CONTROL Resonant Beginner Guide: Combat, Exploration and Tips
Start with the tutorial, equip your attacks, and unlock the movement that opens Manhattan.
Quick answer
Finish Orientation, equip a primary and secondary Aberrant form, and learn the movement from Jesse’s Faults. Shift comes from The Incursion Fault; Reach comes from The Subway Fault. When story progress stops, check the other active questlines before retracing the same streets.
On this page
Finish the opening tutorials
Start with Orientation. Follow the green-lit doors out of the cell area, then the Thomas Street Exit signs. Zoe leads you toward Jesse’s first Fault; its ritual teaches Double-Jump, Elevate and Rush. Finish the ritual and defeat The Artist to reach The Gap’s upgrade tutorial.
Practice the new movement during the ritual. Hold the displayed jump action for Elevate to extend a crossing, and use Rush when the route asks for a longer burst. A later grapple point requires a different unlock.
Choose a loadout you can use
Your primary handles the normal melee sequence, your secondary supplies a different attack, and a Combo Finisher completes the primary string once unlocked and equipped. Pick a pattern you can land reliably: Strike for quick paired-blade attacks, Glaive for sweeps, or Cleave for attacks from behind. Crush, Extend and Drill are secondary options.
Purchase forms at the Aberrant structure in The Gap, then assign them in Loadout. The forms guide separates purchases, upgrades and equipment; the Combo Finishers guide explains their unlock requirement and input. Primary forms · 1:04 ▶
Give your attacks an opening
Watch the enemy before committing to a full string. Reposition when another attacker approaches, use the secondary or a combat ability when its attack suits the opening, and return to your primary when you have room to finish it. Against a boss, learn one attack at a time rather than repeatedly trading hits.
Combat abilities come from Resonants. The Artist offers a choice of Barrage, Volatile Anomaly or Shield. Read each option before spending: unlocking a weapon form and choosing a boss ability are separate systems. If your chosen ability is not helping, inspect its upgrade branch and the available reset action before changing the entire loadout.
A finisher is also different from the execution prompt on a staggered enemy. Follow the displayed controls for your platform and any remapping. Combo Finishers · 3:54 ▶
Match the blocked route to the ability
| Need | Unlock | Practical check |
|---|---|---|
| A longer jump | Orientation ritual | Use Double-Jump, Elevate and Rush on the tutorial route. |
| A sideways street | The Incursion Fault, West Incursion Zone | Shift changes your orientation on suitable surfaces. |
| A sphere anchor | The Subway Fault, Evacuation Zone | Reach pulls you to designated anchors when its prompt appears. |
Track the relevant Jesse quest when geometry stops you. Buying a longer-reaching weapon attack will not grant the Reach grapple. Complete the Fault ritual before returning to the route that needs its power.
Explore with the quest title in view
After arriving in Manhattan, finish the mapping and checkpoint objectives and reach the Field Office. Keep your current quest selected. The map marker points toward an objective, but the usable path can go through a building, tunnel or shifted surface at a different elevation.
When two missions share a region, read the active title before following a nearby marker. For a story that stops advancing, use the main story and video index to check the next gate. Optional discoveries can wait while you unlock movement.
For a specific detour, jump to a complete answer: dog toys, taxis, Freeze Frame cameras, or Power Lines. If combat is interrupting exploration, the Assist Mode guide explains the available adjustments.
Watch the loadout tutorial
Select a chapter to play it here.
Watch on YouTube ↗Secondary forms and Loadout · 2:18 ▶ · Combo Finishers · 3:54 ▶
Sources & image credits
Gameplay, launch guides and official details
- IGN — starting weapon guide: loadout menu and attack demonstrations; frame at 2:23.
- Epic Games Store — abilities and skills: launch form names, Fault unlocks and boss abilities.
- PowerPyx — Orientation: opening route and ritual.
- Remedy — gameplay details: distinct zones and gravity anomalies.
- CONTROL Resonant Guide — progression gates: traversal versus story requirements.
Checked October 8, 2026. Frame: IGN / Remedy Entertainment. The advice above combines the published controls and unlocks; it is not a damage ranking or a claim that this site played through the campaign.