Tonight will mark the shortest day and the longest night as we hold the Winter Solstice. While there are things that I love about this time of year, the constant darkness isn't exactly one of them, especially if you're cooped up inside with an outdoor/indoor cat who is blaming you for the temperature. Things got violent last year when it snowed.
But still, the weather and long nights are pretty perfect for things like soup, staying in, and catching up on your "to read", "to play", or "to watch" lists. So it feels appropriate today to look at titles which have influenced or feels thematically appropriate to Remedy's games.
You're going to have to find your own soup though. Sorry.
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Inception
Inception influenced the early concepts of Quantum Break. While the two titles are so different from each other, there are similar threads connecting them both, such as large-scale scenes of destruction, and the fracturing of reality and time. The movie is approximately two and a half hours and focuses on a team of people who are able to mould dreams and influence individuals. |
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Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy Cited as an inspiration behind Remedy's latest title, Control, the Southern Reach Trilogy (specifically the novels) by Jeff VanderMeer delves into the concept of "new weird". The books are called Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance and was published in 2014. They are available as a print edition (in both paperback and hardback formats) and as an ebook. |
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The Matrix Released in 1999, The Matrix was a hit at a perfect time for Remedy's then-upcoming title, Max Payne. The studio was already working on having "bullet time" in the game but the success of the movie helped shine a spotlight on work the team had already put in. The Matrix is also a pretty classic title, becoming a major staple of pop culture early on, and is widely reference. There's a huge possibility that if you're reading this you've already seen it but if you haven't, it's worth checking out. |
Stanley Kubrick's The Shining
Another classic film is The Shining directed by Stanley Kubrick. It's also the best and worst movies to watch when it's snowing outside and, as I mentioned before, have a slightly homicidal cat locked in with you. Stephen King didn't like the film, and if that doesn't make you want to check it out, nothing will. |
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Songs That Inspired Quantum Break
A while back, Remedy created a playlist on Spotify containing a long list of songs which influenced Quantum Break. While not all of them are thematically connected to the game, they fuelled the development days. To date there are forty seven songs, and all can be listened to on the studio's Spotify channel, HERE. |
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The Wire
If you've played Quantum Break, you may also want to check out The Wire which features both Lance Reddick (Martin Hatch) AND Aidan Gillen (Paul Serene). It can be fairly dark, so if you're sensitive to morally grey characters, violence or anything like that, double check the IMDB page first. If you're also a Tomb Raider fan, the show stars Dominic West who played Lara's father in the latest film this year, as the show's lead. The show has everyone. |
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Die Hard
Everyone's favourite Christmas movie! As well as just being a fun film, Die Hard shares a number of similarities to Max Payne, including the same outfit in the third instalment and a distinct lack of hair. It also stars Alan Rickman, who everyone is lawfully obliged to love because he's pretty great. |
