Even though it’s still a sequel to Remedy’s 2019 hit, Control Resonant approaches things differently. Instead of The Oldest House, players must now explore a twisted version of Manhattan, battling returning enemies like Hiss and Mold (who are far more aggressive than before). Perhaps more importantly, however, is Remedy’s take on the world-building.
From the look, which takes inspiration from art pieces, films, and more to stay unique, to the enemy dynamics, Manhattan is a different beast entirely. “Imagine that there’s a place that was Manhattan, but it has been taken over by a paranatural force that may or may not have been in the first game and might be something completely new,” explains lead level designer Anne-Marie Grönroos in a new development diary.
“We actually have multiple factions in this game. So, there are some zones where you can find all of these factions, but how many of these factions have presence in each zone differs.”
“Now that things are flooding from The Oldest House into Manhattan, we had to start to think about the world building a little bit differently,” says art director Elmeri Raitanen. “So now it’s not just FBC holding on and trying to gain control, but it’s more of a world – a lived-in world that has a history of its own already. And different factions are basically trying to gain control in our world.”
It bleeds into Remedy addressing one of the bigger criticisms of control – the lack of enemy variety. Rest assured, you’ll find “way more creatures” to deal with, as lead gameplay animator Annika Lehtinen refers to them. That includes, of all things, a bus.
“So that obviously creates a little bit of challenge for the animation team of what you can actually do with this bus when you have limited controls on it. A lot of the Hiss enemies are creatures, but we still used motion capture for some of them.” She went on to credit one motion capture artist, Thomas Nielson, as being the “go-to guy” for mimicking the twitching and glitching of enemy movements.
Control Resonant launches later this year for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Remedy Entertainment also recently outlined how New Game Plus would work, and how players could unlock new ability nodes, a fourth Artifact slot, and more to expand on their build. Of course, enemies will be stronger, and bosses even have some new tactics that will require changing the way you play. Head here for more details.
