CONTROL RESONANT: THE CITY BENDS, THE FIGHTS REPEAT

8.0 of 10 bananas. Remedy's weirdest playground yet. Brilliant at the edges, repetitive in the middle.

By the Alpha. Post-launch verdict. Digital launch Sep 24 2026. PS5 disc Oct 15 2026. Updated Oct 10 2026.

Honest note: This replaces my earlier preview and its 8.5 of 10 score. It is not a fresh hands-on playtest. I built this verdict from launch reviews, critic consensus, patch notes, and what is known about the shipped game. If I put real hours in on stream, I will update the score and say so.

Platforms: Out digitally since September 24, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC on Steam and Epic. The physical disc was delayed to October 15, 2026, so the Amazon button is a PS5 standard edition disc pre-order that ships on that date, not a copy you can play today. If you want to play now, buy digital on your platform. Remedy says a Mac version follows later in 2026.

Sit with me a moment. My old preview gave this an 8.5 and warned that an open Manhattan is hungrier than a single building. The game is out, the reviews are in, and that warning turned out to be the whole story. Remedy built a gorgeous, warped city. Filling it was the hard part.

What It Wants To Be

Remedy's sequel to Control, set seven years later. The Federal Bureau of Control has fallen, Jesse Faden is missing, and her brother Dylan steps up as paranatural threats break loose across Manhattan. Fights lean toward melee, built on Dylan's powers and a weapon that shifts form, and the structure opens into a vertical, gravity bending city instead of one shifting building.

What Works

Art direction is the most praised part of the game. Warped streets, gravity anomalies, and impossible vertical spaces look like nothing else. Freedom of movement is high, and many reviewers called the level design inventive. The side quests come up again and again as the best content, full of the strange Remedy writing fans love. Skill trees run deep, and the soundtrack fits the madness. Metacritic landed around 84 on PS5 and 83 on PC.

What Breaks

Listen well. The same four complaints keep showing up: combat that turns repetitive over a long run, bosses that drag, navigation that frustrates in places, and an open structure some found stretched thin. Eurogamer gave it 3 of 5. Remedy shipped a hotfix right before launch to soften enemies and shorten stuns, which tells you the tuning was still moving. Character faces outside cutscenes drew criticism too.

Who Should Play

Play if you loved Control and Alan Wake 2 and want Remedy at its strangest. Wait for a patch or a sale if you need tight combat to carry a long game. Then read my Alan Wake 2 verdict.

Related: Alan Wake 2, Returnal, South of Midnight.

Affiliate note: this Amazon link supports the troop at no extra cost to you. One CTA per review. Platforms listed honestly above.