FBC: Firebreak turns out to be a disappointing foray into multiplayer for Remedy Entertainment.
Remedy Entertainment, a studio known for its exceptional reputation for creating narratively compelling games, is the developer of FBC: Firebreak. This is the firm that created the mind-bending Control, brought the eerily gorgeous Alan Wake to life, and created Max Payne.
These games have solidified Remedy’s status as one of the most adored developers, renowned for their inventive gameplay, distinctive settings, and complex narratives. Set in the same universe as Control, FBC: Firebreak is Remedy’s first official venture into a cooperative, multiplayer first-person shooter.
You take on the role of the Firebreak squad, a team of first responders entrusted with controlling supernatural turmoil in the mysterious Oldest House, the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Control, six years after the events of Control. However, even with Remedy’s legendary past, FBC: Firebreak doesn’t live up to the studio’s typical standards, which has led many fans to wonder why the game was published in its current form.
FBC: Firebreak is set in the Control universe, specifically within the Oldest House, a living, ever-shifting building that serves as the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC). This agency is responsible for tracking, capturing, and containing anomalies—objects with bizarre properties, such as a floppy disk that grants telekinesis, a slide projector that opens alternate universes, or a refrigerator that devours people.
The Oldest House is a fascinating setting; it’s alive, capable of growing, shrinking, and rearranging its doorways, making it the perfect place to store such cursed objects. In FBC: Firebreak, you play as part of the Firebreak Initiative, the maintenance crew tasked with handling containment breaches when these anomalies go haywire.
Your job is to put the genie back in the bottle, confront otherworldly forces known as the Hiss, and deal with bizarre crises, such as electrified sticky notes or toxic goo. As a three-player co-op shooter, FBC: Firebreak tasks you with completing “jobs” across several missions. Players customize loadouts with a primary weapon and one of three tools: a giant wrench for repairs, a shock coil to instantly charge objects, or a hydro cannon that heals or wets enemies.
These tools interact with environmental elements like broken machinery or boomboxes used to distract enemies. Most missions follow a three-phase structure with repetitive goals, such as destroying thousands of sticky notes, fixing fans via quick-time events, or hauling nuclear relics. Bosses like “Sticky Ricky” punctuate each job but fail to add much variety.
Mission diversity is superficial. Levels feature minor theme swaps—fire, ice, toxic goo, etc.—but objectives rarely deviate. Unlocking harder difficulties adds more enemies but not new mechanics. There’s cross-platform matchmaking but no in-game voice or text chat, which severely limits co-op coordination unless you’re using Discord or a third-party tool.
Combat revolves around fighting the Hiss, recurring enemies from Control, including flyers, shielded brutes, and melee rushers. You’ll use basic weapons like pistols, shotguns, or rifles, and tools with status effects—fire burns, shock stuns, water heals, or wets enemies for synergy. You can electrify soaked foes or use fire against ice-type hazards, adding some tactical variation. Environmental tools like sprinklers and showers help cleanse status ailments or trigger effects.
Gunplay is competent. Weapons feel responsive and allow for some experimentation. The shock coil is especially handy, bypassing certain mini-games and charging devices instantly. However, enemy variety is shallow, and AI is often buggy—foes get stuck or react slowly. Hit detection is unreliable, and fights can feel flat due to predictable enemy behavior.
Puzzle elements are scarce and mostly consist of simplistic tasks—flipping switches, solving quick-time events, or throwing barrels into furnaces. Despite flashes of potential, combat gets stale fast. Missions recycle the same core tasks, and the novelty of dousing enemies or shocking puddles wears thin quickly. The game’s mechanics feel underdeveloped, missing the polish and experimentation Remedy is known for.
Progression is driven by research notes—earned by completing missions, defeating bosses, or clearing “shelters,” which are mini-horde encounters. These notes feed into a battle pass-style unlock system where you earn new weapons, passive buffs, or stat upgrades. The pacing quickly becomes boring, even if, at first, it seems good to gain a new shotgun or extra grenade slot. Missions become boring, and awards don’t really alter gameplay.
The repetition is sped up because levels aren’t mechanically created; therefore, everything happens in the same way. For a game priced at $40, FBC: Firebreak has to offer very finite content. If all maps were unlocked from the start, it could be completed in under two hours. As it stands, most of the game’s “longevity” comes from grinding the same objectives, making the battle pass system feel more like padding than satisfying progression.
Visually, FBC: Firebreak disappoints. Using the same Northlight engine that powered the stunning Control and Alan Wake 2, it’s shocking how bland the game looks. Environments are mostly concrete corridors with minor thematic tweaks. There’s little variation in room design, and despite the occasional flashy visual—like enemies evaporating into particles—nothing matches the surreal spectacle of Remedy’s past work.
Some sections hint at better-level design, but it’s too little, too late. The sound design is adequate but lacks impact, and the absence of in-game communication tools is a glaring oversight for a co-op shooter. For fans of Remedy’s single-player epics like Alan Wake and Control, FBC: Firebreak feels like a tacked-on multiplayer mode that should have been a free add-on.
Gunfire and environmental interactions sound fine, and there are occasional fun touches like Finnish folk music playing from speakers—a nod to Remedy’s quirky personality. The eerie ambiance of the Hiss fits the mood, but the lack of a compelling soundtrack, voice acting, or impactful sound cues weakens the experience. The absence of in-game communication adds to the hollow feel, turning co-op into a disconnected experience.
The guns have a decent firing sound, and environmental interactions, such as sprinklers or exploding barrels, add some auditory feedback. The Finnish folk music spilling from bathroom speakers is a charming tribute to Remedy’s design, and hiss enemies make frightening noises that fit the spooky tone of the Control universe.
However, the absence of text or voice conversation in-game makes for a quiet, disjointed co-op experience that is startling for a multiplayer game. The atmosphere is further degraded by the lack of engaging music or enduring sound effects, which fall short of capturing the immersive nature of Remedy’s single-player games.
Remedy Entertainment, a studio renowned for its inventive gameplay and rich narratives, makes a dismal exit with FBC: Firebreak. Playing as Firebreak responders in the oddball, anomaly-filled Oldest House is an interesting concept, but the execution is poor. It feels like a chore to play, with its boring missions and unoriginal goals like sticky note destruction and quick-time events.
Combat, while passable, lacks lasting appeal in FBC: Firebreak. Enemies are repetitive, AI is undercooked, and puzzles are little more than glorified chores. The progression system starts strong but falls into monotony, with repetitive maps and a lack of meaningful upgrades. Visually and sonically, the game is a shadow of Remedy’s past efforts. Without in-game chat, even the co-op feels like a chore.
It’s difficult to defend the pricing, given that there are only five missions and no intriguing plot. You would be better off going back to Remedy’s earlier works of art or waiting for the promised updates to add additional content, because FBC: Firebreak is ultimately a mistake that damages the company’s outstanding reputation.
FBC: Firebreak is a shallow, repetitive co-op shooter that fails to capture the magic of Remedy’s prior work. While the concept of fighting supernatural threats in a sentient building sounds exciting on paper, the game’s execution is lackluster across the board. For longtime fans of Control or Alan Wake, this $40 multiplayer offshoot will feel more like a low-effort add-on than a worthy new chapter.
