Three days after Control Resonant launched worldwide on September 24, 2026, Remedy Entertainment’s sequel is sitting at a Metascore of 83 across 71 critic reviews on Metacritic, with an 8.8 user score from 318 ratings on the same aggregator. On Steam, the game holds an 89% positive rating from more than 2,220 English-language reviews. Both trackers classify the reception as “Generally Favorable,” and the numbers put Control Resonant comfortably ahead of most action-adventure releases this year. For players who just finished the campaign and are wondering what to play next, the answer isn’t obvious. Remedy’s warped-Manhattan sequel blends bureaucratic horror, telekinetic combat, and a plot that leans hard into the paranatural. Few games occupy that exact space, but a decade of Remedy-adjacent design across multiple studios has produced a real shortlist worth working through.
This piece breaks down ten games that share Control Resonant’s DNA, whether that’s telekinetic combat, altered-reality environments, psychological horror, or Remedy’s own connected universe. Every score below is a critic Metascore pulled directly from Metacritic, and every release detail is drawn from official storefront listings. Nothing here is guesswork.
Why Control Resonant Is Hard to Replace
Remedy built the original Control around a simple pitch: give players telekinetic powers, a shape-shifting weapon, and a government building that rearranges itself, then let physics-based combat do the rest. Control Resonant, developed and published by Remedy Entertainment, extends that formula into a full action-adventure RPG built around a “paranatural annihilation” threatening a fictionalized Manhattan, according to Remedy’s own game description. The digital release hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on September 24, 2026, with a Mac version expected later in the year and physical PS5/Xbox editions arriving October 15, 2026.
That combination of destructible environments, RPG-style progression, and a slow-burn conspiracy narrative is a narrow lane. Most action games pick one of those three pillars and build around it. What follows are the ten closest matches, ranked by how many of those pillars they actually share with Remedy’s design philosophy, not by review score alone.
1. Control (2019) — The One You Need to Finish First
If there’s any game you should play before or after Control Resonant, it’s the original. Control holds an 85 Metascore on PC, built on the same Federal Bureau of Control setting, the same telekinetic toolkit, and the same brutalist-meets-supernatural art direction that defines the sequel. Jesse Faden’s story in the Oldest House sets up character relationships and lore threads that Control Resonant builds directly on top of. Skipping it means missing half the context for what happens in the new game’s opening hours.
2. Alan Wake 2 — Remedy’s Other Half of the Universe
Alan Wake 2 shares a publisher relationship history with Remedy and sits inside the same connected universe as Control. Released in 2023 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, it carries an 89 Metascore on PC, making it the highest-rated game on this list. It swaps Control’s third-person gunplay for a slower survival-horror pace, split between two playable protagonists, but the light-based combat mechanics and investigative structure will feel familiar to anyone who just finished tracking Control Resonant’s paranatural threat through Manhattan. Remedy has been explicit that events in both games inform a shared timeline, so playing Alan Wake 2 fills in narrative gaps the same way the original Control does.
3. Prey (2017) — Immersive Sim Meets Alien Horror
Arkane Studios’ Prey trades telekinesis for a modular ability system players build by absorbing enemy traits, but the core loop of exploring a hostile, shape-shifting space and slowly understanding its rules maps closely onto what Control Resonant does with the Oldest House’s successor location. Published by Bethesda Softworks in 2017, Prey carries an 84 Metascore on PC. It’s a first-person game rather than third-person, but the mimic enemies that disguise themselves as furniture create the same paranoid tension Remedy’s shifting rooms do.
4. Returnal — Bullet-Hell Meets Cosmic Horror
Housemarque’s Returnal launched as a PlayStation 5 exclusive in 2021 before reaching PC in 2023, where it holds an 86 Metascore. It ditches Control Resonant’s narrative pacing entirely in favor of a roguelike structure where astronaut Selene relives the same alien planet on repeat, but the third-person shooting, the environmental storytelling scattered across a hostile world, and the unsettling psychological undertone give it a similar mood. It’s the pick for players who want Control Resonant’s combat intensity without the slower investigative sections.
5. Deathloop — Arkane’s Time-Loop Take on Reality-Bending
Deathloop shares a publisher (Bethesda Softworks, via Arkane Studios) with Prey and carries the highest Metascore among the non-Remedy titles here at 89 on PC. Released in 2021, it wraps a first-person shooter around a time-loop premise, forcing players to plan assassinations across a single repeating day on Blackreef island. It doesn’t share Control Resonant’s telekinesis, but the systemic, ability-driven combat and the same commitment to a strange, self-contained world with its own internal logic make it a natural next stop.
6. Ghostwire: Tokyo — Supernatural Combat in an Empty City
Tango Gameworks built Ghostwire: Tokyo around elemental hand-gesture combat set in an evacuated, spirit-haunted Tokyo. Published by Bethesda Softworks in 2022, it holds an 82 Metascore on PC. The first-person perspective and folklore-driven enemy design are different from Control Resonant’s approach, but the exploration-heavy structure, the emphasis on investigating an altered urban environment, and the supernatural power fantasy overlap closely enough that fans of Remedy’s setting design consistently point to it.
7. Quantum Break — Remedy’s Own Time-Bending Predecessor
Before Control, Remedy made Quantum Break, a 2016 third-person cover shooter for Xbox One and PC built around time-manipulation powers and live-action TV episodes woven into the story. It’s the lowest-rated Remedy game on this list at a 68 Metascore on PC, and it shows Remedy’s design evolution: the studio’s later games (Control, Control Resonant) refined the power-fantasy combat that Quantum Break introduced. It’s worth playing as a historical reference point even if it doesn’t hold up as well critically as everything else on this list.
8. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice — Psychological Horror Done Right
Ninja Theory’s Hellblade takes a different structural approach than Control Resonant, dropping the RPG progression and open combat sandbox for a tightly scripted, puzzle-heavy journey through Senua’s psychosis. Released in 2017 across PS4, PC, and later Xbox platforms, it carries an 81 Metascore on PC. What it shares with Remedy’s game is a commitment to depicting altered mental states through environmental and audio design rather than exposition, a technique Control Resonant leans on heavily in its bureau-corridor sequences.
9. The Evil Within 2 — Survival Horror With a Shifting World
Tango Gameworks’ 2017 sequel, published by Bethesda Softworks, holds a 76 Metascore according to Metacritic’s aggregate. It swaps Control Resonant’s bureaucratic setting for a semi-open small town called Union, one that warps and reconstructs itself based on the mental state of its architect, echoing the shifting-room mechanic Remedy uses in both Control games. The survival-horror resource management is a tonal shift from Control Resonant’s more generous combat sandbox, but the “reality that reshapes around you” concept is a direct thematic cousin.
10. Scorn — Biomechanical Horror for a Different Mood
Ebb Software’s Scorn is the outlier on this list. Released in 2022 for Xbox Series X/S and PC (later PS5), it holds a 66 Metascore on PC, the lowest score here. It’s a slow, oppressive, first-person horror-adventure built around H.R. Giger-inspired biomechanical environments rather than telekinetic combat. It’s included because of how it treats its setting as a character in its own right, an approach Control Resonant’s design team leans on with the Oldest House’s successor facility. It’s not for everyone, and the combat is far more limited than anything else on this list, but the atmospheric commitment is unmatched.
Metacritic Scores Compared
| Game | Developer | Release Year | Platform Scored | Metascore |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control Resonant | Remedy Entertainment | 2026 | Aggregate | 83 |
| Alan Wake 2 | Remedy Entertainment | 2023 | PC | 89 |
| Deathloop | Arkane Studios | 2021 | PC | 89 |
| Returnal | Housemarque | 2021 | PC | 86 |
| Control | Remedy Entertainment | 2019 | PC | 85 |
| Prey (2017) | Arkane Studios | 2017 | PC | 84 |
| Ghostwire: Tokyo | Tango Gameworks | 2022 | PC | 82 |
| Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice | Ninja Theory | 2017 | PC | 81 |
| The Evil Within 2 | Tango Gameworks | 2017 | Aggregate | 76 |
| Quantum Break | Remedy Entertainment | 2016 | PC | 68 |
| Scorn | Ebb Software | 2022 | PC | 66 |
Six of the eleven games in that table score 80 or higher, which says something about how consistently this specific niche of supernatural, environment-driven action design has performed with critics over the past decade. Remedy alone accounts for three of the four highest-rated entries when Alan Wake 2 and Control are counted alongside Control Resonant’s own 83.
Where Control Resonant Fits Historically
Remedy’s output over the past decade tracks an unmistakable arc. Quantum Break in 2016 experimented with time powers and a hybrid TV-game format and landed at a modest 68 Metascore. Control in 2019 stripped out the live-action gimmick, kept the supernatural power fantasy, and jumped to 85. Alan Wake 2 in 2023 pushed narrative ambition further and hit 89, the studio’s best-reviewed release to date. Control Resonant’s 83 places it just below Control and well below Alan Wake 2, suggesting Remedy hit a ceiling with this specific sequel rather than continuing the upward trend the studio built since Quantum Break. That’s still a strong outcome for a big-budget sequel released three years after the studio’s high point, and it puts Control Resonant ahead of comparable genre entries like The Evil Within 2 and Scorn.
The broader genre has also grown more crowded since 2019. Games like Control Resonant’s own multi-platform launch strategy reflect a shift away from timed exclusivity deals that defined the original Control’s release window on PS4 and Xbox One. Shipping day-one across five platforms, as detailed in tech-insider.org’s earlier coverage, is now closer to the industry norm for a mid-size AAA release than the exception it was in 2019.
Combat Style: Telekinesis vs. Guns vs. Time Powers
Not every game on this list handles combat the same way, and that matters more than the Metascore column when picking what to play next. Control Resonant leans on a mix of telekinetic object-throwing, a shape-shifting sidearm, and RPG-style skill unlocks. Games that share that toolkit most closely are the original Control and, to a lesser extent, Prey, which swaps telekinesis for absorbed alien powers but keeps the same “use the environment as a weapon” philosophy.
Returnal and Deathloop sit closer to traditional shooters, with Returnal’s roguelike bullet-hell pacing standing furthest from Control Resonant’s slower, exploration-heavy structure. Quantum Break splits the difference with time-manipulation abilities layered onto cover-shooter mechanics, while Ghostwire: Tokyo and Hellblade both drop guns entirely in favor of melee and elemental gesture-based attacks. Anyone picking a next game purely on combat feel should prioritize Control and Prey; anyone picking based on mood and atmosphere should look at Scorn and The Evil Within 2 instead.
Setting and Atmosphere Comparison
| Game | Setting | Perspective | Core Hook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control Resonant | Warped Manhattan | Third-person | Paranatural annihilation threat |
| Control | The Oldest House (Federal Bureau of Control) | Third-person | Shifting bureaucratic headquarters |
| Alan Wake 2 | Bright Falls / New York | Third-person | Dual-protagonist psychological horror |
| Prey (2017) | Talos I space station | First-person | Shape-shifting alien mimics |
| Returnal | Atropos (alien planet) | Third-person | Roguelike time loop |
| Deathloop | Blackreef island | First-person | Single repeating day |
| Ghostwire: Tokyo | Evacuated Tokyo | First-person | Folklore-based spirit combat |
| Quantum Break | Riverport City | Third-person | Time-manipulation powers |
| Hellblade | Norse-inspired underworld | Third-person | Psychosis-driven perception |
| The Evil Within 2 | Union (simulated town) | Third-person | Mind-reshaped reality |
| Scorn | Biomechanical alien world | First-person | Oppressive body-horror exploration |
Platform Availability in 2026
Most of the games on this list are available across current-generation platforms today, which removes one of the usual barriers to working through a backlog like this. Control Resonant itself launched digitally on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, with physical PS5 and Xbox editions following on October 15, 2026. Alan Wake 2, Returnal, Deathloop, and Ghostwire: Tokyo are all available on PC and current-generation consoles. Control, Prey, Hellblade, and The Evil Within 2 stretch back further and run on last-generation hardware too, making them easy to pick up on a Steam Deck or older console if a current-gen system isn’t available. Quantum Break remains an Xbox and PC exclusive with no PlayStation release, and Scorn is available across Xbox Series X/S, PC, and PS5.
What Reviewers Have Said So Far About Control Resonant
With 71 critic reviews already logged on Metacritic and over 2,220 Steam reviews at the time of writing, Control Resonant’s reception looks stable rather than volatile. An 89% positive rate on Steam alongside an 8.8 out of 10 user score on Metacritic suggests the community response is tracking close to, or slightly ahead of, the critic consensus. That kind of alignment between critic and player scores is relatively rare for big-budget sequels, where marketing hype often inflates early player sentiment before a correction sets in during the following weeks. Readers can track how that reception developed through tech-insider.org’s ongoing coverage of the game’s Steam review trajectory and the unusual timing of its pre-launch patch relative to the review embargo.
Hardware Considerations for This Genre
Games in this category tend to be demanding on PC, largely because destructible environments and volumetric lighting effects (a Remedy signature since Control) are expensive to render. Anyone building out a backlog from this list on PC should check current GPU requirements before assuming a mid-range card will hit 60 frames per second at native resolution; tech-insider.org’s breakdown of Control Resonant’s PC specs is a useful reference point, since several of the other games listed here, including Alan Wake 2 and Returnal, carry similarly steep recommended-hardware tiers. Players running a Steam Deck or another handheld should expect to drop settings substantially on the RPG-scale titles in this list, while smaller-scope games like Scorn and Hellblade run comfortably on more modest hardware.
Predictions for the Genre Through 2027
- Remedy will likely continue building out its connected universe rather than starting a new IP, given how directly Control Resonant references Alan Wake’s mythology.
- Expect at least one more mid-budget “reality-bending” horror title from a studio like Tango Gameworks or Ebb Software within the next 18 months, following the commercial pattern set by Ghostwire: Tokyo and Scorn.
- Critic scores for this genre will likely keep clustering in the high 70s to high 80s range, since the format rewards strong art direction over raw production budget, a pattern visible across nearly every game in the comparison table above.
- Sequels in this space (a potential Deathloop follow-up or a third Control game) will keep favoring third-person over first-person perspectives, following the trend set by Control Resonant, Returnal, and Alan Wake 2.
- Cross-platform day-one launches, as Control Resonant demonstrated across five platforms, will likely become the default strategy for mid-size AAA horror and action titles going forward, replacing the console-exclusivity deals common earlier in the decade.
Market Impact for Remedy and the Wider Genre
An 83 Metascore for a AAA sequel released three years after the studio’s best-reviewed game (Alan Wake 2 at 89) is a reasonable, if not spectacular, outcome. It keeps Remedy positioned as a reliable mid-tier AAA studio in a market where original IP is increasingly rare, and it validates the decision to expand Control’s mechanics into a full RPG framework rather than delivering a direct copy of the 2019 original. For competing studios, the consistent 80-plus scores across Alan Wake 2, Deathloop, Returnal, and Control show there’s still commercial and critical room for mid-budget, atmosphere-first action games, even as the industry has consolidated around larger open-world releases. The multi-platform day-one strategy Remedy used for Control Resonant, shipping simultaneously on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC rather than pursuing a timed exclusivity deal, also signals a broader shift in how publishers are structuring launches for this genre.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to play Control before Control Resonant?
It isn’t strictly required, but Control (2019) sets up the Federal Bureau of Control, its cast, and the core telekinetic combat system that Control Resonant builds on directly. Playing it first, or going back afterward, fills in context the sequel assumes players already have.
Is Alan Wake 2 connected to Control Resonant’s story?
Yes. Alan Wake 2 and the Control games share Remedy’s connected universe, with narrative threads and lore references that cross between the two series. Remedy has structured both properties to inform a shared timeline.
What is Control Resonant’s current Metacritic score?
As of this writing, Control Resonant holds an 83 Metascore based on 71 critic reviews, with an 8.8 user score from 318 ratings, according to Metacritic.
Which game on this list has the highest review score?
Alan Wake 2 and Deathloop are tied for the highest score on this list, each holding an 89 Metascore on PC, according to Metacritic’s aggregate critic data.
Are these games available on Steam Deck?
Most are playable on Steam Deck, though performance varies significantly. Lighter titles like Hellblade and Scorn run more comfortably than RPG-scale games like Control Resonant, Alan Wake 2, or Returnal, which typically require lowered settings to maintain stable frame rates on handheld hardware.
Is Quantum Break available on PlayStation?
No. Quantum Break remains exclusive to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, with no PlayStation release to date.
Does Control Resonant require a high-end PC?
Control Resonant’s PC requirements are on the demanding side due to its destructible environments and lighting effects. Players should check current recommended specs before assuming mid-range hardware will hit 60 frames per second at native resolution.
Which of these games is the scariest?
Scorn and The Evil Within 2 lean furthest into horror, with Scorn’s biomechanical body-horror atmosphere and The Evil Within 2’s survival-horror resource scarcity both delivering a more consistently tense experience than the action-forward pacing of Control Resonant or Returnal.