I don’t really need to shout my opinions about The Blood of Dawnwalker from the rooftops or anything, as I’ve already done that and had plenty of rooftops shouting back at me. While I did actually quite enjoy the game, despite what some might think my score suggests, I nonetheless found many of its design choices fundamentally flawed and worth critiquing. Thus, my score wasn’t about whether I liked The Blood of Dawnwalker or even had fun playing it, because I did. Rather, it was about a game that I feel fell short of its potential because the goals it created for itself, it also held beyond its own reach. And one thing I struggled with most was its traversal—though one particular mechanic did stand out to me as a unique idea that, once again, didn’t quite reach the stars it was aiming for. Now, Control Resonant has come along with a similar mechanic that has, in fact, touched the very constellations The Blood of Dawnwalker had its eyes on.
While Control Resonant is extremely combat heavy, it also emphasizes traversal in a huge way, much like its predecessor. Taking players outside the Oldest House and into the somewhat vast open world of Manhattan, it grants the game’s protagonist, Dylan Faden, a number of incredibly fun traversal mechanics that keep exploration entertaining, even when you’re not collecting anything or fighting any Hiss. During my time reviewing it, I frequently found myself wanting to move just to move, simply because it was so much fun. But although there are a number of really cool traversal abilities Dylan gets during the game that make moving around the world such a blast, every single one of them pales in comparison to Gravity Anomaly, which just so happens to function similarly to The Blood of Dawnwalker‘s Planeshift ability—only Control Resonant does it 100 times better.
Control Resonant’s Gravity Anomaly Is Basically Blood of Dawnwalker’s Planeshift, But Better
When I first started The Blood of Dawnwalker, like many others, I was singing its praises. It has one of the strongest prologues I’ve seen in a modern RPG in quite some time, and at least a portion of that is due to Coen learning his newly acquired vampire abilities. Among those abilities is Planeshift, which allows Coen to shift planes and essentially walk up certain walls as though they were the new floor. It’s a really fascinating mechanic, to be quite honest, and I actually wanted more of it than I ended up getting. But therein lies its biggest downside.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
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The Blood of Dawnwalker‘s Planeshift ability begins by costing quite a bit of stamina to use. So much so, in fact, that it can barely even get you anywhere meaningful, as once you’re out of stamina, you fall to the ground. Of course, it can be upgraded, and once it’s maxed out, it costs no stamina at all. At that point, one would think the unique traversal skill is more than worth using. However, not only does that require a Corruption level of 15 (which takes quite a bit of time to achieve), but it also costs players valuable time that they might wish to spend on other skill trees, among many other things in the game.
It’s not just the cost, though, as Planeshift in general can just be a janky mess. There were plenty of times during my Blood of Dawnwalker playthrough that Coen would randomly break off the wall and fall to his death. And what’s more, Shadowstep makes Planeshift somewhat redundant, especially when it’s fully upgraded. And it can even be fully upgraded before Planeshift, as it only requires the player’s Corruption level to be 11. If I haven’t made it clear yet, it’s a unique traversal mechanic that is let down by poor design, and that’s where Control Resonant steps in with its own, what I would call “superior,” version.
Control Resonant’s Gravity Anomaly Ability Is Everything Blood of Dawnwalker’s Planeshift Wanted to Be and More
Since I’ve already explained how The Blood of Dawnwalker‘s Planeshift ability works, I really don’t need to explain in detail how Control Resonant‘s Gravity Anomaly skill works, because they essentially function the same way. Once they’ve unlocked Gravity Anomaly in the game, when players approach a vertical street or the rooftop of a building lying on its side (because Remedy is weird like that) in Control Resonant, they can activate Gravity Anomaly and shift gravity so they are effectively walking up the wall. However, unlike in Blood of Dawnwalker, where it’s clearly still a wall after Planeshift has been activated, in Control Resonant, it really does become the new ground level.
Once Gravity Anomaly is triggered, the vertical street or building is flipped onto a horizontal plane, and it’s so effective and seamless that it can even be used in the middle of the game’s intense combat. Players can even use it on streets and upside-down buildings above Dylan that are parallel with the ground he’s currently on if they want to completely flip the world around for any reason. In fact, there are plenty of practical reasons to use Gravity Anomaly in Control Resonant apart from its fun factor, like exploring otherwise inaccessible areas or reaching platforms that can’t be reached normally.
Unlike in Blood of Dawnwalker, where it’s clearly still a wall after Planeshift has been activated, in Control Resonant, it really does become the new ground level.
But the best thing about it all is that it doesn’t cost stamina, it doesn’t cost time, and you can run after using it. On top of that, the incredible environments that Remedy has cooked up in Control Resonant really serve abilities like Gravity Anomaly well. The game has some of the weirdest, most awe-inspiring level design I’ve ever seen, and skills like Gravity Anomaly turn it all into a playground.
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Image via Remedy -
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Also, I find it strange that Coen is quite literally shifting his personal dimension plane in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and yet he still behaves as though he is climbing, stamina loss and all. At that point, would gravity not be reoriented for him? Plus, this is a vampiric ability we’re talking about here—a supernatural power. Why is it so taxing on him? Shouldn’t it be effortless?
But I digress. I’ve complained about The Blood of Dawnwalker‘s logic enough. The point I’m really trying to make is that if you want to see what I truly do consider one of The Blood of Dawnwalker‘s best, if exceedingly underutilized, traversal mechanics actually executed in a much more satisfying fashion, then Control Resonant is your next stop. Gravity Anomaly is, by far, one of the best abilities in the game, and unlocking it means unlocking an entirely different experience.
- Released
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September 24, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
