FBC: Firebreak Review

FBC: Firebreak is Remedy Entertainment's bold leap into co-op multiplayer territory, spun off from its critically acclaimed 2019 hit, Control. Known for its single-player narrative excellence in games like Alan Wake and Quantum Break, Remedy takes a daring detour with FBC: Firebreak, placing players not in the boots of supernatural directors but in the rubberized suits of janitorial foot soldiers.

Set once again in the shape-shifting, interdimensional bureaucracy of The Oldest House, FBC: Firebreak ditches the haunting elegance of psychic combat in favor of chaotic firefights, wacky objectives, and a live-service progression model that's more grind than grandeur. The result is a game that teeters between inspired absurdity and exhausting monotony, offering flickers of brilliance buried beneath layers of redundant design and unfinished ideas.

Narrative, once a Remedy cornerstone, takes a backseat in FBC: Firebreak. Set six years after Control, the story is more of a conceptual backdrop than a central driver. You assume the role of "Firebreakers," low-tier FBC grunts assigned to clean up dimensional anomalies across the agency's fractured building. There's no dramatic opening cutscene or cinematic onboarding; you are dropped into the gameplay with little context beyond a few lines from off-screen characters like Hank and Jerry.

There are nods to Control's protagonist Jesse Faden and whispers of familiar lore, but nothing substantial develops. World-building is paper-thin. Instead of uncovering surreal horrors through files or auditory logs, you are left navigating vague references and meaningless chatter. While jobs do come with bits of flavor, like cleaning sticky note infestations or neutralizing frost anomalies, they fail to form a cohesive or compelling story. Compared to Remedy's previous titles, the narrative here feels not just light but virtually absent—an unfortunate casualty of a genre shift.

FBC: Firebreak is structured around a mission-based loop. Each match begins with you descending into the House via elevator to complete a job, which consists of three escalating "clearance" levels. The missions: Hot Fix, Ground Control, Frequency Shift, Freezer Duty, and Paper Chase range from collecting irradiated pearls to melting ice monsters and neutralizing possessed office supplies.

Jobs are chosen pre-match and are configurable through threat levels and difficulty sliders, affecting the density of enemies, the number of corrupted items, and the mission duration. You select a loadout featuring one of three "Crisis Kits": the Fix Kit (wrench for repairs), Splash Kit (water gun for status effect cleansing), or Jump Kit (electric blaster for rapid activations).

Progression operates on a slow treadmill of unlockables. You earn requisition points by completing jobs and collecting research files, which can be spent on new weapons, perks, or cosmetic items. Perks like running faster while on fire or electrifying enemies while reloading can be useful and even comical, but acquiring them is a grind. It is necessary for you to initially open pages that include less significant upgrades before proceeding to the more significant ones. The early game is slowed down by this tiered gating, which is especially noticeable when you are playing by yourself.

The ways in which the environment influences the gameplay are the aspects of the game that are the most engaging. Players of Firebreak are instructed to make the most of the environment and the supplies available to them. Not only are fire and water impacts or threats, but they are also tools that the system can utilize to overcome obstacles.

Water may be used to weaken adversaries, and subsequently, electricity can be used to zap them. Spraying the fire with a sprinkler will put it out. Although it appears to be a wonderful idea on paper, it is not very excellent in practice due to the fact that the adversaries are not very intelligent and there are not many different missions to choose from.

Combat in FBC: Firebreak is less about tactical precision and more about surviving waves of chaotic Hiss encounters. You can choose between six weapons: an SMG, revolver, shotgun, hunting rifle, and more, each offering different handling. The revolver and shotgun feel punchy, while the SMG is largely underwhelming. Gunplay lacks the weight and kinetic feedback that made Control's combat so satisfying. Here, bullets feel light, enemies spongy, and feedback inconsistent. Firing at enemies doesn't deliver the visceral thrill. Remedy usually nails and melee attacks with tools like the wrench feel ineffective.

The puzzle elements exist within the job objectives, but they rarely present real mental engagement. For instance, in Frequency Shift, you must clear pink goo and repair turbines through dull quick-time events. Even the more inventive tasks, like wetting Sticky Ricky before zapping him to death in Paper Chase, quickly become repetitive. The lack of boss variety and the predictability of objectives dull what could have been unique encounters.

What's frustrating is that Firebreak flirts with brilliance. At times, tasks like dodging an angry furnace or freezing anomalies with heaters provide a spark of Remedy's traditional creativity. But these moments are few and often buried under monotonous repetition.

Progression is where FBC: Firebreak buckles the most. It follows a live-service model built on unlocking perks, upgrades, and cosmetic items through requisition points. However, XP gains are slow and often unrewarding. Clearing missions rewards only a small number of points, with additional bonuses for collecting research files. Unlocking meaningful gameplay advantages requires grinding through pages of voice lines, sprays, and throwaway cosmetics before accessing higher-tier gear.

Weapon upgrades are similarly restrictive. Improving damage output or changing fire modes requires you to complete specific objectives and grind for materials. Perk synergy is intriguing in theory, with status effects that trigger on reloads or when switching gear, but their real gameplay impact is subtle at best.

The biggest issue is redundancy. Clearance levels force you to replay the same missions multiple times to reach higher stages. While increasing threat levels adds chaos, it does little to offset the feeling of grinding through familiar terrain. There's minimal incentive to replay beyond the desire to unlock the next minor upgrade.

The Firebreak application is run by the Northlight Engine. Control and Alan Wake 2 were both made feasible by the same powerful technology that is being discussed here. As in the last game, the deep shadows, harsh lighting, and shifting geometry of this one have the same brutalist appearance as the previous one.

When it works, it delivers striking vistas, icy anomalies floating through fluorescent cubicles, burning notes lighting up sterile office spaces, and corrupted machinery pulsing with red light. Both the lighting and the particle effects are excellent, and the intersection of water, fire, and electricity creates a phenomenon that resembles lightning.

The art direction of the game, on the other hand, is really good but does not have a significant level of variation. Even after only a few years of employment, the atmosphere of the workplace begins to feel the same. Once brimming with enigma and constantly evolving in appearance, the Oldest House today appears placid.

It's beautiful, but the lack of environmental storytelling and dynamic-level design undercuts immersion. Worse still, performance dips occur when too many effects fill the screen, especially on high-end rigs with ray tracing enabled. Crashes and framerate issues were also reported, particularly during chaotic firefights.

Audio design is perhaps FBC: Firebreak's weakest component. The soundtrack is minimalistic to the point of being forgettable. During missions, music is sparse, and when it kicks in, usually during elevator escapes, it's bland, looping rock that fails to heighten tension or emotion. Gun sounds are functional, but lack punch, and environmental audio doesn't sell the surreal atmosphere of the House.

Voice acting is limited mostly to banter between off-screen supervisors and the occasional quip from teammates. The writing tries to inject humor, shower achievements, and Hank and Jerry's dry commentary, but it rarely lands. Compared to the rich, haunting soundscapes of Alan Wake 2 or Control, FBC: Firebreak feels audibly barren. There's no sense of dread, suspense, or auditory reward. This is a game set in a reality-bending government agency, yet it sounds like any generic shooter.

This is the game you should play if you want to play a Remedy remedy game. This video game contains a lot of interesting concepts, but the way in which they are implemented is not very good. It features sticky notes and firefights that occur again and over again, as opposed to the tales and odd narratives that Control features. In particular, when the tools perform well together or when the pieces that are specialized to the job work well together, there is the potential for a lot of pleasure.

There are a number of excellent concepts, including the piggy bank weapon, the traffic light that can feel, and the sprinklers that spew forth electricity, respectively. On the other hand, they are forced to contend with monotonous foes, chores that are repetitious, poor shooting, and a grind of live service that feels more like a punishment than a reward.

There is no doubt that Remedy desired to experiment with new things. The decision that they made to step outside of their comfort zone was the right one. When compared to other Remedy games, however, FBC: Firebreak lacks the refinement, depth, and direction that are characteristic of the genre. In further updates, it is possible that additional occupations will be introduced, the levels will be more evenly distributed, and there will be some plot once more. FBC: Firebreak, on the other hand, is more of a grind than a spark at the beginning.