FBC: Firebreak's Place in the Remedy Connected Universe…

This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Control and FBC: Firebreak.

About a year after Control's launch in 2019, Remedy Entertainment announced that its upcoming games would be set in the same shared universe, simply dubbed the "Remedy Connected Universe." It took no time at all for this universe to find its feet, and now five years on from its announcement, the Remedy Connected Universe lives on in FBC: Firebreak.

Set in the same location as Control and following that game's titular Federal Bureau of Control, FBC: Firebreak is firmly and clearly connected to the wider Remedy shared universe. But FBC: Firebreak's place in the timeline raises some obvious questions, and it makes the RCU feel surprisingly shallow.

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By Cameron Swan

The Remedy Connected Universe Was Building Steady Momentum

In Control's base game, players can find several collectibles that reference the events of Alan Wake, claiming that the Bright Falls incident was an "Altered World Event," or AWE for short. About a year after launch, Remedy unveiled a trailer for Control's AWE DLC, which teased a crossover between Control and Alan Wake.

Soon after, Remedy Creative Director Sam Lake published a letter on the company's website officially announcing the Remedy Connected Universe, and stating that Control's AWE DLC would be the first big step into this shared world. The DLC was exactly that, cementing the connection between Control and Alan Wake immediately by including Dr. Hartman, the Dark Presence, and a few appearances from the eponymous paranatural writer himself.

Alan Wake 2 continued to build on these strong foundations, putting FBC Agent Estevez in a main role in both the game's main story and its Lake House DLC. After Alan Wake 2, the Remedy Connected Universe felt stronger than ever. But FBC: Firebreak might have just weakened it.

FBC: Firebreak Brings The Remedy Connected Universe to a Screeching Halt

FBC: Firebreak's Place in the Remedy Connected Universe Explained

Each Remedy Connected Universe game is generally set in the same year they were originally released. The first Alan Wake is set in 2010, Control in 2019, and Alan Wake 2 in 2023. FBC: Firebreak is set in 2025. This puts it two years after Alan Wake 2, but six whole years after Control.

Why FBC: Firebreak's Place in the Remedy Connected Universe is Disappointing

While the FBC made a few appearances in Alan Wake 2, fans haven't seen the organization's headquarters or its director since Control. FBC: Firebreak is the first proper follow-up, being set in the Oldest House and taking place years after Control's ending. But Firebreak's place in the timeline is pretty disappointing.

Control's main story ends with Jesse Faden closing the interdimensional gateway that let the Hiss in, rescuing her brother from the Hiss' corruption, embracing her new role as director of the FBC, and setting off to cleanse the Oldest House of the Hiss threat. According to FBC: Firebreak, nothing's really changed in the six years since Control's ending. The Hiss are still running rampant, and the Oldest House is still in a state of utter chaos.

This raises some obvious lore-related questions. In Control, the Hiss soldiers that Jesse fights are FBC workers who weren't wearing Hedron Resonance Amplifiers and were corrupted. It's hard to believe that the Hiss still have an entire army of corrupted FBC soldiers six years after Jesse closed the gateway to their dimension.

FBC: Firebreak's player-characters all wear small Hedron Resonance Amplifiers on their bodies.

It also raises questions about Jesse's whereabouts. In its launch iteration, FBC: Firebreak does not contain a Jesse Faden cameo. Instead, she's only mentioned once in the lobby, where it's said she has more important things to deal with.

With Jesse having such a personal connection to the Hiss, and Control's ending implying that she won't rest until they're gone, it's disappointing and surprising to see them feature so prominently in FBC: Firebreak. These decisions make the Remedy Connected Universe feel as though it's stuck in time, rather than advancing the story forward.

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