Control Resonant makes an effort to stand on its own as a sequel to 2019's Control, but in doing so, developer Remedy Entertainment loses sight of a key narrative element that made the original game a uniquely frightening experience. The Oldest House, the most compelling character of the first Control, has been sidelined as protagonist Dylan Faden navigates a distorted Manhattan. While the shift to a new setting is not inherently problematic, it results in the abandonment of the claustrophobic, reality-bending dread that defined the series.
The Oldest House: A Character in Itself
The Oldest House, within Remedy's universe, is a "place of power" affected by paranatural forces. From the exterior, it appears as a typical government building with brutalist architecture and somber tones. However, its true nature is far more complex. It was not built or rented but rather discovered. Furthermore, the Oldest House is only visible to those who actively seek it, implying its materialization is tied to perception. This extradimensional building is alive, connected to other dimensions, capable of transforming its corridors into interdimensional mazes and its doors leading to unforeseen locations, constantly challenging the viewer's understanding of reality.
In the original Control, the Oldest House's scariness stemmed not from explicit monsters, but from the unsettling nature of exploring a place that defied logic. It possessed familiar architectural elements like doors, windows, and walls, leading players to expect adherence to the laws of physics. However, as the environment deviated from these expectations, it evoked a primal fear akin to those found in literary works like Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House or Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves. These narratives demonstrate how a place that loses its sanity or defies logical spatial arrangement can become a source of profound unease, even without conventional threats. The Oldest House's ability to present impossible spatial configurations, such as corridors leading to rooms too vast to exist within its structure, created a pervasive sense of dread from which escape felt impossible.
Shifting Focus to Manhattan
Control Resonant moves the setting away from the Federal Bureau of Control's headquarters and into the streets of a warped Manhattan. Players navigate an Inception-esque urban landscape where streets rise vertically and buildings shift horizontally. While this new environment offers a dynamic playground with teleportation mechanics via ghostly doors and hidden passages, it lacks the inherent mystery and eerie quality of a haunted house. The non-Euclidean architecture of Manhattan primarily serves the game's level design rather than challenging the player's perception of reality. Instead of contemplating the impossible, players are focused on traversal, such as finding the next platform to jump from.
The Oldest House is still present in Control Resonant, but it has been relegated to a background narrative element, overshadowed by the sprawling metropolis. The city contributes to the game's atmosphere but does not possess the same 'living character' quality as the Oldest House in the original. The narrative focus is squarely on Dylan Faden's journey to find Jesse, and this prioritization has led Remedy to trade the compact, unsettling allure of a haunted building for a chaotic city. Despite its distorted streets and monstrous inhabitants, this urban setting feels comparatively bland when set against the deeply unnerving, reality-defying nature of a haunted house.