerges into a warped Manhattan at the peak of a paranatural crisis” after years in confinement, and seeks his sister. See the premise.Listed on Steam store page (appdetails API) |
The swap in the studio’s words
“We’ve also swapped Jesse’s gunplay for Dylan’s shapeshifting melee weapon, the Aberrant.”
Written in Steam announcement: How We Built CONTROL Resonant's Expanded Assist Mode
The developer FAQ names the change of place and lead in one clause: “we leave the Oldest House and step into a paranaturally twisted Manhattan with Dylan Faden as the new playable protagonist.” Answered in Steam discussions: the developer's pinned FAQ How the two games connect has its own page: is it a sequel?
Systems the studio describes for Resonant
- Abilities from bosses. The bosses are called Resonants, and the studio says “defeating them is the primary way Dylan expands his supernatural arsenal, as each one he vanquishes rewards him with a brand-new combat ability.” Said in PlayStation Blog: New gameplay details on Control Resonant's supernatural action
- A build space called the Gap, reached “simply by pressing down on the directional-pad of the DualSense controller”. Described in PlayStation Blog: A deep dive into combat, buildcrafting and player choice
- A tilt toward close range: “Action now leans more heavily into melee and supernatural synergy.” Written in PlayStation Blog: A deep dive into combat, buildcrafting and player choice
What reviewers say about the difference
These are reviewers’ opinions, not studio statements. Rock Paper Shotgun’s reviewer thinks the first game’s combat is better than it is sometimes described, but finds Resonant more dynamic and aggressive, notes that it has no parry, and says the dodge is tuned by the skill tree into an attack-boosting tool. Reviewed by Rock Paper Shotgun: CONTROL Resonant review CGMagazine’s reviewer felt that many of Dylan’s powers resemble Jesse’s, while calling the build system deeper than anything the first game attempted. Reviewed by CGMagazine: CONTROL Resonant (PS5) review Scores and outlets are on reviews.
Related
- Play Control first? for the studio’s entry-point answer
- Is it a sequel? for the timeline
- Dylan Faden and Jesse Faden
- Weapon forms and difficulty