FBC: Firebreak review – A shallow shooter wearing Control’s skin

I don’t dislike FBC: Firebreak, but I don’t want to play it again. You don’t always get to party up with people that you know and laugh along with when previewing an online game like Firebreak, but I was lucky enough to go at each of the five mission types with people that I could laugh along with if I get knocked down. It was low pressure, filled with laughs, and relatively straight forward. The problem is that we’ve played several games together, and while we were fine with returning to some of the modes, we’re happy to never play FBC: Firebreak again.

Any game can turn into a good time with the right team, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good game. In Firebreak’s case, I think it’s a perfectly fine game – reasonably polished, performant, looks good in motion – but entirely boring. It doesn’t really matter which weapon, loadout kit, or mission type you select when setting up for a game, it’s all just mundane.

FBC: Firebreak takes Control’s The Oldest House and lets groups of three normal people delve into the horrors inside to take care of the various issues that pop up in a paranatural hotspot. You are usually tasked with a reasonably normal maintenance job – like fixing up some generators and extraction fans – and end up with hordes of Hiss-infected enemies charging you from all angles. 

You’re armed with the usual selection of classic firearms – revolvers, shotguns, bolt-action rifles, and so on (the revolver is the best, by the way) – along with a kit pack that has a unique use. The Fix, Jump, and Splash kits each provide unique abilities to speed up navigating each stage. Fire is a frequent problem, and the Splash Kit can take care of that. Something broken? The Fix Kit can sort it. The Jump Kit can deliver a volt of electricity to devices, which is useful in basically every mission type. You can manually take care of most of these issues without a kit, but it’s a much slower process, requiring a minigame where you tap two buttons repeatedly. 

FBC: Firebreak takes a fair few cues from Helldivers 2, including in how you unlock new tools and gear, and the basic gameplay concept. You enter a hostile area and retrieve currency to unlock new tools while achieving a simplistic goal, all while being hounded by hordes of foes. The two primary things that separate the two games is that Firebreak’s levels are far more linear and familiar, and Helldivers’ unlockable tools are actually fun to use.

After playing through two levels of each mission type, you know exactly which ones can be considered fun, and which make your teammates say “I really don’t want to do that again.” Unfortunately, none of them are actually fun, it’s just that some feel less frustrating than others. Nobody in the team at any point was truly eager to do any of the missions again, and although they’re over quickly enough and rarely feel frustrating, there’s no truly unique redeeming qualities here.

There’s no real story, and without prior knowledge of other Remedy games – mainly Control – everything comes across as abstract and ridiculous. Why is there a post-it notes monster? Why does one mission ask you to place mannequins on a ski lift? I don’t know, but I vaguely remember the objects of power and such, so I’m rolling with it. If this is your first Remedy game, it’ll feel truly absurd and pointless.

There have been some smart balance tweaks and gameplay adjustments since a previous FBC: Firebreak press preview, and that gives me hope that the devs will be quick to jump on and adjust any issues or pain points that prop up early on, but even if the game itself is polished to a mirror sheen, it’s not going to change the fact that the gameplay is just dull. Shoot enemies, watch their health bars deplete, collect items, and return to the shower regularly. Again, it’s not bad, it’s not broken, it’s just boring.

FBC: Firebreak is a first-person PvE shooter that wears the skin of a game that people actually like. It’s not bad, it really isn’t, but none of my teammates want to play it again. I just hope that when Alan Wake 3 and Control 2 roll around the characters of FBC: Firebreak won’t be important, because I’m going to forget that this ever happened in less than six months, and it’ll just be another paranatural event for the conspiracy mags.