The 5 biggest changes in Control 2, from no Jesse Faden to a focus on melee-action

(Image credit: Remedy)

Remedy Entertainment has announced that Control 2 is coming in 2026, and it's a bit of a system shock. The sequel is officially titled Control Resonant, with this upcoming adventure for PC (Steam and Epic Games Store from day one), PS5, and Xbox Series X set to draw you out beyond the shifting walls of the Oldest House and into Manhattan, New York.

Control released in 2019, an action-adventure game tracking Jesse Faden's attempt to locate her brother – a decision which inadvertently leads her to becoming director of the Federal Bureau of Control, a mysterious government agency tasked with the containment and study of paranatural phenomena. For years the FBC headquarters has been in a state of lockdown following a Hiss invasion, and Control Resonant is set to show the aftermath of seven years of insurgency.

The thing is, Control Resonant doesn't star Jesse Faden – nor is it another action-adventure game. The sequel is a fully-fledged action-RPG with Dylan Faden as the focus, a brother in search of his sister after FBC lockdown protocols fail, allowing the Hiss to spill out into the streets of Manhattan. It's a huge change of pace for the 2026 sequel – built in collaboration between Remedy and Annapurna Pictures – and below you'll find details on all of the biggest shifts.

5 biggest changes coming to Control Resonant

1. Control Resonant doesn't star Jesse Faden

Arguably the biggest shift in Control Resonant is a change of protagonist. You won't be playing as Jesse Faden this time around, nor will you be grappling with her burgeoning paranatural powers or overtorqued Service Weapon. Instead you'll be taking control of Dylan Faden, with Jesse's brother awakening from a coma to find his sister is missing and the Oldest House in ruin. "Control Resonant takes place seven years after the first Control game. Jesse mysteriously disappears and the lockdown falls apart," says creative director Mikael Kasurinen. "He's the only one who can fight back and help contain the disaster."

2. Control Resonant is an action-RPG

A change in protagonist has also inspired Remedy to massively change the way the Control sequel plays. Where the first game was an action-adventure, where you led Jesse through twisting bouts of exploration interspersed with punch third-person gunplay, Control Resonant is a different genre entirely. "A big goal was transitioning the game from action-adventure to action-RPG. We define this as having more player-driven, open-ended exploration, more meaningful progression, and real choices that aren't trivial to undo," says Kasurinen. "And players can create distinctive builds complementing their gameplay style."

3. The Service Weapon has been replaced with the Aberrant

With Jesse MIA, so too is her Service Weapon – the Object of Power which could shape shift its form and firing modes. Dylan will instead wield the Aberrant, a melee weapon fit for an action-RPG. It isn't clear from the trailer where this weapon originates, although it's hinted that it's bestowed upon Dylan by The Board in an attempt to clear up the mess in Manhattan. Creative director Mikael Kasurinen says this of the Aberrant: "It's a shape-shifting weapon that changes on the fly into different forms, some of which you saw in the trailer, and there are several forms for players to discover."

4. Melee combat is now the focus

With a new hero and a new weapon, of course the nature of combat is changing too. Remedy tells me that it identified an issue in 2019's Control where players were treating the game more like a cover shooter than the studio had originally anticipated in its design. Kasurinen says that the shift to melee-focused, action-RPG combat should ensure that "the combat actually becomes more aggressive and intimate" as it encourages more forward momentum towards enemies. "It creates a new dynamic, but still kind of holds on to that Control combat experience," he adds, noting that Dylan will also be able to wield a set of supernatural powers of his own.

5. It's set in Manhattan

With the Hiss out of the Oldest House and into Manhattan, expect new battlegrounds to conquer. "What we did to bureaucratic offices inside the Oldest House, we plan to do to the urban environments of Manhattan," says Kasurinen. Manhattan has been closed off by an "otherworldly barrier that cannot be crossed" with plenty of ordinary citizens and FBC personnel trapped within, that you'll be able to interact with across this "large, open-ended world." It wouldn't be a Control game without extending beyond the material world, so expect to also venture into metaphysical spaces reflecting Dylan Faden's troubled psyche.