Remedy Entertainment has always had a knack for twisting minds and stories like Max Payne, Alan Wake, Control, and most recently, Alan Wake 2. And though we wait for the release of Control 2, which is currently in development (yes, I am updated), the studio has decided to dip their toes with something different: it’s very first self-published multiplayer game, FBC: Firebreak.
Into the oldest house — again
Set six years after the events of Control, FBC: Firebreak drops you back into the eerie, shifting halls of the Oldest House — the Federal Bureau of Control’s HQ. This time, you are not Jesse Faden. You’re one of the everyday employees still stuck in lockdown since the Hiss invaded in 2019, who joined a special unit called “Firebreak”
It is a 3-player co-op experience where your mission is to complete jobs using specialized kits and enemies (including literal monsters made of sticky notes). Think Control’s paranormal weirdness, now with Left 4 Dead-style job runs.
So let’s break it down — what works, what sizzles, and what leaves you wanting more.
Doing the Job: Kits, mechanics, and madness
At the beginning, you will be introduced to three Crisis Kits to help you do your job:
▪️Fix Kit (repairs, melee)
▪️Jump Kit (charges power sources, electrifies enemies)
▪️Splash Kit (removes status effects, deals with wet items)
Essentially, it’s much better to have all three kits when doing a job with friends to elevate the experience. However, in case two of your friends have two of the same kits or you’d like to do your job solo, you can still do things manually.
You can cycle through five unique jobs to gather materials for upgrades: Hot Fix puts you on task with repairing electronic wiring and feeding black rock to an alleged sentient furnace, while Paper Chase has you fighting sticky notes that keep on multiplying. Ground Control sends you to collect radioactive balls in the Black Rock Quarry, Frequency Shift involves clearing pink globs that kept jamming a machine from running, and Freezer Duty requires performing a ritual to contain frost anomalies caused by a specific altered item.
Your weapons and perks will feel a little weak at the beginning of the game. But that’s okay, as you progress, you’ll be able to upgrade your weapons and perks to make them stronger to defeat the horde.
There is a balance in finding shelters and ammo sheds for ammunition, especially when you’re slowly running out of ammo. It also changes location with every run. Getting ammo is just as interesting too, because you’ll have to enter a button or, in my case, letters, to get more ammo when you go to the ammo shed for bullet and grenade refill.
There’s also another mechanic that I find fun in this game. To replenish your health, you’ll need to go to a shower or drink from a faucet when you see a shelter or any sink that you find. Who knew that showering or hydrating can actually save your life?
Built for chaos, designed with care
Now, let’s talk about the visuals. Since playing Control last year, it’s nice to see the familiar places in the game through a co-op lens. It still feels just as immersive and perhaps even more since you are playing in first-person POV. When played with headphones, the distorted cues, notifying you of the arrival of enemies, keep you alert and give that nostalgic dread. I still remember hating the Hiss Distorted, where they can turn invisible, which allows them to sneak up on you when you least expect it.
The UI has room for improvement and can take a while to get used to. I find myself trying to locate the settings for having a custom party since it’s not on the main list on the left side of the screen, but on the top right next to the menu. In my opinion, it would be a nice touch if all of them were in one place to avoid confusion and getting lost.
In terms of difficulty, it is flexible as you can set it based on your comfort level. Clearance sets your time to get through your job. While Threat and Corruption are all about difficulty. You can finish a game in around 5 to 10 minutes if you choose Level 1 clearance, but still experience the same amount of horde of Hiss based on the Threat and Corruption too. Or you can set it to Level 3 and clear a job in 30 minutes. So clearly, you can mix and match depending on your liking.
You’ll also stumble on files and case notes during loading screens. A great nod to fans of Control. It gives you information about the job, altered items housed in the Oldest House or conversations about what happened after the events of Control which are fun to read for those who played the game. Perhaps a tidbit of sneak peek for Control 2?
Smoldering highlights and stumbles
🔥 Strong Atmosphere & Visual Style
🔥 Excellent Audio Design
🔥 Mission Variety with quirky, creative objectives
🔥 Customizable Upgrades and Perks
🔥 No microtransactions or battlepass (for now, at least)
❌ Can get repetitive over time
❌ Limited Kit and weapon variety
❌ UI takes getting used to
❌ Best enjoyed if you have knowledge of Control
The Firebreak Verdict: 8/10 — FBC: Firebreak is Remedy’s strange little experiment. It can be messy in some places, but bold and brimming with character and potential. It may not dethrone multiplayer kings like Left 4 Dead or even Helldivers, but it carves out its own paranormal path.
So don’t let the negative reviews fool you. If you’re craving something different, something that blends Remedy’s strangeness with job-based co-op action, give it a shot. It may take a good number of hours to see it for what it is. It’s a weird and wonderful chapter in Remedy’s book that deserves your time while we wait for Control 2.
