How Remedy’s Mixture of Genres Could Affect Its Connected Universe Synergy

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 3, 2025 48 Views 7 Min Read
How Remedy's Mixture of Genres Could Affect Its Connected Universe Synergy



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Remedy Entertainment‘s shared gaming universe has launched, definitively linking Control, Alan Wake, and Quantum Break. This crossover foundation is likely to bear significant fruit down the road, as future games from the unabashedly bizarre developer are sure to expand on things like the Federal Bureau of Control and its relationship to various other IP.

Remedy Entertainment is far from the first studio to suggest a shared universe for its seemingly disparate franchises, but it may be the most unique. Comparing the Remedy Connected Universe to, say, Rockstar’s crossover content, it’s clear that Remedy is building towards more narratively significant developments. In other words, while Manhunt may drop some major hints about being in the same universe as Grand Theft Auto, these are more like Easter eggs than the seeds for an all-out collaboration or meaningful plot development. The same can be said about the connections between Half-Life and Portal, or Snatcher and Metal Gear Solid. But Remedy’s ambition with this plan could be tricky to implement, and not just because of its scope or scale.

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Remedy Entertainment’s Genre-Hopping Puts Its Shared Universe In an Interesting Position

Remedy’s Games Are All Over the Map

The Alan Wake games adhere closely to the staples of the survival-horror genre, while Quantum Break and Control are bona fide action games, with Control 2 being described as an action-RPG. Then there’s Remedy’s upcoming FBC: Firebreak, a colorful co-op shooter positioned as a Control spin-off. Needless to say, the fickle Finnish developer doesn’t like being tied down to a single genre.

This is part of what makes the studio so exciting, but it also makes full-blown collaborations between these IPs somewhat challenging from a gameplay perspective. For instance, the gameplay of Control and Alan Wake are essentially at opposite ends of the spectrum, as the former is centered more on an expressive and multifaceted power fantasy, while the latter is more about feeling underpowered and vulnerable to heighten the sense of fear. Put another way, it would be difficult for a player to feel significantly frightened by the shadowy monsters of Alan Wake if they could fly, use telekinesis, and wield a magical pistol.

The Genre Gulf Between Remedy’s Games Could Actually Benefit Future Collaborations

It could be difficult for a full-blown collaboration between Remedy games to toe the line between genres, but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. In fact, if done correctly, a blend between the seemingly disparate genres of Remedy’s games could make for a singular and worthwhile experience.

For one thing, Quantum Break and Control could synergize quite nicely with each other, in theory. They each offer unique spins on the third-person-shooter formula, looping in various powers that their respective protagonists can leverage against their foes, with Quantum Break‘s supernatural abilities being particularly refreshing and inventive. Thus, a game that blends these player abilities, either by combining them or splitting them between different protagonists, holds a lot of promise.

Alan Wake might be much slower than these titles, but its gameplay could still have a lot to offer in future crossover games. Slowing down the more over-the-top, no-holds-barred combat of something like Control with tense survival-horror sections could make for powerful pacing, for instance. This sort of contrast could also deepen future games from a tonal perspective, as they could oscillate between action, terror, and perhaps other frameworks that Remedy has yet to fully explore. Regardless of how Remedy handles its shared universe, the fact that these IP, all bizarre and creative in their own right, are coming together is exciting indeed. It will be fun to see how the “RCU” unfolds.

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