FBC: Firebreak is proof of Remedy Entertainment’s continued effort to expand on and flesh out the rich, connected universe of their catalogue of games. The AAA studio’s latest project expands on its 2019 action-adventure game Control with a smaller in-scope but addictively engaging three-player cooperative first-person shooter.
I got to spend roughly two hours with an early build of FBC: Firebreak, where two others and I were given access to three levels present in the upcoming co-op shooter. As the game takes place within the world of Control, players who jump into FBC: Firebreak can expect all manner of paranormal chaos in the form of the Hiss, which have run amok in the Oldest House. As far as the story goes, FBC: Firebreak takes place six years after the events of Control, with the eponymous building entering a quarantine lockdown due to a state of crisis, due to increased Hiss activity, setting up the impetus of the multiplayer shooter.
As part of the cleanup crew, you assume the role of an employee of the newly minted Firebreak Initiative, tasked with clearing out the Hiss contagion that has caused a spike in anomalous phenomena within the FBC building, to a degree not seen since Jesse Faden took on the role of Director. One major area that Remedy made sure to touch on was the fact that FBC: Firebreak is a game built from the ground up, not to waste the players’ time. Instead of any convoluted class system, skill tree, or grindy chases for upgrades, FBC: Firebreak utilizes a simple but effective Crisis Kit and Requestion system.
Crisis Kits are the closest thing to classes in FBC: Firebreak and currently offer players three distinct starting loadouts that determine their playstyle while on a level. Requestions, on the other hand, are unlockables that range from added grenades to new weapons, skins, sprays, and other cosmetics. Remedy also promises a premium set of Requestions, which in-game are dubbed as Classified Requestions and will act as bonus cosmetics for those who want a little extra out of the game.
“FBC: Firebreak is a game built from the ground up, not to waste the players’ time.”
The three Crisis Kits that were available to me during my time with the FBC: Firebreak event included the Jump, Fix and Splash Kit. I started with the Jump Kit, which I arguably spent the most time with. Players using the Jump kit can expect an aggressively powerful crowd-control focused playstyle with a toolkit that employs the use of electricity to dish out damage on large crowds of Hiss. Equipped with the Electro-kinetic charge impacter primary tool, which in essence feels like a defibrillator had a lovechild with a pogo stick, is a weapon that can stagger and stun enemies, jump start downed switches and power stations, and combo beautifully with the Splash kit toolkit for some devasting attacks against large groups of Hiss.
Speaking of the Splash kit, players who decide to go with this loadout can expect to be in charge of hosing down enemies, which stagger when wet, heal other players and put out the many, many fires that often crop up during gameplay. Conversely, the Fix Kit gives players a handy-dandy wrench, which emphasizes fixing machinery and bludgeoning baddies in satisfyingly over-the-top animations that melee combat fiends will surely appreciate. Additionally, all three kits include deployable items, ranging from conventional turrets that pellet enemies to stranger but equally useful inclusions such as the boombox and humidifier, which attract, slow down and leave enemies ready to get electrocuted, creating a solid level of synergy between the available playstyles.
Finally, on top of the primary tools and deployable items, each kit also includes altered augments, which essentially are powerful super attacks for your primary tool. These level up your base attack with augments such as the Piggy Bank, which adds additional shrapnel to your wrench, adding damage over time, or the garden gnome, which beefs up the Jumper kit by creating a supercharged storm that the player can direct towards the target.
Standard weapons also feel fun to use, ranging from precise and weighty revolver-style guns to punchy shotguns that can get you out of Hiss-dense firefights in a pinch. In other words, the moment-to-moment gameplay in FBC: Firebreak feels much faster and looser than Control, almost reminiscent of greats like Left 4 Dead with a bigger emphasis on objective-based missions.
“…gameplay in FBC: Firebreak feels much faster and looser than Control, almost reminiscent of greats like Left 4 Dead with a bigger emphasis on objective-based missions.”
On the topic of missions, I was given access to the three levels that will be among the available levels ready for launch. The levels that I played included Hot Fix, Paper Chase and Ground Control, with each level taking place in a different area within the FBC building that fans of Control should recognize.
Hot Fix places teams of 3 into the bowels of the Maintenance Sector of the FBC Building, tasking them to keep the blast furnaces from overheating by repairing several fans spread across the level before exiting via the elevator. Repairing said fan takes the cooperation of your squad, often requiring putting out fires, fixing electric panels and managing the increasing hordes of Hiss that spawn between repairs. The repairs themselves feature a minigame reminiscent of calling in ordnance in Helldivers 2, requiring the player to enter a series of button prompts in sequence quickly.
Paper Chase features one of the more iconic enemy designs presently available in the game, with Hiss built from a living biome of sticky notes. Your team is placed in the main foyer leading into the offices of the Oldest House, which, at first glance, looks ripped straight out of Control until you start to notice the alarmingly large number of sticky notes strewn about.
Players must eliminate the tsunami of sticky notes that have cropped up all over the FBC building, which feel akin to more of a fluid-like sentient substance controlled by the Hiss than just tiny pieces of paper, making for a fun session of blasting your way through the otherwise mostly pedestrian office setting. Paper Chase, in particular, itched that Splatoon and Powerwash Simulator part of my brain as my team and I made it deeper into the level.
“Paper Chase features one of the more iconic enemy designs presently available in the game, with Hiss built from a living biome of sticky notes.”
Finally, Ground Control places players into the oppressing quarry area of the FBC building, which has been overrun with astral leeches, caking the walls of the rocky mine-like area in otherwordly spores that must be removed, which directly translates into killing leeches, harvesting their pearls, to place into a mine cart, to eventually load them into a containment shuttle before sending them to a one-way trip into the far reaches of Space. Ground Control features gameplay elements similar to both prior levels, with elements of clearing on top of bug squashing, which helps the experience feel fresh.
Outside of the main objectives in the available levels, FBC: Firebreak features washing/bathing areas spread across the map, which act as your primary means of healing (something the Splash kit users can also help with) and often require activating said showers before using them, which add to the tension of the levels as they take time to activate and use, adding to the chaotic nature of the game.
Having only played roughly two hours of an older, pre-release build of FBC: Firebreak, I can still comfortably say that Remedy is cooking up a fun co-op shooter that places the onus on its solid gameplay loop, unburdened by the baggage often associated with Gaas-style games.
