Control Resonant and Onimusha: Way of The Sword Are Superhero Games

I love superhero video games. Spider-Man 2, the movie tie-in title on PlayStation 2, was not only where I fell in love with the character, it was the game where I first truly experienced the superhero fantasy. I spent my time swinging around New York saving citizens from robberies, car thefts, and stray balloons. Spider-Man 2 was Spidey’s introduction to open worlds as well as my introduction to the genre and the loop of patrolling Manhattan as I swung around the open map at high speeds was the moment where I fell in love with both the “Super” and the “Hero” parts of being a superhero. As a kid playing the game, there was something special about making the conscious choice to stop what I was doing so I could listen to the cries of help from troubled New Yorkers. That altruism combined with the power fantasy of being an amazing super-powered web-crawler swinging through the Big Apple made Spider-Man 2 unique from any other action-adventure I had played, and to this it remains a special memory.

The evolution of Spider-Man games all the way up to the recent Insomniac titles display the long-lasting and potent nature of what this genre is. Not to ignore Batman Arkham, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Injustice, and the countless other superhero games, but there’s something about the Spider-Man games that crystallize the genre into something immediately identifiable and satisfying. They capture what it feels like to be Spider-Man (shout-out to that one IGN review). But also, more importantly, they capture what it feels like to be a superhero. Today’s piece isn’t about Spider-Man though, it’s about two recent games that have satiated my heroic appetite, even while releasing in the midst of an actual Insomniac superhero title (sorry Wolverine).

While playing Onimusha: Way of The Sword, I couldn't help but to constantly think of Insomniac’s Spider-Man games. That's because there's a similarity in gameplay structure and character motivation that made Onimusha not just feel like a “dude with a sword” action game. Onimusha’s hero feels… “heroic”.

Miyamoto Musashi, the star of Way of The Sword, is one of my favorite Capcom protagonists ever. He is a swordsman tasked with wiping out the evil Oni that have taken over Kyoto. He's brash, arrogant, carries somewhat of a goofy expression at times, and loves to make a funny quip to let evildoers know that they don't stand a chance against him in battle. In short, he's Peter Parker with the mask on. And the important part of his character is that he backs up his own confidence (or at least, the player’s skill backs him up) with his ability to wield a sword.

One of the more surprising elements of Onimusha: Way of The Sword is that a very large chunk of the game takes place in an open zone area where Musashi runs around to complete side activities and oftentimes fight Oni who are terrorizing Kyoto's human residents. It's a very “open world superhero game” sort of set up that doubles down on Musashi’s personality as not just a talented swordsman, but a community servant. Onimusha: Way of The Sword is a game where the fate of the region is at stake because of a great evil, but stopping to save the little guy is still a worthwhile enough detour to take, even when it doesn't necessarily contribute to the main mission or reap great rewards - reminds me of my time playing Spider-Man 2.

I've recently beaten Control Resonant and in contrast to Onimusha, Control is also a superhero game, but in all of the opposite ways. Dylan doesn't have the personality of a hero, in fact he's utterly swaggerless much of the time. His motivations aren't just to save the day, but to right his wrongs as he seeks out his sister Jesse. While Dylan lacks Musashi’s heroic swag, I found that the element of the “superhero” game that Control Resonant nails is the power fantasy or as I put in my opening paragraph, the “Super” aspect.

The gameplay structure of Control Resonant draws comparison to games like Infamous and Prototype. And while over time these series have gone missing as Marvel’s Spider-Man and Batman Arkham games filled the void a generation later, Control Resonant not only feels inspired by all of these games, it elevates many of their ideas.

Control Resonant sees the player run around a twisted Manhattan taking out the Hiss and cleaning up the streets as they’re filled with chaos. Dylan’s equipped with the Aberrant, a transforming melee weapon that can form into a big hammer, whip, glaive, drill, and other weaponry. Dylan can also levitate, air dash, pull himself towards surfaces, and perform more acrobatic feats that feel pulled straight out of a comic book. And he employs these powers to help authorities control an outbreak of other dimensional beings.

The power fantasy present in Control Resonance doesn’t feel solely about equipping the player for combat, it’s about giving the player the freedom to roam and explore in a way that feels cool. Getting my gravity shift as Dylan feels like first hitting the web-swing as Spider-Man. Levitating as Dylan gives a Superman-esque feeling that's captures the superhero fantasy without throwing a punch. And even when I'm in combat, I’m not just doing battle with the Hiss as Dylan, I’m flying into the air to conjure a sword to slice up an enemy right before I engulf myself in flames to power myself up. Dylan’s collection of abilities feel at home in any superhero game, especially because so much of the feeling of holding the controller evokes a lot of that same joy in locomotion and action that's there in some of the most iconic superhero games.

I could make an argument that you could reskin Onimusha as Blade and Control Resonant as Dr. Strange games and they’d arguably be perfect fits, but I think there’s something special about video games having their own original heroes, even if you may not associate them with the traditional comic book origins of the DC and Marvel characters we know. During a fall season where THE marquee superhero action game may have failed to live up to the lofty expectations placed upon it, I'm not missing my heroic fix. Albeit, not heroic in genre and name, both these titles feature the superhero fantasy in every other way it matters.