Control Resonant reviews: what critics said about Remedy's sequel

Control Resonant, Remedy Entertainment’s follow-up to Control, came out on September 24, 2026, on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Reviews started appearing on September 18. This roundup sums up what published reviews said, in our own words, with a link to each. We have not reviewed the game ourselves and give no score of our own.

The scores

Aggregate	Score	Based on
OpenCritic Top Critic Average	84	Numeric reviews by top critics; 96 critic reviews listed in total
OpenCritic Critics Recommend	86%	Reviews with a verdict
Metacritic Metascore	81 to 83, by platform	Critic reviews listed separately for each platform

OpenCritic places the game in the 91st percentile of games it has scored, which puts it in its highest band, Mighty. Metacritic labels it Generally Favorable. Figures are as the two sites showed them on September 30, 2026, and can move as more reviews arrive.

What critics praised

The combat, for most. The warmest reviews single out the fighting. GameSpot gave it 9 out of 10 and described Remedy’s semi-open-world action game as built on impeccable combat design, arguing that the mix with the studio’s strangeness makes it unlike anything else. Tom’s Guide called the melee brutal and engaging and liked the depth of the skill trees. Game Rant, at 9 out of 10, saw it turning a cult favourite into a bigger and bolder action RPG.

The world and its weirdness. Moving the setting from the Oldest House to Manhattan drew praise for invention. IGN, scoring it 8 out of 10, put the game’s pull down to the world built around a fairly standard story. Hardcore Gamer found it one of the most visually refreshing games it had played, with carefully designed levels, and Giant Bomb summed it up as a messy sequel that shows Remedy can still make something very strange.

A bigger scope. Several reviews note that the sequel is larger than Control in story and in play, and that Remedy chose to change the formula rather than repeat it.

What critics criticised

Combat that wears thin. The same combat that some loved, others found repetitive over a long game. PC Gamer, at 76 out of 100, welcomed Remedy’s settings back but felt there were too many hours of middling fights. IGN also said the combat’s edge dulls in time.

Losing what made Control special. Eurogamer gave it 3 out of 5, describing a more action-RPG sequel that, by leaving the Oldest House, leaves behind some of the original’s magic. PlayStation LifeStyle, at 7 out of 10, was the most critical of the major outlets: it called the combat encounters repetitive and shallow, the open world dated and the story dull, and said that Remedy’s habit of surprising fans had not paid off this time.

Focus and navigation. TheSixthAxis enjoyed the flood of ideas but found the game a little unfocused and padded, and Tom’s Guide, otherwise very positive, pointed to confusing maps.

How to read it

The spread is wider than the averages suggest. Among OpenCritic’s top critics, scores run from 3 out of 5 at Eurogamer to 9.2 out of 10 at The Games Machine. In the reviews summarised here, the dividing line is mostly the combat and the move to a semi-open world: reviewers who enjoyed the melee rated the game highly, while those who missed the original’s tighter design marked it down. If Control’s setting and atmosphere were what drew you in, the Eurogamer and PlayStation LifeStyle reviews are worth reading before buying; if you want a larger action game, GameSpot’s and Tom’s Guide’s are closer to that view.

For how the two aggregate scores are calculated, see our guide to how Metacritic and OpenCritic scores work.