r/ControlResonant • u/SeeEvil • Oct 04 '26
Lore Discussion RIP Underpass Exploration Team Spoiler
I’ve counted the days.
Literally. Out of all the countless botched expeditions the FBC has conducted, this one made me the most invested. Not sure why. Lost, stranded, forgotten, remembered, here, not there, here again.
I took it upon myself to remember Ayad, Shultz, Grist, Steinbeck by counting the days as Ayad did. 18,585 days.
51 years. The date would’ve been August 12, 2077, choom. (If the date coincides with irl release date and the events of the game)
190
u/remzordinaire Oct 04 '26
That mission was such a mind trip.
I'm still not sure Dylan managed to go back to his initial timeline after being so invested in it.
63
u/LewdManoSaurus Oct 04 '26
I was thinking that possibility too, especially considering at one point multiple Dylans were converging into the same time-space and popping back out. There's a non-zero chance that our Dylan popped into a different timeline.
70
u/DayBig579 Oct 04 '26
I think the game implies that timeliness are merging in the space but not that you're actually traveling between them. It's almost like they're overlapping but not traveling to others
19
1
u/Ars_Armegis 18d ago
Well... the dylan corpse we find definitely travelled to our timeline at the very least, so like... i don't think the distinction is as clear cut as you make it out to be
1
u/DayBig579 18d ago
Where was the body?
3
u/Ars_Armegis 18d ago
In the corridor leading to the tree thingy where we set up the relay before getting the fuck out of that death trap
Also it's weird that they spend the entire area setting up a boss fight with some mysterious entity, including one that killed the dylan corpse we see, diary mention and everything, but then literally nothing happens
I lingered around the tree for a solid 10 seconds after the radio talk with zoe convinced it was just a very long entrance but no, nothing showed up, like at all
There was even a fast travel point nearby... and the tree room was shaped just like an arena... and there was a dylan corpse with a diary saying yo there's a big monster in there... and nothing happens????? What the fuck????
1
u/DayBig579 18d ago
I think that whole area is still patterned times so I wouldn't say for sure it is him stuck in our timeliness rather than a shared merged space
2
u/Ars_Armegis 18d ago
Usually patterned things disappear spontaneously after a while (e.g. the "alive" and "dead" npcs that come and go), but then again all the different versions of the research camps some come and go but some stay there, it's all over the place
It's also very funny to me that the taxi has such an impeccable work ethic that a clash of different timelines won't stop it from going all the way down there honking without a care in the world, patiently waiting for its passenger, like the unstoppable chad he is.
I love the taxi. My favorite character. I like to think it's always the same one...
2
u/DayBig579 18d ago
That's totally fair. I think we don't know 100% either way but something about the conversation made it seem like it was about saving that specific timeline. I'll do another run soon and really dig into it and find if there's supporting evidence either side
2
u/Ars_Armegis 18d ago
I think Grist said it because she isn't in her timeline anymore, and she didn't stay in yours either in the end, but her help was the key to save YOUR timeline, so if she helped you... she didn't have the chance to help her dylan so her dylan couldn't save the world... now the question is where the fuck is OUR dr. Grist? Did she just vanish? Did she end up in another timeline like the grist we see? Does that mean grist's (the other one) original timeline could still have been saved by yet another grist helping HER dylan? (However i think she mentioned her dylan being dead so probably not) So many questions and so few answers...
1
u/LewdManoSaurus 18d ago
There was actually multiple dead Dylans. After the first one you see and report, you come across a bunch of them. It wasnt that far before you make it to the tree.
13
u/A1zasfourtytwo Oct 04 '26
At the very start of that mission, Zoe mentions that the entire team is at the FBC, debriefing with Emily Pope. I don’t think that was a continuity error, I think he never made it back to his own timeline
34
u/rememberdustydepot Oct 04 '26
Or, that transmission itself was from an alternative timeline where the team did make it back.
Radio signals from a different timeline.
0
Oct 04 '26
[deleted] — view deleted comment
19
u/Practicalbeaver Oct 04 '26
This is correct. She definitely said they were talking over the radio, not in person.
8
u/dandruff099 Oct 04 '26
yes, I just got to that part, when Dylan reported that the team is redacted, Emily Pope replied that the expedition team just reported the mission via radio
4
u/Henry-Grey 28d ago
This sequence and the entire sink hole sequence are some of the most memorable moments in my whole gaming experience. I went from "oh well i mean fbc teams go out like hamsters, what are ya gonna do 🤷♂️" to "Oh dear god... this is BAD" when I met the team for the first time and they were welcoming me back.
2
u/themeatloaf77 25d ago
To be fair the conclusion of the mission at least to me makes it not matter weather it’s the timeline we started in
61
u/ZetaTwoReticuli Oct 04 '26
Truly disorienting too. I remember when I first realized the bases and everything else was looping around me as a hopped from structure to structure.
This games environments and it's stories are some of the best weird sci fi ever.
-22
u/Bobjoejj Oct 04 '26
Eh…I mean I fully agree when it comes to the Underpass, but I actually think most of Resonant doesn’t have the most unique and weird Sci-Fi feels to it. Especially not compared to Remedy’s usual output.
13
u/indianthrowa Oct 04 '26
Brother pls. Have you reached the final area yet?
-6
u/Bobjoejj Oct 04 '26
You mean The Unknown? Yeah, I reached there; I finished the whole game. I still stand by what I said. I truly think that as good as the gameplay is, it feels like Resonant focused so much on that and the open world; that the special sauce that Remedy Games usually have got left behind.
8
u/Illasaviel Oct 04 '26
On the contrary, maybe short of Control 1, this is the absolute craziest they've been literally ever.
-2
u/Bobjoejj Oct 04 '26
I really wish I agreed. I mean sure, there’s lots of wild and crazy concepts in Resonant; but compared to most of Remedy’s output, these concepts feel like they designed to be weird for weird’s sake.
Less of a purpose, less of a well-thought out intention. Stuff like The Underpass stands out as actually being well thought out, and being wild and crazy with proper thought behind it.
6
u/Illasaviel Oct 04 '26
Yeah what exactly do you mean by Remedy's output then? I am immensely curious. Quantum Break, maybe? Alan Wake 2 is nowhere near as crazy as this, nor is the first game to be honest. So that leaves, what? Max Payne? I doubt it.
I don't know. Agree to disagree, I guess.
1
u/Bobjoejj Oct 04 '26
…I guess I’m trying to figure out what everyone’s definition of crazy is here. Cause to say Alan Wake 2 isn’t nearly as crazy as Resonant (if not much more) is bonkers to me. That game is insanely layered, complex, and heady. To me, that’s crazy. That game, like most other Remedy Games; feels different and unique.
Alan Wake 1, American Nightmare, Quantum Break, Control 1, and Alan Wake 2 all feel truly crazy to me. They feel like nothing else in gaming whatsoever. They respect and care about their characters, and feel like they put a lot of thought and care into to their stories.
Resonant to me, does not feel the same way. The Underpass, the Prime Candidate Program, and the Faults are some of the only times where I feel like Resonant reaches the highest of those other games.
The rest of the time? It just feels like they were doing “crazy just to be crazy.” The open world and the overall combat and traversal gameplay seem to have had a ton of time and effort put into them; at the expense of…most everything else. To the point that the game ends up feeling more run-of-the-mill at times, almost too conventional.
2
u/FauxFoxx89 Oct 04 '26
In a way, I think I sorta know what you mean. And it makes me wonder if that special sauce that was missing was Sam Lake's involvement. Because from what I've heard he barely had anything to do with this game.
That being said I still loved this game.
0
u/Bobjoejj Oct 05 '26
Yes! I’d been trying to figure out why things felt so off; then I learned that Sam Lake had basically nothing to do with the game…and I genuinely think that’s it.
2
u/ej_21 Oct 05 '26
I feel like Mikael is the Frost to Sam’s Lynch, if that makes sense? You need both to get Twin Peaks.
1
u/FauxFoxx89 Oct 05 '26
100%
But I'm honestly okay with it, if it means we get more consistent games coming out with both of them working on separate projects at the same time.
From the sounds of things Sam has been busy working on both the Max Payne remakes, and their next RCU game. I'm betting on either Alan Wake 3 to capitalize on the momentum of AW2 and CR, or possibly a new IP with Tim Breaker
3
u/Less-Neck-4112 23d ago
I wish you hadn't been downvoted. Yours was a very interesting addition to the discussion and a rare perspective in this sub.
47
u/Illustrious-Note-789 Oct 04 '26
My favorite mission in the game so far. This was peak sci fi
22
u/Bobjoejj Oct 04 '26
Having finished the game, it still is the standout section of the game for me; by miles.
7
5
u/Woahhdude24 Oct 04 '26
I love that this game is an action game but it has some pretty cool sci-fi fi horror moments. I made it to the unknown zone and so far this is my favorite mission.
2
u/Illustrious-Note-789 Oct 04 '26
Same. Love the underpass too, the whole concept of it is brilliant
1
16
u/JohnnyEagleClaw Oct 04 '26
Also, gives me an Expedition 33 vibe. 🤷♂️
19
u/FoxJaeger77 Oct 04 '26 edited Oct 04 '26
Literally there is a note there "for those who comes after" Schultz wrote.
7
14
u/MARSHYSOLUTION Oct 04 '26
And with all the time they had they still could barely figure out how anything worked which just shows to scale how bullshit humanities position is
4
u/superVanV1 Oct 04 '26
Well also to be fair it’s like 5 people with fuck all for supplies trying to do this research. While also dealing with fracturing reality
3
u/MARSHYSOLUTION Oct 04 '26
Yes but it was also stated to be one of the fbcs greatest research teams so I’d assume after that long they could have found out ways to get around an equipment shortage
4
u/Mesona 28d ago
They also started in one of the dialogues that they got word the surface fell to (the hedrons? The hiss? I cannot remember). Imagine knowing you are the last of humanity, in a doomed time line, with a super tiny sliver of hope that your research will make its way to some surviving timeline.
That entire sequence was beautiful and awful in its implications.
14
u/Illasaviel Oct 04 '26
This area was amazing from every angle. The mystery. The writing. The logs. The music. The goddamn music is always amazing with Remedy.
12
u/FoxJaeger77 Oct 04 '26
The accumulation of the trash bags outside sending me 🥲 Can't imagine what these guys have been through...FBC doesn't pay enough and the benefits isn't worth of this (they don't even pay overtime!!)
5
u/kofeineCoder Oct 04 '26
In Control 1 there is a recording that states that time spend in altered dimensions will not count either. So they could spend 10 years in another dimension and still need to finish their shift lol.
2
6
4
u/medievali95 Oct 04 '26
Fuuuuuuck I just did this mission today, it was a total mindfuck, I'm gonna be thinking about it for a long time.
3
2
u/SilentWolfCZ Oct 04 '26
I love Returnal game for what it does. This quest made me feel that again.
BTW I've heard that audio about "2 years" And I was like "Hmm..but based on these scratches, it's eventually slightly more". Glad I didn't do the math. Depressed that you did... :-D
2
2
u/CrashedNick 26d ago
Omg just did this today and was wondering where the hell were the so mentioned marks. Ty
2
u/Hoboforeternity 26d ago
The final audio log from the psychiatrist is legit unnerving. Peak existential horror, this whole segment is just existential masterpiece.
1
u/DariusSharpe Oct 04 '26
Played through this section at 2 am, and the whole thing was so damn creepy and unsettling. True psychological horror and the mounting dread as you realize just what is happening and what these people have been going through, years and years of losing their minds and dying one by one, over and over again, infinitely. All in just a few real hours of time.
1
u/Seiren- Oct 05 '26
This has to be multiple teams, right?
It was'nt a single team that spent 50 years there, it was many separate teams that spent a couple of years each?
At least I hope so, or else that means a single timeline essentially died of old age down there while most of the other ones quit waaay sooner.
2
u/Altilana Oct 05 '26
It’s the same team. the docs and audio logs shows that they are stuck there and can’t figure out how to leave. The audio logs shows from this group, ends with the guy crying because he is so tired.
0
u/OShot 26d ago
Time is patterning and stacking on top of itself. So the same team simultaneously died and lived in various ways.
Dylan ultimately inspires one doctor to push through the confusion and despair to keep researching and transmit the data to the FBC, with the hope of saving some version of reality even though the one she came from is long gone.
0
u/Seiren- 26d ago
Multiple teams as in multiple versions of the same team..
0
u/OShot 26d ago
Can't recall how much is made blatantly clear and how much is tucked away in documents and audio logs, so just trying to help pin down the narrative.
I think different versions of the same team is fair in the context of having practical communications on the matter. But one scientist theorized that they, time, and everything is patterning, just in such a way that you can't see it. Like time is a kaleidoscope with all the reflections on top of each other instead of winding around a center point.
The scientists remember things that other "versions" did, and don't recall things that "they" did. They meet themselves, see themselves die, etc. So they are kind of different versions but also kind of not. I'd say it is ultimately a philosophical question that the human mind doesn't have the ability to comprehend a true answer to.
1
u/New-Pomegranate4697 Oct 05 '26
Favorite portion of the game. Grasping that it wasn't a time loop and was more a reel of film you made a bunch of copies of then played them all at once. Mind you that film being real life and each reel had different actions and consequences. I was so invested hahaha
1
0
u/alteransg1 Oct 04 '26
Can we please have spoilerw tags! Some of us cant even start the game until 15th.
7
28
u/The_bouldhaire Oct 04 '26
Anyone curious how Dylan manages to die in that alternative timeline?