CONTROL Resonant Reviews: Scores, Embargo and Critical Consensus

CONTROL Resonant reviews went live on 18 September 2026, six days before launch. Aggregated scores settled at 84 on PlayStation 5, 83 on PC and 81 on Xbox Series X|S, with roughly 86 percent of tracked critics recommending the game.

For context on the timing: reviews landing six days before release is an early embargo, and it arrived before PS5 Deluxe owners got their 48-hour head start on 22 September. Publishers tend to open embargoes that early when they are confident in the game.

Aggregate scores

OpenCritic’s recommendation rate sat at roughly 86 percent at the same point. Both figures move as more outlets publish, so read them as a snapshot from around 23 September 2026.

Individual review scores

The spread is wide enough that the aggregate hides real disagreement. Two outlets rated it a five-out-of-five experience while two others landed at three.

What critics agree on

The praise is consistent. Reviewers called it the best-playing game Remedy has made, singling out the melee combat system, the art direction and the level design. GameSpot’s reviewer described it as “a confident delivery of Remedy’s best gameplay experience ever,” and the world design drew repeated comparisons to sequences players remember from the studio’s older games.

Where the criticism lands

Three complaints recur.

Pacing. Combat stays demanding throughout because enemy health pools are large and zones scale with you, which several reviewers described as spongy rather than challenging once the novelty fades. The Guardian called the whole package “surprisingly conventional” for a studio known for strangeness.

Story. The original Control’s Oldest House and its deadpan bureaucratic horror set a high bar. Moving the action to Manhattan trades that intimacy for scale, and more than one critic felt the narrative was the weakest part of an otherwise strong game.

Navigation. The map is widely reported as cluttered and hard to read, which slows down exploration in exactly the zones that are supposed to reward it.

Using the scores to decide

If combat and feel are what you care about, the 9/10 reviews are the ones to read: GameSpot, Destructoid and PCGamesN all focus there. If you come to Remedy for story and atmosphere, read the Guardian and Eurogamer reviews first — they are the ones that found the narrative lacking and will tell you quickly whether that matters to you. If you care about technical performance, the engine page covers what reviewers found.

Related pages

• Game of the year chances covers the award picture.
• Game engine covers the technical verdict.