Multiplayer chaos and the supernatural reign supreme in FBC: Firebreak
5.14.2025
By Aron Garst, Contributor
Remedy's first swing at an online cooperative multiplayer game puts you in the shoes of an FBC employee as they fight back against The Hiss—the interdimensional villain first seen in Control—in a variety of mission scenarios alongside two other players. It's a fantastical mix of cooperative action and crisp first-person gameplay.
We spent three hours in the halls of the Oldest House playing FBC: Firebreak with other members of the media and developers from Remedy. We explored three of the game's kit loadouts, three distinct jobs, and the variety of progression systems that help you grow stronger as you clean up the FBC's violent mess.
Taking Control in the Oldest House
FBC: Firebreak has all the trappings of a tight multiplayer experience, plus plenty of flexibility. Each mission—such as repairing fans to cool off giant furnaces, cleaning up supernatural sticky notes that have taken on chaotic energy, and fighting off leeches that are stealing valuable resources—requires players to complete simple objectives before, after, and during firefights with enemies of all shapes, sizes, and temperaments.
The gunplay is sharp and responsive, perhaps even an upgrade compared to the combat found in Control and Alan Wake. At the start, I could pick from a submachine gun, a pistol, and a shotgun. Other guns, like a bolt-action rifle, could be unlocked after leveling up a few times.
While you could spend entire sessions aiming down the barrel of your shotgun, it's hardly an effective way to cull the dozens of mind-controlled former FBC employees that will be charging you with deadly intent. Depending on the difficulty level, there will be moments in each match where the sheer number of enemies and visual effects will be enough to overwhelm you.
FBC: Firebreak's cooperative setup is specifically designed to counter these hordes. There are three kits available at launch: the splash kit, fix kit, and jump kit. The jump kit turns you into an electrician, giving you the ability to fix malfunctioning equipment, send jolts of electricity through enemies, and launch yourself into the air farther than the regular jump. The splash kit gives you a combo grenade launcher and gatling gun that shoots water that disorients and knocks enemies away. When combined, these two provide a deadly one-two punch: Douse the enemies with water and then electrocute them for an effective and widespread shock.
The fix kit gives you a wrench, which grants the ability to repair pieces of equipment instantly. Other kits have to follow button prompts to manually fix equipment, which can be difficult when you're on a job with bullets flying in every direction. Team coordination is everything, and it doesn't take much to knock you out and take you out of the action.
These abilities, when used in tandem, allow your team to complete a variety of objectives and take down special boss encounters, like a gigantic monster made of nothing but sticky notes.
The kits are just the beginning of the customization options that FBC: Firebreak gives you. All three members of the team can pick any weapon, a grenade type, and a special ability, like building a chair-mounted turret that supports you in a firefight. Additionally, you can pick from several perks that enhance melee damage, manual repair time, and other abilities to build out your preferred loadout. Firebreak has quite an expansive list of options.
Can't take the heat? Lose Control
We began the play session by taking on the "Hot Fix" job that tasked us with managing the Oldest House's furnace as it surged with paranormal flares. We had to repair fans scattered throughout the level as mobs of enemies rushed us from multiple directions.
We began with the lowest clearance and threat levels possible, which led to short missions and just a few handfuls of enemies. After we cleared that job, a new clearance level became unlocked. Each new clearance level added new rooms and objectives to the mission, making it quite difficult. Increasing the threat level added to the number and the aggressive nature of the hordes of enemies that attacked us at every turn.
Increasing the clearance for each level also increased the complexity of the jobs. "Hot Fix," for example, had us filling barrels with Black Rock powder and sliding them across ziplines into the furnace, temporarily disabling it. That sequence served as a boss fight that Control fans may find familiar, as similar combat sequences took place in that game.
This ever-increasing level of complexity is one of the best parts of FBC: Firebreak. The next job, "Paper Chase," had my trio getting rid of thousands of sticky notes from the floor and walls before they could form into humanoid shapes and attack us. If too many got stuck to us, we would succumb to the stickiness and need to respawn.
Each level of clearance added new rooms and thousands more notes, eventually leading up to a boss fight with a giant sticky note monster that needed to be doused and electrocuted a handful of times before it could be vanquished. It was an awe-inspiring set piece that would be worth repeating a few dozen times.
Another chapter in the Control universe
As chaotic as FBC: Firebreak can get in the heat of a fight with clearance and threat levels at their highest, it still requires a certain amount of precision. Friendly fire is enabled, so gunfire, grenades, and certain special abilities can and will hurt your fellow FBC volunteer employees. While my teammates and I didn't down each other with friendly fire, we certainly took out a chunk of each other's health bars with an explosive gnome that hopped around like a rabbit on fire.
Canonically, it makes sense: You're taking control of FBC employees who volunteer to help take on crises within the Oldest House. Some of these volunteers are capable firefighters, while others are less prepared for this type of work, including FBC middle managers, clerks, and secretaries. When clerks pick up submachine guns and fire indiscriminately into crowds of enemies, there are bound to be a few bullets that find the wrong target.
The majority of enemies in Firebreak are controlled by The Hiss, a sentient resonance frequency that can invade and control the minds and bodies of physical beings and served as an antagonist in Control. They include heavy gunners, average security guards, and even floating FBC employees still tied to their desk chairs.
While the moment-to-moment gameplay in Control almost always felt tense and creepy, with or without a fight going on, the vibe of FBC: Firebreak is a little different. Rock guitar fuels the backdrop of every fight, making every second feel epic. It's as if the Old Gods of Asgard—Poets of the Fall's alter ego band that lives and rocks in the Remedy Connected Universe—is rocking through every fight alongside your team of three.
Many of the environments are also pleasantly familiar. The note-covered offices, hot basements, and mines look exactly like the ones from Control, making for a homecoming of sorts. They still carry an eerie emptiness, especially when a giant creature made of nothing but sticky notes comes running straight through the office towards you.
It's sad to think that the characters you're controlling are taking down their Hiss-controlled colleagues. Facing former friends down the barrel of a gun can't be easy.
More gameplay, less grind
FBC: Firebreak has all the familiar pieces of a multiplayer game built to last. A battle pass-like progression system, loads of unlockable perks and items, and a number of customizable cosmetic options round out the offerings. However, the menus full of unlockables weren't complete in the build I played, so they could feature even more once Firebreak launches this summer.
Remedy has said that they want to provide an experience that's as meaningful as possible so that even players who can only invest a few hours a week can still make the most of every in-game minute. Our playtest featured accelerated experience gain, so the time spent in this closed play session will be different compared to sessions played once Firebreak goes live. Each individual match was fast-paced, relatively quick, and invigorating.
Browsing through the different kits, weapons, perks, and cosmetics left the impression that there will be plenty to unlock. Just a few hour-long sessions of Firebreak wouldn't be nearly enough to understand how each kit, weapon, and perk worked against the hordes of The Hiss. Players who truly want to become FBC volunteer heroes will need to commit dozens of hours to understanding how each piece of equipment works.
The three-kit structure of Firebreak was surprisingly accessible. Anyone can jump in and immediately understand that mixing water and electricity makes for a deadly combination. The wrench, as deadly as a weapon on its own, was even easier to understand for someone picking up and playing for the first time. The fact that Remedy has created a metagame that's both engaging and digestible right off the bat is quite impressive.
Remedy aims to expand upon the multiplayer features of FBC: Firebreak after launch. More jobs and kits could expand on the base level of complexity that the three-player supernatural fest establishes from the get-go. There's a near-endless amount of possibilities in what future missions could explore, which makes the potential of FBC: Firebreak remarkable as Remedy's first multiplayer game.
Enjoy the creepy and chaotic multiplayer action of FBC: Firebreak when it comes to Epic Games Store on June 17.