Control Resonant ditches guns and parries for an aggressive melee-first combat system

Control Resonant, Remedy Entertainment's follow-up to Control, launches September 24 — and it's throwing out the series' signature gunplay in favor of a melee-driven action-RPG system built around a shapeshifting weapon called The Aberrant. PS5 players who preorder the $70 digital deluxe edition get 48 hours of early access.

The Aberrant works as a skeleton key of offensive options: dual blades for quick strikes, a massive hammer for breaking enemy defenses, and more forms to unlock through an extensive skill tree. There's no parry mechanic — Remedy deliberately cut it after prototyping showed that players started waiting for enemies to attack rather than pushing forward. Game director Mikael Kasurinen confirmed the decision to IGN, summing up the philosophy as "offense is the best defense." Lead gameplay designer Sergey Mohov revealed that melee ideas actually date back to the original Control, where the team had concept art for a Service Weapon melee form that never shipped. The new system also leans into parkour — Dylan dashes, double-jumps, and dives into crowds of Hiss, using arena architecture as pathways rather than cover.

Dropping the parry is a deliberate break from the current action-game mainstream. From Software's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Doom: The Dark Ages, and the recent Beast of Reincarnation all built satisfying parry systems, making the mechanic almost expected in the genre. Remedy is betting that a relentlessly aggressive loop — chase enemies down, exploit weaknesses with the right Aberrant form, never stop moving — can fill that gap. Kasurinen framed the whole project as Remedy's ongoing experiment in defining what an RPG from the studio looks like, building on the side quests, character customization, and dialogue choices introduced in the first game.

IGN's hands-on with roughly three hours of the game came away impressed, calling the action swift and punchy without becoming needlessly complex. Control Resonant hits on September 24.