FBC: Firebreak

For now, this is a funky, odd and cooperative multiplayer ride that gets quite tense at points. One that could do with more under the bonnet. But it works well and has some lovely ideas for baddies and challenges.

Remedy has successfully pulled it off again, creating another unique experience in an already established world. FBC: Firebreak offers addictive gameplay thanks to the chaotic corruptions and challenging enemies. It may not be adding too to the Remedy shared universe, but its possibly the beginning of something great.

FCB: Firebreak takes the strangeness of the Control universe and applies it to a genuinely fun and challenging co-op shooter.

Easy to start, sometimes difficult to understand, and challenging to master, FBC Firebreak is nevertheless a fun little sideshow while we wait for Control 2 proper. An extraction shooter at its heart (though only to a different floor and not from the Oldest House proper), it’s a lovely juggling act that tasks you to balance shooting, puzzles, and environmental hurdles. Enjoyable alone, with friends, or randoms, Firebreak is either available at a low cost ($39.99 USD) or ‘free’ if you’ve got Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus.

Firebreak is emblematic of the old saying – “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” The early missions are not reflective of the true depth and replayability the game offers. If you invest a bit of time and upgrade your kit, there is a lot of fun to be had here.

It needs some time to find its place in the world and refine the solid foundations, but FBC Firebreak is a fun way to return to The Old House with mates without having to commit thousands of hours in the process.

FBC: Firebreak is unlike anything Remedy Entertainment has made. While a team-based shooter would not be on everyone’s wishlist from the storied developer, it makes the best of Control‘s unique universe. Bizarre mission objectives and a friendly approach offer enough diversity to draw players in. But a troublesome onboarding process may negatively color the crucial first few hours for players. Should a community form around FBC: Firebreak, there’s a lot to enjoy and hopefully Remedy will continue to support the game in the coming months.

Currently, FBC Firebreak is a cooperative shooter that entertains for a few hours, but it doesn't have a solid enough structure to engage the player to the point of pushing them to repeat the same activities over and over again. However, its presence in the Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus Extra catalog represents a significant advantage for those looking for a few hours of entertainment with a couple of friends.

While underwhelming from a gameplay standpoint, it's easy to see how FBC: Firebreak could become a fun experience for friend groups looking for a good time in PvE co-op.

FBC: Firebreak features an unexpected mechanical depth that gives it longer legs than a game launching with five levels perhaps deserves. With regards to set up, I think it somewhat squanders its place in the coveted Control universe, however, the parts that do break on through from the other side, like its humour and creativity, make for a surprisingly fun live-service shooter.

FBC Firebreak is a multiplayer game with good ideas and a great atmosphere that brings the Control universe back. Although it could bring more content, what it offers refreshes the cooperative genre with friends. It's not your typical first person shooter, thankfully.

FBC: Firebreak feels like a playable first draft of something that could grow over time. Its foundation is solid: the setting is strong, the co-op mechanics work, and the institutional-paranormal tone remains captivating, but it needs more content, depth, and emotional connection.

FBC: Firebreak is fast-paced, action-packed, and undeniably fun, but also unfinished. Remedy’s first foray into online multiplayer shows real promise, with a significant investment of resources evident in its core design. However, in its current state, FBC falls short of delivering a complete multiplayer experience, lacking the depth and polish expected from a fully realized title. Still, the foundation is strong, and with the right support, it has the potential to evolve into a standout online FPS, and possibly the start of an exciting new franchise.

FBC: Firebreak is Remedy’s quirky dive into co-op extraction shooters, blending the surreal world of Control with chaotic missions best enjoyed with friends. While it lacks polish, online features, and content at launch, it’s an ambitious but currently incomplete experience that can only be better with a full squad.

FBC: Firebreak has plenty of potential, but feels like early access in its current state. Remedy's patented surrealism, the core gameplay, and class synergy are high notes in particular; however the game is let down by a lack of content and technical issues. Hopefully, over time, FBC Firebreak can live up to its potential.

FBC: Firebreak takes players back to the universe of Control, but without many of the traits which made that game so special. The mechanics from this cooperative first-person shooter are functional, but the lack of variety in gameplay coupled with a slow progression system undermine the game, making it a very repetitive experience.

Remedy Entertainment takes a safe approach to the multiplayer scene with their red-hot FBC: Firebreak. The game delivers exactly what it says on the tin—an easy pick-up-and-play cooperative FPS title with a simplistic footing, but without the traditional live-service elements plaguing its future. The gunplay, albeit a bit too arcadey for my liking, thankfully gets outshone by the teamplay-style presentation during jobs and their tunable modifiers, and the unique character classes and their traits. Although most of its rewarding features add variability to custom loadouts, there's not much else here that, unfortunately, makes it worth spending an effort on. I'd much rather see a sizable number of differences in the job variety, missions, and power fantasy elements that actually heighten the sense of being an FBC operative who's exterminating the evil corruption of the Hiss.

A GaaS game that isn’t predatory is in itself enticing enough, and with its unique world and take it’s just missing some polish and more content to elevate it to a must-play.

Remedy's first multiplayer shooter offers a refreshing, old-school approach with no seasonal grind and entertaining co-op gameplay in short bursts, but it's held back by limited content, repetitive missions, weak solo play, and a lack of the studio's usual narrative strengths.

FBC: Firebreak is a solid idea held back by a premium price and early-access-level polish. At $40 (more on PlayStation), it feels more like a mid-roadmap build than a finished 1.0 release. The core gameplay, story, and production are strong, but missing QoL features, sparse content, and optimization issues drag it down. Remedy may patch things up in time, but right now, Firebreak just isn’t worth the ask.

Remedy is venturing into a cooperative game in a familiar universe with FBC: Firebreak, which is an interesting new step. The gameplay mechanics are unique, the gameplay has potential and the areas you get into feel solid. Basically, then, a fine game, were it not for the fact that the content feels a bit sparse and the combat is somewhat mediocre. The game could use updates and more content here and there, however, giving it the potential to grow into something great.

FBC: Firebreak is an honest attempt by Remedy to bring something new to its portfolio, exploring an already established IP with a fresh approach. However, I feel the game falls short by being so simple and shallow that, after just a few sessions, the desire to re-enter those crisis scenarios fades due to the mechanical and visual repetition of the entire universe. Still, it’s gratifying to see a major studio taking a chance on new ideas that step outside its comfort zone — even if they don’t always work.

The biggest issue that FBC: Firebreak has is that it’s far too ordinary for its own universe.

The ideal way to play FBC: Firebreak is as a group of three friends on a Discord call, coordinating moves and synergizing kits, which is a decent way to spend an afternoon. Unfortunately, it's difficult to achieve anything similar while matchmaking, and even then, there's just not much to do. On paper, I don't mind the lack of story, competitive modes, or procedurally generated content, but when the gameplay isn't engaging or interesting enough to keep me playing, the lack of other game modes is especially glaring. Recent updates have eliminated the tedious grind for upgrades, but the lack of a strong foundation underneath leaves FBC: Firebreak with too little, too late.

This game isn't bad per se, and now that it's available on both Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, it's really worth giving it half an hour to see if it clicks. But at the same time, it's yet another story of a single-player studio making a multiplayer project, but failing to convey the energy, ambition, and flair that created the studio's unique reputation in the first place.

FBC: Firebreak stings a little, because it has so much of what we’re looking for in a co-op shooter. It’s got the killer world and aesthetic, it’s got quirky powers and role based kits, it’s got tight first-person gameplay, and doesn’t require you to grind things out for dozens of hours. However, despite all of that, Firebreak's just fine, and ironically lacks the fire that we expect from Remedy's output. It’s a fun, casual time, but you’ll play it, you’ll finish it, and before long you’ll forget about it and wish you had been playing Control 2 instead.

Lacking in content and monotonous at times, FBC: Firebreak does just enough to get by and hides behind the promise that it will be better in the future.

FBC: Firebreak is a game that lacks a proper identity. It’s really hard to recommend this title if you’re a fan of Remedy’s previous games or the multiplayer co-op genre, let alone if you happen to like both. This is, unfortunately, one of the rare instances where Remedy’s desire to experiment with new genres has not paid off. Maybe the game’s quality will improve as more updates are released, but as it is now, I can confidently say that this is probably my least favorite game from Remedy Entertainment.

I won’t accuse FBC: Firebreak’s developers of not caring, but I fear that may be less of an insult than suggesting they actually tried. Everything about it screams obligation, like nobody involved had their hearts in it, and I almost hope that’s the case because I'd feel truly gutted for anybody who thought they'd made something terrific. What a shame.

FBC: Firebreak hides a fine co-op shooter behind a tedious grind.

Worse, beyond their initial novelty, the missions lack any sense of surprise.

Control without the superpowers was always going to be a tough sell. Sadly, FBC: Firebreak makes a pretty appalling case. Moments of supernatural whimsy are few and far between, bogged down by repetitive objectives centering around shooting some pretty mediocre feeling guns.