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Control Resonant and Silent Hill: Townfall review roundup

Two big September releases, both praised for their worlds and argued over for how they make you fight.

Perthro

The last full week of September brought two of the autumn's biggest releases at once. Remedy's Control Resonant moves the Control series out of the Oldest House and onto the streets of Manhattan. Silent Hill: Townfall, from Screen Burn Interactive, takes the series to a fog-bound Scottish island. Both reviewed well. Both also have a clear fault line running through their reviews, and in both cases it's about the same thing: what happens when the game asks you to fight.

Control Resonant review scores: 84 on Metacritic

Control Resonant launched digitally on September 24, 2026 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, developed and published by Remedy Entertainment, with physical editions following on October 15. Metacritic lists it at 84 on PC and PS5 from 69 critics (91% positive, 7% mixed, one negative) and 81 on Xbox. OpenCritic has it at 84.

It's set seven years after Control. You play Dylan Faden, Jesse's brother, sent by the Federal Bureau of Control to deal with an extradimensional invasion of downtown Manhattan. The big change is the combat: the third-person shooting of the first game is gone, replaced by melee built around the Aberrant, a shapeshifting weapon with three forms, plus talent trees and customizable weapons. Remedy describes the structure as large, distinct zones full of side activities rather than a full open world.

Control Resonant screenshot: Manhattan under the Hiss invasion
Control Resonant screenshot: Manhattan under the Hiss invasion

What critics love about Control Resonant

The world and the movement come first in almost every positive review. Hayes Madsen at RPG Site (9/10) calls the traversal and gravity-shifting "probably my favorite since Insomniac's Spider-Man in terms of pure game feel," and says the levels keep surprising you. Radio Times writes that "few studios capture that feeling of the new and awe-inspiring, and perhaps none match Remedy's mastery of it." TheGamer's Joshua Robertson calls it "one of the most imaginative and artistic open world games," and VGC's Jordan Middler praises its "incredible art design and performances."

Cole Kronman's Kotaku review is the most enthusiastic about the fighting. He calls it "the most demanding, most video-game-per-square-inch video game Remedy has ever made," where "every square inch of its arenas (including walls and ceilings) is an active combat zone." MeuPlayStation (91) sums it up as "more artistic. Bolder. More complete. And much, much more challenging."

Where Control Resonant reviews split: the combat

The same combat is what the lower scores push back on. Eurogamer's Alexis Ong (3/5) says Resonant "is a more action-RPG oriented follow-up to Control, but in leaving the Oldest House it also leaves behind some of what gave the original its magic," pointing to open-world busywork and lacklustre combat. GamesRadar+ (3/5) complains about combat variety and misses Jesse as the lead. ComicBook's 40 is the outlier: "Control Resonant's many failures make it seem as though it came from a different studio altogether."

Even the fans flag the opening. RPG Site says the first hours are rough, with a steep difficulty spike and poorly explained systems that feel "alarmingly restrictive and difficult" until more options unlock, and some battles run past five minutes. GamePro Germany (80) had "a lot of fun" but only "once we'd mastered its quirks." Kotaku finds the dialogue "a bit hit-or-miss" and the puzzles ranging "from 'pretty good' to 'who made this?'" GameSpot and VGC both mention a frustrating map and repetitive activities.

The short version: critics agree Remedy built an extraordinary place to move through. Whether the melee combat is a demanding high point or a step down from the first game's shooting is the argument, and it's a big enough argument to run from 40 to 100.

Silent Hill: Townfall review scores: 81 on Metacritic

Silent Hill: Townfall is developed by Screen Burn Interactive and published by Konami and Annapurna Interactive, on PS5 and PC. Metacritic lists it at 81 on both platforms from 68 critics (81% positive, 19% mixed, none negative).

It's set in 1996 in St. Amelia, a fictional Scottish coastal town based on St Monans in Fife. Simon Ordell keeps waking on the shore with no memory of how he got there. It's played in first person, leans on stealth with scavenged melee weapons like planks and pipes, and gives Simon a handheld CRT television, the CRTV, that shows where nearby enemies are and doubles as a puzzle tool.

Silent Hill: Townfall screenshot: the fog over St. Amelia
Silent Hill: Townfall screenshot: the fog over St. Amelia

What critics love about Silent Hill: Townfall

The town, the atmosphere and the story. GamesRadar+ calls it "unrelentingly dark and disturbing horror." GamingTrend says "Screen Burn proves once again what experts they are at masterful storytelling." Game Informer's Kyle Hilliard (8.25) says the first-person view "makes the game unique within the Silent Hill oeuvre" and that it handles loneliness and trauma well.

Even the most critical review loves the setting. VGC's Chris Scullion calls St. Amelia "one of the most detailed settings you'll ever see in a game," with a Scottish atmosphere that feels "stunningly authentic" and puzzles that are "perfectly weighted: not too easy, not utterly stumping." Noah Kupetsky at Steam Deck HQ calls it "one of the best horror games that I've ever played," singling out the sound design.

Where Townfall reviews split: the stealth

The complaints are almost all about stealth. VGC's 3/5 says the sections featuring an enemy called The Weight kill the momentum. The Weight "seemingly seems to have some sort of sense of where you roughly are," and the IV drip revival system can drop you straight back into danger. Scullion says Townfall would be a must-have without those sections. Game Informer "struggled with understanding what alerted enemies to my presence" and reloaded saves often. Cultura Geek (60) says it "shines in its atmosphere, town design, and puzzles, but its clunky gameplay becomes an obstacle." Metro still calls it "a highly effective survival horror that proves the franchise isn't over the hill yet."

On PC, check performance first. Steam Deck HQ gave the build 3/5 (and the content 4.5/5), reporting drops "into the 10 FPS range at times" and only borderline playability on Steam Deck.

Which one to play

Both reviews come down to the same question: how much does the fighting matter to you?

Control Resonant is for players who want Remedy at its strangest and are up for a demanding melee action game. If you loved the first game's shooting and the Oldest House, read Eurogamer and GamesRadar+ first.

Silent Hill: Townfall is for anyone who wants a slow, heavy, beautifully built horror story and can put up with some unreliable stealth. If being caught by an enemy you couldn't see coming ruins horror for you, VGC's review is the one to read.

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