Remedy Entertainment's latest offering, Control Resonant, has once again demonstrated the studio's knack for transforming everyday objects into sources of terror and challenging gameplay. A prime example of this design philosophy is the Hiss Transporter, a formidable enemy that haunts the streets of Manhattan in the game. This entity manifests as a demonic-looking city bus, floating vertically and emitting an ominous red glow. Its hull shakes erratically, and it spawns waves of Hiss Passengers—enemies horrifically fused with bus seats and other mundane components.
The Hiss Transporter is not merely a visual spectacle; it presents a significant combat challenge. As its loud, distorted horn blares, it slams into the ground, creating damaging shockwaves and overwhelming players with additional Hiss Passengers. Players must first neutralize the Hiss Passengers visible on the bus's exterior before they can defeat the Transporter itself, culminating in a visually satisfying explosion.
This incorporation of the Hiss Transporter exemplifies Remedy's consistent approach to integrating familiar elements into fantastical scenarios. The studio's previous title, Control, established the concept of Altered Items and Objects of Power—ordinary objects imbued with extraordinary and often dangerous properties. This idea traces back to Alan Wake's Clicker, a simple light switch that became central to the narrative. Control also featured Altered Items such as a refrigerator that became dangerous when not observed and a corrupted floppy disk that caused death and destruction before being pacified. The slide projector, a key item in the backstory of protagonists Jesse and Dylan Faden, served as a conduit to other dimensions, inadvertently releasing the Hiss into the Oldest House.
Control Resonant carries this tradition forward, though it focuses less on specific artifacts compared to its predecessor. Nevertheless, players will encounter mundane items repurposed for hostile purposes within the game's Manhattan setting. The first boss, for instance, is the Artist Resonant, surrounded by street signs and concrete debris, utilizing stoplight poles as weapons. This practice of recontextualizing the ordinary into the sinister aligns with themes found in horror, surrealism, and the "new weird" genres that Control inhabits. By altering the appearance, behavior, and function of recognizable objects, Remedy creates an uncanny atmosphere that challenges players' familiarity with their surroundings.
This technique draws parallels with the works of filmmaker David Lynch, who was known for juxtaposing the mundane with dark surrealism. Lynch often employed common household items and appliances to achieve this effect, such as the radiator in Eraserhead or a ceiling fan in Twin Peaks symbolizing a malevolent presence. Lynch expressed a fascination with electricity, describing it as beautiful, dangerous, and magical—a concept that, like many familiar objects in Remedy's games, possesses an intangible and ambiguous power.
Remedy Entertainment, with creative director Sam Lake citing Lynch as a significant inspiration, applies this method to uncover hidden dangers within innocuous items. The concept of Objects of Power, for example, was inspired by the real-world utility of floppy disks in contexts like operating nuclear missiles, highlighting how everyday objects can possess destructive potential beyond their basic appearance.
The fear and dread evoked by the Hiss Transporter in Control Resonant stem from this recontextualization. Buses are typically symbols of reliable public transit, but the game twists this familiarity into something terrifying. The image of passengers fused with seats, spilling from the windows, incites feelings of claustrophobia and panic. The bus's violent ground-pounds serve as a reminder of the lethal potential of such heavy machinery, and its horn transforms into an omen of impending disaster. This deliberate transformation of the familiar into the unsettling is a testament to Control Resonant's effective environmental storytelling and enemy design.