Control Resonant's take on New York feels like the Backrooms

Remedy Entertainment just gave press a look at Control 2's opening sequence, and it's leaning hard into surreal horror. The game takes place in a twisted version of New York that feels less like a real city and more like the Backrooms, that internet urban legend about endless yellow-lit office spaces where reality breaks down.

For context, the original Control nailed that liminal space aesthetic before it became a full internet obsession. Remedy's Federal Bureau of Control headquarters already felt like a brutalist nightmare where hallways shouldn't exist but do. Now they're applying that treatment to an entire city.

This matters because Control became a cult hit partly due to its atmosphere and environmental storytelling. If you're building AI tools for game design, world-building, or creative projects, understanding how studios layer uncanny elements to create specific emotional responses is increasingly valuable. Remedy's approach to architectural wrongness is a masterclass.

The demo reportedly showed the same reality-warping mechanics from the first game but in outdoor urban environments. Expect buildings that shouldn't connect, streets that loop impossibly, and that persistent feeling that something is deeply off about the geometry around you.

No release date yet, but Remedy has Control 2 in active development with a playable build solid enough to show press. If the opening is this committed to weird, the full game should deliver for fans who want their action games served with a side of existential dread.