FBC: Firebreak Preview - a promising co-op shooter in a competitive market

Remedy Entertainment has ventured once more into the multiplayer realm, hoping to right a wrong from 2022.

Remedy Entertainment is known for the likes of Max Payne, Alan Wake and Control. However, in 2022, the studio attempted to make it in the competitive multiplayer market with CrossfireX (co-developed with Smilegate Entertainment).

CrossfireX was a flop, lasting just over a year before the plug was pulled. Now, the studio is having another crack of the proverbial whip with FBC: Firebreak which will be solely developed and published by Remedy.

Check out the FBC: Firebreak trailer below!

FBC: Firebreak is set in the Oldest House, the headquarters of the fictional United States government agency, the Federal Bureau of Control, the location of the aforementioned Control and is set after the events of the 2019 game.

FBC: Firebreak is not a free-to-play game. During a hands-off preview, Remedy said this is a “mid-priced premium game”. So I doubt we can expect a £60 rrp. All post-launch gameplay content will be free “with no one left behind” but it will have paid-for cosmetic DLC as a compromise. Remedy also said there will be no live-service tricks to encourage player engagement such as daily login rewards and battle passes.

We all know that success in the multiplayer-only market is a tough task. Recently, we’ve seen the first-party PlayStation multiplayer game, Concord fail miserably, killed after just two disastrous weeks. Not to mention WB Games’ Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League having its content support cancelled barely a year after launch.

As I mentioned earlier, Remedy has already failed in the multiplayer space with CrossfireX. So why will FBC: Firebreak succeed where so many have failed? We can only speculate at this time and from what gameplay footage I’ve seen so far, it at least looks fun and reminds me a lot of Left 4 Dead. With friends, you simply have to get from point A to point B and survive the hordes of enemies, and instead of zombies, we have the Hiss, which we first encountered in Control.

Remedy Entertainment

During a Q&A with the developers, after they’d demonstrated gameplay, I asked Remedy how long FBC: Firebreak will be supported if concurrent player numbers begin to dwindle. Of course, that’s a difficult question to answer because we don't know how well the game will be received at this point.

It’s obvious to me that Remedy has a lot of passion for FBC: Firebreak and the developers have a lot of confidence in the product. In short, while the game is planned for the long haul, I was told it will be supported for as long as the player base remains active which sounds like a ‘we shall see’ type scenario.

Perhaps two advantages that FBC: Firebreak may have when it comes to maintaining concurrent players is that it will launch on day one via PlayStation Plus (Extra and Premium) and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (and PC Game Pass). It will also have cross-play support for all available platforms.

Unlike Left 4 Dead which caters for up to four co-op players in PvE action, FBC: Firebreak is for three players. Much like Left 4 Dead, it won't have much of a story other than the one that already exists within the world of Control. However, Remedy made it clear that you don’t need knowledge of Control to enjoy FBC: Firebreak, this is a co-op shooter for anyone to jump in and out of.

Remedy Entertainment

The premise is simple, you have a start and an end (and, Remedy was also clear this is not an extraction shooter) with mission objectives, some of which will be optional, and the waves of Hiss will be relentless. You can explore the maps (sectors of the Oldest House) for more prestigious loot but doing this will increase the difficulty of the enemies with an emphasis on risk vs. reward.

You play as an employee of the FBC who for whatever reason has volunteered to help exterminate the Hiss. There will be three classes (known as Crisis Kits in-game) to choose from with each category having unique skills and abilities. Those three Crisis Kits are - ‘Jump Kit’ which has electricity-based skills and is said to excel in “field control and mobility.” ‘Fix Kit’ is the heavy of the group and wields a big wench. Finally, ‘Splash Kit’ specialises in water manipulation and is considered to be the support member of the team. You can also select perks which can be combined with other perks so that you can experiment with the best builds for the task at hand.

Missions in FBC: Firebreak are called ‘Jobs’ and you will be able to customise the threat levels making each mission and enemy as difficult as you want it to be. Of course, the steeper the challenge, the better rewards you’ll receive. Partway through a job you can visit a safehouse and much like Left 4 Dead once more, this will be a chance to regroup and rearm.

As much as FBC: Firebreak looks fun, it certainly doesn’t guarantee success and a large concurrent player base for the long haul, though I hope both of those accounts prove to be true. I guess we’ll know for sure when FBC: Firebreak releases this summer on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.