Mere hours after first playing FBC: Firebreak, I found myself face-to-face with a delicious cream cake. Unfortunately, my clumsiness led to a dollop of cream landing in my blood orange cocktail, melting into it. As I watched the swirling, I was transported back to the halls of the Federal Bureau of Control, firing white-hot bursts of liquid at the glowing red enemies. This twisted leap of logic is exactly what a visit to Remedy's headquarters does to a brain.
Remedy is a studio known for its eclectic library of games, ranging from horror to sci-fi and neo-noir detective fiction. What I've always appreciated about the developers of Alan Wake and Max Payne is their fearless embrace of silliness. Firebreak, their latest venture into first-person shooting and co-op multiplayer action, is no exception. During a two-hour play session, I found myself obliterating foes with a murderous garden gnome and battling a 30-foot-high sticky note behemoth. This convinced me that Remedy, with its unique blend of the weird, can stand out in the often serious online shooter genre.
FBC: Firebreak - Gameplay Screenshots
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Set six years after the events of Remedy’s 2019 hit, Control, Firebreak takes place in the familiar setting of The Oldest House. Fans of Jesse Faden’s story will recognize the brutalist architecture and Finnish folk music echoing through the bathrooms, creating a comforting yet eerie return. In Firebreak, squads re-enter this X-Files-like government building to tackle localized Hiss outbreaks, the inter-dimensional threat from Control. Players and up to two teammates act as this universe's Ghostbusters, armed with double-barreled shotguns and encouraged to cross the streams.
Let me explain. Beyond the standard arsenal of pistols and rifles, players can choose from three different "kits," essentially Firebreak’s classes, each aiding the team in unique ways. The Fix Kit allows quick repairs of machines like ammo stations and healing showers—where FBC employees boost their HP by getting drenched with water, adding to the game's whimsical nature. The Splash Kit equips you with a hydro cannon for healing teammates and dousing enemies in water. The Jump Kit features a short-range Electro-Kinetic Charge Impactor that can shock foes and halt them in their tracks. Combining these kits can yield devastating results, such as sending a high-voltage bolt into a wet mob.
Although playable solo, Firebreak is designed for teamwork and communication, especially as missions become more hectic. All missions, known as jobs, follow the same structure: enter, complete objectives, and return to the elevator. My first assignment involved fixing three faulty heat fans in the building’s furnace while dealing with enemy waves before retreating to safety.
Things quickly escalated. The "Paper Chase" mission required us to destroy thousands of scattered sticky notes before exiting the area. Hordes of Hiss would appear regularly to disrupt our progress, and the notes could attach to us and cause damage, embodying the phrase "death by a thousand paper cuts." While melee attacks could destroy the notes, soaking and sparking them was more efficient, showcasing Firebreak’s elemental kit systems. This multiplayer synergy is supported by solid gunplay, allowing individual contribution without reliance on others. I found the machine gun particularly satisfying for mowing down the glowing red ghouls, which burst into the oily haze familiar from Control.
The third mission in The Oldest House’s Black Rock Quarry demanded the most teamwork. We had to shoot squelchy leeches from the cavernous walls to obtain lethal radioactive pearls, which needed to be contained in a shuttle and moved along a track deeper into the quarry. This was the most challenging mission, emphasizing the need for good communication, amidst enemies, radiation, and instakill astral spikes. Despite the chaos, I had fun.While I'm satisfied with the mission objectives, I have mixed feelings about Firebreak’s map design. In Control, The Oldest House was a labyrinth of morphing corridors and secrets, but Firebreak’s maps are less complex. This is beneficial for first-person navigation, though the absence of a minimap occasionally led to confusion. However, this simplicity may have cost the headquarters some of its unpredictable charm. Don't expect wonders like the Ashtray Maze; instead, you'll find more grounded surroundings.
These missions may seem straightforward, but completing them unlocks clearance levels, adding more objectives and extending playtime. Subsequent revisits expand the maps with additional chambers and more complex foes and objectives. Bosses, ranging from bullet sponges to intriguing creatures like a giant sticky note monstrosity, gate progress. The latter required communication and teamwork, reminiscent of the final stretches in Space Marine 2, blending puzzle-solving with combat.
AnswerSee ResultsThe everyday object monsters from Control are among my favorite elements, and I'm pleased to see them in Firebreak. Randomly spawning corrupted items add to the weirdness; though I didn't encounter any, the prospect is exciting. A rubber duck that can redirect enemies away from you was mentioned, but its small size made it hard to spot. Another item, a set of traffic lights, can cause heavy damage when caught in its red gaze, adding a dash of Squid Game to the brutalist setting.Firebreak's strong foundations are somewhat marred by readability issues. Completing missions grants unlock tokens for zany new tools, including ultimate abilities like the Splash Kit’s Teapot, which burns enemies with superheated globules, and the Jump Kit’s garden gnome, which unleashes an electrical storm. While fun, the chaos can sometimes make the screen too busy, leading to confusion about navigation, friendly fire, and identifying bosses amidst the action. The Firebreak developers are aware of these readability concerns and plan to address them before the June 17 launch.
Firebreak will launch with five jobs, with two more promised by the end of 2025. Game director Mike Kayatta considers these more like game modes than missions, offering replayability and depth through multiple clearance levels and evolving objectives. Priced at $39.99 / €39.99 / £32.99 and available on Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, Firebreak offers good value for both Control veterans and new fans seeking a fun shooter.Navigating the always-online co-op shooter landscape is challenging, but after playing Firebreak, I'm confident in its strong foundation. Combined with Remedy’s unique quirky personality, Firebreak has the potential to carve its niche, much like that dollop of cream carved its space in my cocktail. And yes, I still drank it all.
