What was that all about? FBC Review: Firebreak

FBC: Firebreak is an experiment in the cooperative genre and a spin-off of the cult Control from Remedy. The player finds himself in the familiar Control universe, but in the role of an ordinary fighter of the Firebreak squad, who instead of the service pistol with a secret that the director had, has a set of tools for "cleaning the office". This is the basis of the game: neutralizing anomalies in the depths of the Oldest House, destroying hordes of monsters known from the original game, and some new ones, and trying to figure out what to do with it all. And all this in a team of three people.

Gameplay and basic mechanics

The gameplay of FBC: Firebreak is based on so-called "jobs". Each mission is divided into several phases: first, small fuss, collecting documents or removing posters from the walls, then technical tasks such as repairing fans or cleaning turbines, and finally, cleaning the area from "corruption" and a wave of enemies. The structure quickly becomes predictable, and the feeling of novelty disappears after just a few attempts. These feelings are reinforced by the limited number of locations where the action takes place.

The player chooses one of three so-called crisis sets, each of which has its own bias: electricity, water or repair. These are such strange weapon devices that give each class unique abilities. We have a choice of a water cannon to slow down enemies and put out fires. An electric cannon that shocks and works well against water-soaked opponents, and repairs electrical breakdowns with one click. The third class offers a large wrench that quickly repairs mechanical breakdowns and deals considerable damage in melee. Additional active skills are unlocked for each of these sets over time, which enhance basic attacks or combine well with them.

At first glance, this opens up space for tactical interaction, but in practice, players (especially casual ones) rarely combine the elements of their abilities. The mechanics do not require deep coordination, and the game easily allows you to complete tasks even without optimal synergy. In addition, all these rather interesting devices and weapons, although they look diverse and unique at first glance, actually have very weak returns. This greatly affects the feeling of use and introduces confusion as to whether you managed to use this or that skill. Also, the effect on enemies or the environment seems to be displayed with a delay, so that you cannot understand whether it was your electric discharge that stopped the enemies, or something else affected their condition.

Another thing is firearms. They are not tied to classes, although at the beginning they offer recommended guns for each of them. In FBC: Firebreak there are only a few types of firearms. But they are unique and feel different. There is a slow, but powerful and accurate large-caliber revolver, which allows you to deal with most enemies with one shot, even at a distance. It only requires accurate shooting. The double-barreled shotgun, on the contrary, releases all its power at a short distance and is quite suitable for controlling a crowd of small enemies. The main thing is to catch the rhythm of reloading, because there are only two cartridges. And finally, a classic submachine gun for more familiar shooting. A kind of universal option.

Separately, later you can open a single-shot anti-armor rifle, a pump-action shotgun for more comfortable close combat, and a large machine gun with a drum magazine. The enemies are not very diverse, but their reaction to firearms is made on a level. What can't be said about the above-mentioned devices of crisis kits.

FBC: Firebreak has weapon and ability progression, but it's slow, and often the player just plays the same combo for dozens of games in a row. Unlocking new abilities, weapons, gadgets, and cosmetics is done by collecting points from folders of documents on the map, which are used in an unlock menu similar to Fortnite's battle pass. Each new screen of this menu requires more and more points, and to collect them you have to replay the same missions.

The game cycle and its problems

It all starts with the hub, from where the player sets off on a mission. In each task, you have to complete several consecutive phases, but the motivation to complete it quickly fades. There is almost no story here, and the player does not feel the consequences: the world does not change, the character remains the same, and success in the previous mission does not reveal anything interesting, only points are accumulated for unlocking. And so on in a circle, until all three levels of each location are closed.

The game hardly explains its systems. Why is the room hot? What is "corruption"? Why does the ventilation only turn on on the third try? Formally, there is a tutorial, but it is superficial, with most mechanics you have to figure out on your own. Even simple effects do not have clear indicators - the game is either silent or hopes that the player is already a Control fan and will guess for himself. However, even so, the lack of feedback from many actions is simply frustrating and makes you feel like you are doing something wrong.

The balance is also questionable. Enemies attack randomly, and the difficulty often increases not due to design, but due to the number of enemies and elemental effects that pile up at the same time. At such moments, FBC: Firebreak loses focus and turns into a noisy room with bright flashes, where it is difficult to understand what went wrong.

Remedy has already released the first update, which introduces some fixes and improvements. It seems that the team has listened to player feedback, and that's encouraging. But it will take time to get everything right. FBC: Firebreak has a roadmap of updates and new content releases for many months to come. But will players stay online until then?

Atmosphere, style, sound

Remedy managed to keep the recognizable aesthetic: the architecture of the Oldest House, the bureaucratic sarcasm in the notes, the strange sound backgrounds, the radio with absurd messages. This world is still interesting, but it doesn't feel alive. It's like walking through the scenery of the FBK headquarters, not in it itself. The player clears an area and returns to the same room unchanged. There is no evolution or story that would push you to move on. This is especially noticeable to those who loved the original Control, where after certain events the environment changed and new details appeared.

The sound is high-quality, with character. The sounds of the appearance and advance of a crowd of enemies work very well, the ambient sound in between combat actions and the sound of some news on the radio. But even they are tiring, because the lines are repeated, the enemies run the same and you have to react the same way as a few runs ago. The soundtrack does not interfere, but does not support the atmosphere as it was in Control with its Old Gods of Asgard. Only a few familiar compositions can be found somewhere in the levels or in portable speakers.

Conclusion

FBC: Firebreak is a strange attempt by Remedy to combine the world of Control with the Games as a service approach. It lacks depth in mechanics, clarity in presentation, and semantic motivation. The shooting is good, the atmosphere is familiar, but all this quickly drowns in the repetition of the same thing. In co-op, the game can entertain for several evenings, especially for Remedy fans. But if you are waiting for a full-fledged continuation of Control, or want real synergy in the team, then it is better to wait for the update. At the moment it is not a game, but a concept that still needs to be completed.

PS Thank you very much for the Ukrainian. It's very encouraging that Ukrainian localization has been appearing in many games lately.