It’s hard to believe thatControlis nearly six years old. It left an indelible mark on the gaming industry and helped propel Remedy Entertainmentfurther into the spotlight. AlongsideAlan Wake, the studio seems to have another major IP to keep returning to. EnterFBC: Firebreak.
Despite the odd nomenclature,FBC: Firebreakis a sequel toControl, butyou won’t find an action-adventure framework here.Firebreakis a squad-based shooter set in the same horror-based surreal world, tasking players with working together to rid locales of Hiss-infected creatures. There are flying office chairs, possessed sticky notes, and plenty of other bizarre happenings to sort through. It’s most definitelyControl-adjacent.
Picking Up Where Control Left Off
You’re Not Nearly As Effective As Jesse Was In Control
Before getting to playFBC: Firebreak, Julius Fondem, Community Manager at Remedy Entertainment, introduced the game as “what happens when Control loses control?” It’s a nice hook, and you’ll once again help a “mysterious federal agency” fight monstrous forces.This is a strictly triple-squad-based FPS, with three classes(in the form of “Crisis Kits”) to select from and control, each with different roles.
There’s the Jump Kit, which uses electricity to shock enemies and power up devices. The Fix Kit is like an engineer who can bash things with a wrench and put up turrets. Then there’s the Splash Kit, which utilizes water-based weaponry to heal the player and put out literal fires.Your player character can be customized separately from these kits, and classic FPS weaponry (like shotguns and pistols) can be equipped regardless of your kit.
My preview build included three jobs (think mission types): Hot Fix (repair fans), Paper Chase (destroy spooky sticky notes), and Ground Control (kill leeches and preserve their radiation for fuel). All three had their charms, and all of them had hordes of enemies to fight off and multiple difficulty modes. This is where much of the game’s replayability factors lie: returning to these jobs, earning new upgrades, and taking them on via higher difficulties.
My group spent several hours playingFirebreak, exploring all three modes and difficulty settings in detail. We found that the lowest setting was very casual (as intended), almost like a hangout mode, andthe highest setting was a stressful blast to play. Enemies flooded the halls in droves, forcing players to use their kits to the fullest and have good aim to boot. Jacking up the difficulty and having to manage so many threats hasaKilling Floorvibeto it that I strongly resonated with.
There Are Quite A Few Perks And Upgrades
It Should Keep The Launch Build Going For A Bit
Each stage begins with the team entering a locale, completing a series of objectives, and extracting via a slow-moving elevator. Sometimes, you’re tasked with taking out elite enemies or completing a tertiary objective before extracting as a team. Remedy surely spent a lot of time fine-tuning this premise, because it’s fun to play match over match. Although some runs can be less exciting than others, the simple three-person squad gimmick works very well and keeps things streamlined.
One of the most interesting aspects ofFBC: Firebreakis the upgrade/perk system. While it sounds rote for yet another squad-based shooter to include such a basic concept,Firebreak’s classes sing once you open up more customizable elements for your loadout and build. The only snag I ran into withFirebreakis that each kit isn’t quite as defined until you unlock some of these perks, but that quickly changes after just getting a few games under your belt.
For instance, a Jump Kit player can unlock a BOOMbox, which distracts enemies and blows them up like the wind-up monkey inCall of Duty’s zombies mode. The Fix Kit’s turrets can draw enemy fire away from the team, and the Splash Kit has access to healing powers that can act as a support of sorts.Callouts and voice chat aren’t necessarily requiredgiven the straightforward nature of the objectives, but they can help exceedingly with high-octane extractions.
While I can see the formula potentially losing its luster over time (especially depending on how randomly thrilling each run is), I’m eager to dive back into the full version and try out all of the different combinations to find my ideal build. The vibes of theControluniverse are immaculate and come through inFBC: Firebreaknicely,even if it’s not a narrative-driven game. Sometimes, even just the banter and random lore tidbits flung around are enough to make the universe more interesting.
FBC: Firebreak Has A Lot Of Promise
Updates Could Make Or Break This One
At a base price of $40, Remedy is smartly undercuttingthe rising costs of AAA gameswhenFBC: Firebreakarrives on June 17, with five jobs in total.The studio is planning two extra jobs for 2025, with “other content” drops as well during the year. More updates for 2026 are teased, and “all post-launch playable content will be free to all players.” It’s an admirable plan, as long as Remedy can follow through on everything.
Based on what I played, I think there’s going to be plenty of people showing up at launch. The complete lack of dailies and season passes helps cementFBC: Firebreakas a “hangout” game that you can keep installed and return to. I’m very eager to see what the state of the game is in six months in a relatively saturated squad-shooter market, but for now, I’ll be there to see how it plays out firsthand.
