Xbox One Scorpio & Slim

Category: Games June 11, 2026 CONTROL Resonant: Hands-On With This Ambitious Sequel’s Shapeshifting Combat Will Fulton, XBOX Wire Editor If you love confident imagination and surreal spectacle in your AAA games, then it doesn’t get much better than the work of Remedy Entertainment. I was enthralled by the X-Files-by-way-of-David-Lynch world of paranormal bureaucracy that they created for CONTROL, and (like many) have been eagerly awaiting its sequel. This past weekend at Summer Game Fest: Play Days, I played the opening hour of CONTROL Resonant and a combat arena from later in the game, to get a taste of its full mechanical complexity. I’m happy to report that they’ve still got that magic. Where CONTROL opens with Jesse Faden entering The Oldest House, CONTROL Resonant inverts that by starting with her brother Dylan escaping its bowels to step outside after years of being held there as a prisoner/test subject/director candidate. We see a vision of Jesse looking over her sedated brother and calling him to action before plunging a sort of vibrating dark metal rod into his chest. .post-template-default .xwsrc-block-content-block .wp-block-column.flex-basis-50.push--25.column--content { flex: 100%; margin-left: 0; } Dylan wakes up to find his cell open and his chest actually impaled by the shape-shifting melee weapon, the Aberrant, that he’s apparently been granted by his sister and the FBC’s resident governing body/extradimensional cosmic horror, The Board, which addresses him directly in their signature, fourth-wall-breaking, alien rumble: “You will serve as intern/player character/lackey.” Reaching to pull it out, I faced the first choice of the game between three different melee weapons: Flurry (fast-attacking, close-range twin daggers with a boosted critical chance), Slash (a wide-swiping scythe for attacking groups), and Slice (a high-single-target-damage axe with bonus damage from behind, which is what I went with). These kinds of substantive mechanical choices do a lot to immediately separate CONTROL Resonant from the first game. Jesse’s kit opened up and allowed for specialization over time, but broadly played the same no matter what. With Dylan, on the other hand, I was making significant build choices right away. You can unlock the other weapons eventually and experiment more, but the game immediately starts getting you used to the idea of mutually exclusive choices. Dylan steps out of his cell to find the Oldest House on high alert, with alarms blaring and no other living people anywhere to be found. A handful of bureau employees infected by the Hiss (the infecting alien force Jesse fought (and apparently ultimately failed) to contain in the first game) are stumbling around to serve as tutorial fodder for me to learn the basics of attacking and dodging. Emerging from the front door, Dylan finds Manhattan to be in similarly rough shape to the Oldest House – apparently, the Hiss has fully escaped. A radio on one of the floating bodies chirps out a distress call that Dylan answers. FBC agent Zoe is extremely relieved to make contact with anyone, even if Dylan is understandably cagey at first about his identity, and she directs him towards her. I then begin to fight my way through the apocalyptic streets and alleys of NYC. In one of these alleys, I face off against my first larger enemies, towering above with giant heads that they smash down on me. A wall blocks my advancement until I clear the impromptu arena of the larger threats, with smaller, basic enemies respawning continually in the meantime. It requires a bit more situational awareness than the previous fight to make sure Dylan isn’t hit from behind, which is just a taste of things to come. After this I am presented with another set of three choices for my secondary weapon: Crush (a huge, slow, smashing mallet), Drill (a directed, sustained damage weapon), and Extend (a whip-like chain staff for range, which I chose to complement the close-up damage of Slice). Eventually you also choose from a third pool of weapons for combo-finishers. That means that you mix and match your main move set from a different set of weapons each for light, heavy, and finishers attacks. Combine the heavy mallet smashes of Crush with the rapid attacks of Slash, and you’ve more or less built your own Kirkhammer. One element that hadn’t occurred to me before playing was how much CONTROL Resonant is also a 3D platformer. Making my way up to some rooftops, I see one of the demo’s more striking images: a sort of ribbon of hundreds of pigeons stuttering frozen midair and spiraling down toward a doorway. I make my way over to it and enter to find a sort of pocket dimension of plant-covered building tops in a black void. Following an impression of his sister Jesse, Dylan finds a number of what look like 16-bit game consoles that unlock movement abilities like a dash, double jump, and levitation, followed by platforming challenges to tutorialize the new skill before adding another. It culminates after he re-emerges into the city with a little test where he leaps and dashes over the biggest gaps yet to reach the first boss, a Resonant Entity. According to Zoe, Manhattan was already under assault by another Altered World Event before the Hiss even escaped the Oldest House, compounding the situation. The Hiss and this Resonant AWE seem to be at odds with one another, at least, as we observe the Resonant Entity removing all Hiss from its surroundings from a distance.On reaching it, the Entity itself takes the form of an enormous woman’s head, cut off at the mouth and embedded in a slab of pavement, telekinetically picking up rocks and garbage to throw at me. It was unsettling and spectacular, which is exactly the intersection where I want a CONTROL boss fight to sit. I scrape through on the first attempt and am given my third and final build choice of the demo: one of three options for a Resonant special ability. These were Barrage (pulling up rocks from the ground to launch at range), Seekers (summoning a sort of auto-firing turret that you can also throw as an explosive), and Shield (pulling up a shield of floating rocks that you can also use offensively by dashing into enemies). You will eventually have three of these equipped at any given moment, giving you a full suite of six unique attacks and abilities that you can build and tweak à la carte. That’s a huge amount of variety even before you take into account the skill trees for each of those weapons with which you can further customize them, or passive abilities you can equip from artifacts that you craft. I was able to take a sip directly from this firehose of complexity when I jumped to a later save file when Dylan has a full suite of abilities unlocked. The Evacuation Zone is an open combat area, filled with various types of enemies coming from all sides, both melee and ranged. It was a lot to juggle, and Dylan’s expanded kit was overwhelming to take in when jumping ahead like that, rather than building it up incrementally like you will in the normal course of play. It’s good, though – the fact that I wasn’t able to just button-mash my way through the later gameplay section means there will be some real skill to master, which is exciting in the context of all this deep build variety and room for experimentation. Dr. Casper Darling fans can also rejoice: Everyone’s favorite charming, quirky, stealth beefcake scientist makes his glorious return in CONTROL Resonant, showing up at the very end of my session in a brief video clip describing when Dylan was first taken in by the FBC. These FMV segments were an absolute highlight of the first game, and I’m thrilled they’ll be returning for the sequel. All in all, getting hands on CONTROL Resonant only reinforced how excited I already am. It’s a much more kinetic and expressive action game than its predecessor, but also continues and expands upon Remedy’s incredibly evocative and imaginative writing and design at an even grander scale. I can’t wait to see what else they have in store when CONTROL Resonant arrives on September 24, 2026, for XBOX Series X|S and XBOX on PC. Play it on both console and PC at no additional cost with XBOX Play Anywhere. CONTROL Resonant Remedy Entertainment ☆☆☆☆☆ 4 ★★★★★ $59.99 Pre-order Pre-order CONTROL Resonant now to unlock: -Hiss Corruption Outfit -Pickpocket’s Tool Artifact After years in confinement at the hands of the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC), Dylan Faden emerges into a warped Manhattan at the peak of a paranatural crisis. Charged with combating a mysterious cosmic entity as it alters fundamental aspects of our reality, Dylan must harness his new-found powers to take the fight to the myriad threats overwhelming Manhattan. Join Dylan in this sequel to the multi-award-winning CONTROL to explore the expansive zones of a city overrun by the corrupting influences of the chaotic Hiss, invasive micro-organism, the Mold, and other twisted paranatural threats. On the path to unlocking the full potential of his paranatural abilities Dylan will also seek out his sister, FBC Director Jesse Faden, as he bids to comprehend and contain the dangers that have spilled beyond the confines of the Oldest House to tear our world apart. Related Stories for “CONTROL Resonant: Hands-On With This Ambitious Sequel’s Shapeshifting Combat” Category: Games How Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis Reimagines the Past Into a Vibrant Future Category: Games Stranger Than Heaven: We Grapple with RGG Studio’s New Combat System Category: Games Beastro Brings a Traditional Card Game Spin to the Cozy Genre The post CONTROL Resonant: Hands-On With This Ambitious Sequel’s Shapeshifting Combat appeared first on XBOX Wire. View the full article

Category: Games June 11, 2026 How Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis Reimagines the Past Into a Vibrant Future Will Fulton, XBOX Wire Editor A full decade before Nathan Drake, Lara Croft was the original face of cinematic action-adventure gaming, making her debut in Tomb Raider (1996). I was 10 at the time, and remember being blown away by the (at the time) revolutionary 3D graphics. The Tomb Raider series has always pushed at the boundaries of what’s visually possible in games, which makes it a perfect candidate for remakes as technology improves over the years. There’s already been one remake of the original with Tomb Raider: Anniversary (2007), but now a full 30 years on from the original, it’s once again time for Lara to return to where she started – and show off how far she’s come. Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is an upcoming “reimagining” of the original Tomb Raider, developed in collaboration between Flying Wild Hog (Shadow Warrior) and Crystal Dynamics, who are best known for the “Survivor Trilogy” (Tomb Raider (2013), Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015), and Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018), which served as an origin story prequel to the original game. Legacy of Atlantis picks up and continues that Lara’s journey, but also with a new actor (Alix Wilton Regan) and a new, more vibrant style all its own. At Summer Game Fest: Play Days this past weekend, I got to play a brief demo of the game’s early levels in Peru’s Lost Valley. First, I did a bit of classic tomb raiding, solving puzzles in jungle ruins in an attempt to enter the Tomb of Qualopec. Like in previous versions, this involved finding and arranging several large gears, hidden around the environment (alongside various other optional secrets and collectibles). Unlike previous versions, the environment was far more organic, detailed, and beautiful. .post-template-default .xwsrc-block-content-block .wp-block-column.flex-basis-50.push--25.column--content { flex: 100%; margin-left: 0; } “Lush” is the first word that comes to mind to capture how Legacy of Atlantis looks. This was especially apparent in the transition to the next section, shown in recent trailers, where Lara emerges through a waterfall to a gorgeous vista of the Lost Valley before diving into a pool of water. As was in fashion at the time, the Survivor trilogy was acclaimed for its gritty realism, offering a darker and more grounded take on Tomb Raider than we’d ever seen before. Legacy of Atlantis retains that realism in terms of visual fidelity, but turns up the vibrance. Everything is a little more saturated, a little bigger, a little more dramatic. It doesn’t go so far as to feel stylized or exaggerated, but it’s full technicolor realism, and it looks great. That sense of pizzazz also showed itself in the action, when in the next section Lara whipped out her classic dual pistols to battle dinosaurs. After building up a Focus meter, Lara can leap into bullet time, slowing time down to a crawl as she dramatically flips through the air and unloads her pistols at superhuman speed, making Swiss cheese out of any velociraptors caught in her crosshair. After the Survivor trilogy’s more grounded and realistic focus on combat, Lara’s bullet-time finesse is a fun and stylish way to integrate her signature acrobatics from earlier entries, heightening the experience. The velociraptors and T-Rex also newly have feathers this time around, which is both a cool glow-up and better in line with current paleontology. They’re indicative of the whole project of Legacy of Atlantis – the underlying bones are the same, but now we simply know more, and can make it cooler. After the demo, I also interviewed three of its lead creatives: Jeff Adams, Experience Director, Crystal Dynamics; Raul Siqueira Game Director, Crystal Dynamics; and Arek Tomaszewski, Art Director, Flying Wild Hog. We discussed coming full circle with the Tomb Raider series and returning to its origins with 30 years of knowledge and technology to leverage, and what separates this game and this Lara from both the original and the Survivor trilogy. With this being the second remake of the original Tomb Raider, how much do you feel you need to be faithful to the original vs. how free are you to play and invent? Adams: We’re clearly fans of the originals, and we want to make sure that it is a resonant experience for people. I want them to be able to see the clear, tentpole connecting points that they remember from those adventures, but at the same time, we also don’t want to be pigeonholed by them. We want to be able to have the opportunity to say, ‘hey, this would be a place where we can take this to make it feel it’s more appropriate for a modern audience’ and also helps us tell the story that we want to tell. Siqueira: I think, just to add to that, the word that we’ve been using a lot, both internally and externally, is we reference it as a reimagining, because we want to make sure that people understand this isn’t just the same game, but we just made the graphics better. We are trying to bring a lot of new blood and new things into it. Obviously, we’re being respectful, and then that line between what the original and Anniversary did versus the new stuff that we’re doing, that is kind of where we find a good ground. So “reimagining,” to us, just means: how do we take the feelings and the ideas of the original and preserve it and present it in a way that is fit for a modern audience. Tomaszewski: The T-Rex boss fight is a good example of it. So, from the T-Rex design itself, we try to be very respectful and keep it as it was in the original one, but we’re adding the red feathers, which obviously adds a new quality to it. And then the combat itself is basically an original one was very simple: just shoot and run. Here, we try to make a new, cinematic experience and expand on what the original was. Adams: Yeah, go back and play Anniversary. You’ll see glimmers of the past existing there, but it’s not been presented like this before. Now that there have been 30 years of subsequent Tomb Raiders since the original, what are some ideas from later games that you’ve been excited to reintegrate back into this new take? Siqueira: We looked at a lot of different things. I think the Survivor trilogy, being the closest touch point for us, served as a good entry for us to look at, like, the core three that we talk about in Tomb Raider, which is puzzles, traversal, combat. Obviously, Survivor had a heavier focus on combat. We made it a little bit more complex. There’s a lot of depth to it. 
Arek was kind of touching on this in his previous answer, but we wanted combat in Legacy of Atlantis to not be just point-and-shoot, but we also didn’t want people to think that this is a combat game – we wanted to find the right amount of depth to put into it. So, we introduce things like the Focus Mode, which you played, which is, like, our currency of combat. Basically, dealing damage and taking damage fills the meter, and you spend it to go into bullet time, or a slowed-down mode. That, to us, was a really cool way of merging the two, because, in the original, Lara used to do a lot more acrobatics – very different than Survivor, which is more grounded. So, we decided we absolutely need to have acrobatics, but from a game perspective, how does that work, right? Like, if you’re taking longer times to perform a jump or a dodge, you’re just more vulnerable. You’re exposed to taking damage. So, we figured out that when you push the button and slow down time, you get a cool move that celebrates Lara’s personality and traversal, and it also gives you an opportunity to deal more damage, and then just celebrate it. 
 So, there’s lots of little things like that where we look at Survivor, look at Angel of Darkness, look at all of the games before. What did they do that we like, what did the original do, and how do we combine the two of them together? 
 Tomb Raider has obviously always been on the cutting edge of 3D gaming visuals from the very beginning. Is there anything you’re particularly excited that you’ve been able to achieve in this one that was not possible for previous iterations? Tomaszewski: Tomb Raider was always setting the bar for visuals very high. When you played the Survivor series, it was amazing. The original one, if you played it, it was like, what’s going on? Why is it 3D? How can you move in all those directions? So, we are trying to be believable to what the original was, visually from the color palette, and we want to recreate the feeling of amazingness of the environment. But it also gives us an opportunity because the Survivorseries was very gritty. It was very realistic, in a way – in the movement, in a color palette, in what Lara could do. Here, we can recreate it with more freedom and add more flavor to it. But obviously, we’re trying to build the world in a beautiful way and just create this feeling of discovery of a place that hasn’t been discovered. And at this point, with the Unreal Engine, we can just do so much to make a beautiful world. 
 As a new take on an iconic character, what separates your version of Lara from previous versions? Adams: Alix. It’s very direct, but it’s true. We’ll write things down on the page and we’ll be very proud of ourselves. Like, ‘yeah, that’s great – that’s gonna be awesome,’ and we’ll mock it up. And then we take it into the booth, and we’ll put it onto the stage, and Alix comes along and she transforms it. She brings the classic cool of Lara back, and she brings it real human expression. So, there’s layers. I hate to use the onion analogy, but there’s layers to the way she performs Lara, and that’s situational. And so, it’s gonna be really fun to see how people respond to her when she’s in the moment of dealing with others, versus those moments where a little bit more of that humanity comes through. But the way that she pulls it off, I mean, it’s truly watching a craftsman at work. It’s a really amazing thing to see. Siqueira: That’s true. We also have the privilege of doing Survivor trilogy, knowing that that is the past, and Legacy of Atlantis is the present. It gives us a really good opportunity to make sure that everything that we did prior is represented, or that it makes sense in the nuances of the character is written and portrayed. We want you to know that this is the Lara that went through the Survivor era, grew up, and became who she is in Legacy of Atlantis. Adams: Yeah, all that stuff counts. It absolutely counts. But she’s not beholden to Survivor here. That’s not where we’re finding her right now – that’s in her past, but it is real What are you most excited for players to discover when they get their hands on it?  Tomaszewski: (all laughing) I have 16 things, at least, that I cannot tell you about. They will be excited about discovering those things, because of the way we were excited to creating them. We’re all Tomb Raider fans, given this opportunity to recreate those worlds and add our flavor and we have been super respectful to the fans and what they expect. There are a lot of little things they would find and be excited about. But there’s also massive pieces of environments and combat and story that will get them excited. Come back in few months. Siqueira: Ask that question again in February.Yeah, I think the Easter eggs are definitely just a warm feeling in the heart – making them, placing them in the game, and then we are just all really waiting for everyone to see them and see how much love and passion went into them. Me personally – we were just talking about this – but I am excited that dual pistols are back. We didn’t get a chance to really bring that to a modern era in the Survivor trilogy. So, finding our voice in how do we bring dual pistols in a way that it’s fun, balanced, and it feels awesome in combat? It’s one of the things that I am most proud of, and I’m really excited for players to get their hands on. 
 Adams: When we released our first trailer, we were watching a lot of reaction videos, obviously, and I think seeing the reaction to just those small little fragments of the game, makes me really look forward to actually seeing that once the whole thing comes out. But for me personally, the part that I’m most excited about is just those little moments that people experience while they’re moving through the world where they’ll stop and they’ll feel like, ‘wait a minute, this actually feels really like I’m out there.’ And it really would put them into Lara’s boots, unlike any way we’ve been able to do before because world looks great and she moves so well.   Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis comes to XBOX Series X|S on February 12, 2027, and is available for pre-order now. Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis Amazon Game Studios ☆☆☆☆☆ ★★★★★ Get it now Experience the pinnacle of adventure with Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, a stunning reimagining of the 1996 genre-defining game. As Lara Croft, harness your wits and athleticism to explore exotic locations lost to time—from the jungles of Peru to the ancient ruins of Greece, the deserts of Egypt, and a mysterious Mediterranean island shrouded in myth. Traverse treacherous landscapes, solve deadly contraptions, and face lethal predators as you hunt for the scattered pieces of the Scion, an artifact of immeasurable power. Whether you're a veteran raider or new to Lara's world, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis delivers jaw-dropping visuals powered by Unreal Engine 5, modern game design, and new surprises, while honoring the spirit and atmosphere of Lara Croft's debut adventure. Related Stories for “How Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis Reimagines the Past Into a Vibrant Future” Category: Games CONTROL Resonant: Hands-On With This Ambitious Sequel’s Shapeshifting Combat Category: Games Stranger Than Heaven: We Grapple with RGG Studio’s New Combat System Category: Games Beastro Brings a Traditional Card Game Spin to the Cozy Genre The post How Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis Reimagines the Past Into a Vibrant Future appeared first on XBOX Wire. View the full article