Between Rejects drafted in a war against the forces of Chaos, Super Earth soldiers battling aliens and rogue automatons, and, heck, even a futuristic dwarf rock-and-stoning it up for resources, the co-op shooter well has delivered some incredible experiences over the years. But what about a wannabe firefighter in an extradimensional space battling back against invading supernatural forces? Remedy Entertainment likely posed the same question with FBC: Firebreak, taking the office spaces and surreal environments of Control and revamping them into first-person shooter areas.
This isn’t a straightforward run-and-gun adventure, though. On a fundamental level, Firebreak is objective-focused but also heavily team-favored beyond simply having more guns on the board. Then you have the ragtag nature of the whole operation – of this group of first responders, these volunteers taking up arms while a mysterious being in a tank (known as Hank) directs them. The weirdness quota is definitely fulfilled, even if it’s not experimenting with the same non-euclidean spaces as Control (disappointingly enough). Between a relatively generous $40 price tag and availability on PlayStation Plus Extra and Game Pass, the barrier to entry is fairly low. But is it worth your time?
“Jobs can become much more frantic when you’ve enabled all three Clearance Levels, turned the Threat Level up to Extreme and enabled Corruptions, with the ensuing chaos creating excitement. It doesn’t change how repetitive the objectives can get over repeated playthroughs, though.”
Not narratively, but you already expected that. FBC: Firebreak offers five Jobs, each with accompanying lore. Hank and your Firebreaker will occasionally banter in the lobby, providing the occasional revelation (Jesse Faden being the one to authorize the group in the first place). During Jobs, there will be the occasional dialogue. “Let’s work hard like they’re paying us!” I feel ya, buddy. Some more voice lines would be nice, though, but I’m glad Remedy didn’t go for any extensive banter between teammates during missions, even if it could execute it better than most other studios.
Each Job consists of three Clearance Levels – initially, only Level 1 is available. You have to clear this to unlock Level 2 and then Level 3. Each subsequent Clearance Level increases the number of rewards but lengthens the mission while introducing new objectives (or at least new areas and threats). Ground Control focuses on collecting radioactive material from slugs on the ceiling of the Black Rock Quarry and depositing them inside a device. On Level 1, that’s all you really need to do, but Level 2 involves pushing that trolley into the next area, where those Astral Spikes roam about. There are also different elevations enemies can spawn and new threats to worry about. Level 3 culminates in delivering the device into a rocket and prepping it for launch, then defending the site from incoming threats.
Remedy Entertainment considers each Job to feel more like “modes” instead of maps. And while that’s somewhat the case, the complexity of objectives in certain Jobs doesn’t escalate all that much. In Paper Chase, your goal is to burn a set number of Sticky Notes and then proceed to the next area. The goal in Level 2? Destroying more Sticky Notes (which adds self-replicating Sticky Note Men into the mix, but that’s pretty much it). Things change more significantly in Level 3, which is the confrontation against a boss, Sticky Ricky, and a coordination-based mechanic where you need to douse it in water and then electrocute it to deal damage. Having played Destiny 2 Strikes and Dungeons, this is more akin to an actual boss fight than many of the other Jobs.
How do you ratchet up the tension? With Threat Levels, which spawn in a lot more enemies, including the heavier hitters, with chances for powerful named enemies. There are also Corruptions, which introduce Corrupted Items into the mission, each with a unique effect, including a Table Saw that removes your shields, a Stapler that increases enemy health, and much more. My favorite was the exploding corpses since it became very easy to clear mobs of enemies spawning in.
Depending on how many you’ve chosen for a mission, Corruptions will stack until removed with a Black Rock Neutralizer. There is a bit of strategy in this regard, especially when one Corrupted Item will induce overwhelming cold, causing you and your enemies to move slower, which means more easily lining up shots. Otherwise, you’re usually better off removing most of them (which means holding out against the effects until you can find a Black Rock Neutralizer). Jobs can become much more frantic when you’ve enabled all three Clearance Levels, turned the Threat Level up to Extreme and enabled Corruptions, with the ensuing chaos creating excitement. It doesn’t change how repetitive the objectives can get over repeated playthroughs, though.
“I don’t mind that they’re locked to their respective Crisis Kits, but having to unlock them and their Altered Augments through Requisitions can get tedious, especially when starting out and not having the means to survive in higher difficulties (which award more resources).”
At least the gun play is satisfying throughout. Witnessing Remedy seamlessly transitioning from its usual third-person shooters into the first-person space is incredible, especially with how great the weapons feel. I thought the revolver was my light in the darkness of countless manic Hiss…until unlocking the pump-action shotgun, which staggers the larger threats and can damage multiple enemies at once. The machine gun isn’t too shabby either, with its large magazine, especially if you can get a train of enemies going and line up headshots.
However, the selection is limited to six. Going through the starter Requisitions (which functions similarly to Helldivers 2’s Warbonds) will unlock upgrades for different weapons, increasing their damage but not much else beyond that. Some Perks generate different effects, including a chance for bullets to inflict a status effect or killing enemies having a chance to inflict status effects on others. You can even activate effects like shocking nearby enemies while reloading or drenching them when switching equipment, which synergizes with some of the different grenades. These Perks can be very powerful, and thanks to Resonance, it’s possible to share their effects with nearby players.
Of course, the big differentiator from other co-op titles is the Crisis Kits, from a giant wrench that can repair showers and ammo stations alongside turrets to a fluid ejector that’s akin to F.L.U.D.D. from Super Mario Sunshine and lets you wash off status effects from allies (except radioactivity). Except unlocking its Altered Augment lets you turn it into a lava-spewing nightmare for enemies (and friends, if they’re in the way).
Despite the repetition of the mission objectives, I appreciate how they’re designed to accommodate each Crisis Kit. Frequency Shift is ideal for the Fix Kit, what with all the repairing, but the Splash Kit is a way to deal with the extensive explosive growth, besides simply shooting it. You can even synergize different attacks, splashing enemies with water and then electrocuting them with the Jump Kit. The Splash Kit’s charged shots make for good crowd control on smaller enemies in tight corridors but its Altered Augment is also suitable for significantly the ice anomalies in Freezer Duty, which is a nice touch.
There are also devices which serve as support items, including a deployable turret that automatically targets enemies, a Humidifier that sprays water in an area once filled and heals allies, etc. I don’t mind that they’re locked to their respective Crisis Kits, but having to unlock them and their Altered Augments through Requisitions can get tedious, especially when starting out and not having the means to survive in higher difficulties (which award more resources). The same goes for Perks – you need to be at a specific level to unlock them (which also requires spending resources), and many of the best options are in the upper reaches. If you’re playing co-op regularly, it won’t take too long, but the initial slog is still annoying, especially when going solo.
“Despite my many nitpicks with FBC: Firebreak, it can be an enjoyable experience, and the lack of any live service trappings or FOMO means it’s enjoyable at one’s own pace. It feels like it could use some more content, or at least more ways to mix up the core gameplay, but what’s there feels robust.”
Once you’ve unlocked some decent upgrades and Perks, it isn’t impossible to solo farm the Assets necessary to unlock Requisitions and research other Perks by playing a Clearance Level 1 Job on Extreme. The downside is that you need Corruptions for Perk-upgrading resources, and these are only available on Clearance Level 3. Granted, you could drop the Threat Level accordingly and take your chances, though strangely enough, I didn’t find any Corruptions when playing on Easy and Level 3. The Perk upgrade materials were pitiable, as expected.
Regarding enemy variety, Control’s curse somewhat carries over into Firebreak, though it doesn’t feel as jarring. You have the usual charging Hiss, some with weapons who can quickly dodge; the ranged types, who duck and weave past your shots like its Super Punch-Out; and the heavies with grenade launchers. There are some more unconventional enemies, including those which blow up when they get too close or the creepy, seated Hiss that telekinetically hurl objects at you. Then you have the invisible Hiss, which vomits blood on you with insane tracking, easily taking off your entire shield and two-thirds of your health that I can’t wait to see nerfed in the most inhumane ways. Enemies are fairly intelligent, choosing different routes to flank and surround you, which adds to the tension, but they’re not immune to being trained into a line, single file, and picked off with extreme prejudice.
While I appreciate FBC: Firebreak not increasing the base damage or health of enemies at higher difficulties, the sheer amount can be problematic on performance. My PC delivers a relatively solid 60 frames per second at 1440p with most settings on High and DLSS set to Quality, with occasional drops when there are several effects on-screen. Toss in a mess of enemies, however, and things start chugging, especially when there are flashing lights, sparks, water effects, destroyed Sticky Notes, and more going off. I also faced a few crashes to desktop and though rejoining a session was easy enough, automatically doing so would be ideal. Otherwise, the art direction is pretty great, channeling Control in all the best ways while offering exceptional shadows and lighting.
Speaking of the social functions, there’s no in-game voice or text chat, which isn’t the most out-of-place thing for a modern multiplayer game but is still annoying. The ping system works well enough, at least, and there are report and block functions. Unfortunately, the UI leaves some room for growth. It’s clean, sure, but you can’t tell the exact number of Lost Assets or materials collected on the HUD. I also couldn’t check loadouts for other players, which feels like a big oversight, considering how important Resonance can be for Perks. You also can’t set separate loadouts for specific Crisis Kits. If you want to swap weapons and Perks in specific situations, you’ll have to bring it up before the mission starts and manually move things around.
Despite my many nitpicks with FBC: Firebreak, it can be an enjoyable experience, and the lack of any live service trappings or FOMO means it’s enjoyable at one’s own pace. It feels like it could use some more content, or at least more ways to mix up the core gameplay, but what’s there feels robust. I am keen to see how such a solid foundation grows with continued support. For now, it’s a solid co-op shooter to jump into with friends – not the very best, but certainly a good option, whether you’re in for shorter sessions or the long haul.
This game was reviewed on PC.
