Today's big release is here. CONTROL Resonant, Remedy Entertainment's long-awaited sequel to 2019's Control. Things have gone incredibly wrong in the Oldest House, and it looks like the brutalist magical megastructure has turned inside-out, swallowing Manhattan with it and spitting out a warped, surreal, monster-infested playground. Worse still, Jesse Fayden, super-powered head of the Federal Bureau of Control, is nowhere to be found, so this time we're playing as her brother, Dylan. Dylan has a very large hammer, and maybe it's just the universe collapsing around him, but everything kinda looks like a nail.

I'm going to admit now that I've been excited to play this for a long while, and will be diving in the second I clock out of work today. Rather than just playing it safe with the sequel, it looks like Remedy has taken another big (hammer-like) swing, switching from a third-person shooter with superpowers to what you'd more expect in a traditional superhero game. Sprinting up walls, hopping between buildings, and fighting with big weird monsters with an even bigger weapon, with a heavy melee focus.

It's also a big, semi-open-world experience. While the initial reviews have been intriguingly all over the place (it's either nearly perfect or barely tolerable, depending on who you ask), one of the few things people can agree on is that this is a BIG game, clocking in at upwards of 30 hours for most, and I've seen some say it took them close to 50, even before getting into the New Game Plus mode. Another point of debate is whether Remedy was right to make this one an overt superhero game, which some claim is betraying the spirit of the original.

And that brings us to a question that has been raging through general games discourse circles: Was the original Control a superhero game too? I'd argue yes. Specifically, a superhero origin story. Yes, Jesse begins the game as a regular human being with a weird gun. By the mid-game, she's a magical telekinetic wrecking ball, flying through the halls of the Oldest House, throwing enemies (and chunks of concrete) at enemies. A game where you're encouraged to barrel through enemies and heal by smashing them into dust up close.

And yet, many argue that the game is entirely the opposite. It's a game about fear and disempowerment where every enemy is too tanky and any progress comes at the cost of extensive grind and careful use of cover. I genuinely did not experience this while playing, but many claim that this was their entire experience with the game. So, I put the question to you all:

There are no prizes here; I'm just curious where the general public stands on the game. Personally, I reckon that the Ashtray Maze (spoilers if you haven't played it yet) was to Control as What's Up Danger? was to Spider-Verse. The moment where the protagonist accepts the aid of the wise old mentor character, embraces their powers, and finally flexes them, accompanied by a spectacular audiovisual sequence.

I cannot wait to see whether Resonant has a similarly bombastic needle-drop moment.

CONTROL Resonant is out now for £50/$60. But as with all big releases, shopping around a little will get you a respectable discount, even on launch day.