Remedy Entertainment has brought its Northlight engine into a broader urban setting with Control Resonant, scaling its technical ambitions across PC hardware according to a Digital Foundry deep dive. While console versions established a baseline, the PC release delivers extensive options and scalability, though it arrives with notable gaps in hardware anti-lag integration and upscaling support.
PC Scalability and Ray Tracing Performance
The PC version scales impressively from mainstream gaming PCs upwards, according to Digital Foundry’s analysis. Without hardware ray tracing, the Northlight engine employs sophisticated indirect lighting and software-traced reflections. Full ray-traced and path-traced setups push visual fidelity much further at a significant performance cost. On hardware like the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti Super, path-traced frame rates can reliably exceed 60fps at 4K using RT-optimized settings and aggressive upscaling, even in demanding scenes prior to frame generation.
Upscaling and Anti-Lag Implementation Shortfalls
Platform support shows notable inconsistencies across upscaling technologies. AMD FSR 4 upscaling and frame generation are included, though the release lacks support for AMD’s Ray Regeneration. Intel XeSS technologies receive no support for upscaling or frame generation. On the Nvidia side, DLSS 4.5 super resolution and Ray Reconstruction are available, alongside a legacy CNN DLSS option. The Digital Foundry review recommends using the Nvidia App to bypass these options in favor of DLSS Preset K for a performance boost with minimal visual impact.
Anti-lag implementations require user attention. Nvidia Reflex engages only alongside frame generation, meaning frame generation delivers lower latency than running without it in heavy scenarios. A Reflex toggle is required alongside support for AMD and Intel anti-lag solutions.
Menu Systems and Hardware Bottlenecks
The spartan menu system from Alan Wake 2 is refreshed with visual previews and descriptions for quality levels. However, it still lacks dedicated CPU, GPU, and VRAM impact indicators, and misses an option to completely hide the UI during adjustments for real-time performance assessment. The game manages shader compilation efficiently, avoiding long pre-load times or major stuttering while playing, although some streaming hitches still occur. Regarding the CPU, those in the Ryzen 5 5600 class may see frame rates fall under 60fps and experience evident frame-time instability when ray tracing is active during intense combat in open areas. Mainstream CPUs achieve a more consistent 60fps+ experience by sticking to the non-ray-traced path.
Technical Specifications and Optimised Settings
| Setting | Optimised Mainstream | Optimised Enhanced | PS5 Performance | PS5 Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upscaler | DLSS Legacy / Preset K / FSR | DLSS / FSR | 1440p/FSR (Balanced) | 2160p/FSR (Balanced) |
| Texture Resolution | Medium (8GB VRAM) | High | High | High |
| Global Illumination | High | High | Medium | High |
| Shadow Map Resolution | Medium | Ultra | Medium | High |
| Ray Tracing | Off | Optional | Off | Off |
Common Questions About Control Resonant on PC
How does shader compilation affect performance during gameplay?
The game manages shader compilation efficiently, avoiding long pre-load times or major stuttering while playing, although some streaming hitches still occur.
What are the hardware requirements for maintaining 60fps with ray tracing?
Processors in the Ryzen 5 5600 class can dip below 60fps with frame-time instability during heavy combat with ray tracing enabled, making the non-ray-traced path more consistent for mainstream CPUs.
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