The open-world sequel Control Resonant from Remedy Entertainment has debuted with a solid 85 score on Metacritic, according to a review roundup from Tech4Gamers.
Critical Reception and Gameplay
Critics have praised the title for its narrative, art design, and gameplay, with some reviewers describing the art direction as the best seen all year. Specific elements such as exploration, melee combat, and traversal were characterized as top-notch while retaining the studio’s identity. Some media outlets provided high marks, including a 10/10 from VGC and 9/10 scores from GameSpot, GamingBolt, and Screen Rant. Other scores included 8.5/10 from DualShockers and 8/10 from both IGN and Push Square.
Despite the positive reception, some reviews noted drawbacks. These include repetitive combat and a dull open world, which some critics suggested suffers from a common open-world curse
where gameplay can become boring. Tech4Gamers reported that while the project was a risk due to its shift in gameplay style, the studio largely succeeded.
Technical Performance on PlayStation 5
While the narrative and art have been lauded, technical analysis from Digital Foundry reveals struggles with the Northlight engine as the game moves from the confined spaces of the first title to the urban environments of Manhattan. In the PS5 performance review, the site noted that the base console’s performance mode targets 60 fps but suffers from traversal stutters and frame rate dips during the first boss’s melee attacks. This mode renders at a native 864p and upscales to 1440p, though image quality is hampered by artifacts and shimmering.
The base console’s quality preset boosts visual sharpness by upscaling 1260p to 4K at a 30 fps goal, though it lacks ray tracing and sees frame rates drop into the 20s during the first boss encounter.
The PS5 Pro offers several upgrades to mitigate these issues. Its performance mode uses PSSR to upscale a native 864p to 2160p with steadier 60 fps frame rates. The Pro’s quality mode operates at a native 1224p and 30 fps, introducing ray-traced shadows and reflections. Additionally, a balanced mode on the PS5 Pro allows for 40 fps at 1080p while maintaining ray tracing effects, though Digital Foundry reported that this setting has less consistent frame rates than other options.
Related reading