Title – FBC: Firebreak
Platforms – PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC
Release Date – June 17th, 2025
Developer – Remedy
Publisher – Remedy
MSRP – $39.99
ESRB – M for Mature
Purchase – Amazon
Disclaimer – FBC: Firebreak was reviewed on the PC. Thanks to Remedy for providing three digital review codes for the purpose of this review. Gaming Instincts is an Amazon Affiliate and does gain financial benefits if you choose to purchase this product on this page.
Introduction
Welcome to FBC: Firebreak, a brand-new co-op FPS from the creators of Control, Alan Wake, and the iconic Max Payne series. Fun fact, FBC Firebreak is Remedy’s first attempt at multiplayer, marking a notable side venture for a studio best known for its single-player experiences. The big question is did Remedy manage to hit a home run by applying their single-player development expertise to a co-op experience, or should they stick to what they know best? The short answer is that FBC Firebreak turned out to be a fantastic sleeping medication rather than a fun and addicting co-op experience with your buddies. But let’s dive into the full review and understand why that is.
The Premise
First, let’s quickly cover the setting before diving into the gameplay. FBC: Firebreak takes place six years after the events of Control, Remedy’s most recent single-player, action-heavy franchise. However, unlike Control’s darker, more serious and occasionally horror-tinged tone, Firebreak leans into a more humorous and lighthearted vibe. You play as a member of the Federal Bureau of Control’s ‘Firebreak’ containment teams, tasked with venturing into the ever-shifting Oldest House to eliminate the extra dimensional threat known as the Hiss.
As you play, there’s no real narrative driving the experience, just a basic excuse to justify why you’re out there fighting off the Hiss. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but for those who are hoping for something more when it comes to the lore of Control then you might be a bit disappointed that it’s not that deep. In my personal opinion I kind of wish the game did not take place in that universe and mind you I thought Control was a great game and I cannot wait for the inevitable sequel but I would have rather have had them make a co-op game in a completely new universe instead. With the story and premise out of the way, let’s dive into the gameplay. And let me tell you, FBC: Firebreak might just be the fastest route to putting you to sleep.
The Sleep Inducing Gameplay
As you already know, FBC: Firebreak is a multiplayer co-op first person shooter with a very straightforward structure. It’s designed for three player squads, and your team can choose from five different job types: Hot Fix, Paper Chase, Ground Control, Frequency Shift, and Freezer Duty. These jobs essentially act as mission types. Remedy also plans to add two more post launch jobs later this year, free of charge, which is a nice touch.
Like most multiplayer games, FBC: Firebreak features an account-wide leveling system that progresses regardless of which class or character you choose. In addition to this, the game includes three distinct kits: Fixer, Jump, and Splash. Each kit can be leveled individually up to level 9 by playing with that specific kit. As you level them up, you unlock additional perk slots for that kit. Meanwhile, increasing your overall account level unlocks new perks that can be equipped across all kits.
Now let’s break down how each of the jobs work and what’s required to complete them. Before selecting a job, you can customize a few settings, including the session length and difficulty. Each job consists of up to three clearance levels, with each level representing a separate zone. Clearance Level 1 typically lasts about 4 to 6 minutes, depending on the job type. Level 2 introduces a second zone with tougher enemies, while Level 3 adds a final, more challenging zone featuring a unique objective not seen in the previous two. Naturally, each level increases the difficulty and extends the overall session length. You may also adjust the threat level which is essentially a difficulty slider for the enemies and how hard you want the job to be.
In the Hot Fix job, your team’s objective in the first two zones is to run around and repair the transfer fans. Once you reach the third zone, the task shifts to neutralizing the furnace. To do this, you’ll need to fill empty barrels with Black Rock and send them into the furnace by attaching them to a zipline. Then there’s Paper Chase, a rather ridiculous job where you run through office cubicles shooting possessed sticky notes scattered across the floor. These notes will begin to cling to your body, and if they completely cover you, you’ll die and have to redeploy a new squad member. In other words, respawn.
You can get rid of the sticky notes clinging to you by taking a shower, but I’ll explain the shower and ammo station mechanics later. At first, Paper Chase might seem like a creative idea and in a way it is, but to be transparent with you, shooting sticky notes off walls and floors isn’t exactly what I’d call heart-pumping co-op action with friends. It’s fun the first or second time, but the novelty wears off fast. Eventually, it starts to feel like a chore and more like busywork than a good time.
That said, the level three clearance for Paper Chase introduces a boss called Sticky Ricky, a giant creature made entirely out of sticky notes. You’ll need to dodge his attacks, repair parts of the environment, activate switches to electrify him, and then shoot his weak spot while he’s stunned. It’s a fun idea both visually and mechanically, but honestly, slogging through two boring zones just to get there does not feel worth the effort.
The third job is Ground Control, and it’s probably my favorite out of all of them. It’s the least boring in my opinion because you’re constantly engaged. In this job, you have to push a cart through each zone and fill it with leech pearls, which you collect by shooting leech eggs stuck to walls and ceilings. In the final zone, you push the fully loaded cart into a shuttle launcher. Once it’s inside, you must defend the area from Hiss enemies for a short period of time, and that wraps up the mission.
The fourth job is Frequency Shift, where you and your team must clear out zones filled with pink explosive goo and reactivate the turbines. Occasionally, you’ll also need to repair several emitter panels, and in the third zone, you’ll have to fix the alpha emitter. Let me tell you, it’s easily one of the most boring objectives in the game. You just stand there playing a dull mini-game to fix panels while the goo keeps regenerating around you. It’s not exciting at all, especially compared to some of the earlier jobs—it feels like a lazy and uninspired final objective.
Last but not least is Freezer Duty, where you search for heaters, ignite them, and place them near freezing anomalies to clear them out. It’s an okay concept, but like most of the other modes, it quickly starts to feel like a chore. The final task in the third zone has you dragging body bags out of bathroom stalls and tossing them into lifts. It’s a weird objective, but at least it’s something more unique than fixing another emitter like in Frequency Shift.
Now that you understand how jobs work in the game, let’s talk about the core mechanics you’ll interact with while completing them—either solo or with friends. As you step into the first zone from the elevator, the first things you’ll typically find are a shower station and an ammo station. Both need to be repaired, and this can be done by any kit, though the Fixer has a unique advantage.
The Fixer can repair these stations instantly just by hitting them with its wrench. Other kits must press the interact button and complete a mini game that involves alternating between the E and Q keys to fill a circular gauge. If you fail the mini game, you’ll start to lose your shield and eventually take damage. It’s unclear why the penalty exists, especially since the shield doesn’t feel particularly meaningful in gameplay—you can usually just mash E and Q quickly and get the job done without much consequence.
Showers gradually heal you over time, clear out corruption, and extinguish fire if your character is burning. In essence, water is the primary method of healing in this game—there are no medkits or other traditional health items. Ammo stations function similarly in that they require a mini game to restock your ammo, though they don’t need to be repaired beforehand.
Initially, I thought this was an interesting mechanic, but it quickly became tedious. Every time you run out of ammo, you and your team are forced to backtrack to the nearest station and go through the mini game just to reload. Doing this repeatedly turns what should be a seamless moment into an annoying chore. Whatever happened to regular ammo packs or deployable ammo boxes that certain classes could carry, like in Warhammer 40K Darktide or Deep Rock Galactic? I get that Remedy wanted to try something different here—but in my opinion, their approach to ammo restoration was executed poorly.
The one gameplay system and mechanic I do like in FBC: Firebreak however are the shelters. Throughout each zone you can find multiple shelters and all you do is interact with the keypad next to a giant door to open it with no mini-games in sight. Once you enter the shelter you can find a bunch of ammo to restock with by picking up actual small ammo boxes and you can also find files that give you requisition points that you can then use to unlock upgrades for your tools, guns, sprays and cosmetics in the requisition menu.
These shelters also have a shower head that can clear you off fire but not heal you oddly enough. However, if you go next to the sink and interact with the faucet you will get healed over-time by standing next to it, go figure. Overall, the shelters are a nice change of pace, you can also use them as a way to funnel in enemies and gun them down as they are charging at you. The sink is also helpful for immediate heals along with the extra ammo boxes if you are in a tight situation.
Last but not least, you’ll also find random turrets that can be repaired to assist you in fending off the Hiss for a limited time, along with electrical panels that must be fixed to restore power and light up certain areas of the zone. Oh, and after you finish your final objective, you have to run all the way back to the first zone, call in the elevator, and fight off a mini boss along with a wave of Hiss before you can leave the job. I personally don’t have a major issue with this, but to be honest, Remedy could have done something more exciting or engaging than just standing around waiting for an elevator. It feels like a missed opportunity to end each mission on a more memorable note.
Now that you understand how FBC: Firebreak plays, you’re probably wondering why does it feel so boring? The truth is, it’s not a lack of creativity or innovation. The real issue is that the game loses its sense of fun alarmingly fast. The first few jobs may feel fine, but after just a couple of hours, it starts to feel more like a list of household chores than a fun escape after a long day. As I mentioned earlier, shooting dozens of sticky notes across two zones in the Paper Chase job becomes tedious almost immediately. And in Frequency Shift, constantly clearing explosive goo only for it to regenerate and cover your entire path again quickly grows frustrating.
Yes, repetition is part of any game, especially in co-op titles, but here, the gameplay loop simply isn’t engaging. It lacks the addictive spark that keeps you coming back. Compare this to something like Deep Rock Galactic, one of the best co-op experiences out there, where even repetitive tasks feel rewarding, satisfying, and most importantly, fun. FBC: Firebreak, sadly, is the opposite of that.
One last thing I wanted to cover before diving into the visuals and audio of this game are the shooting mechanics. In a nutshell, the shooting in this game just feels lackluster. There is no real weight to the guns or the enemies, and very little feedback when you land hits. It often feels like you are firing bullets made of noodles. That is especially surprising coming from Remedy, a studio known for tight and responsive shooting mechanics in titles like Max Payne and Control. The combat in those games feels great, but for some reason, that same magic did not carry over into FBC Firebreak.
Enemy design does not help either. You have your standard melee rushers, some basic gun wielding enemies, and the occasional floating Hiss who toss explosive objects at you from above along with big dudes that carry machine guns or grenades launchers. There are a few other enemies as well, but I won’t spoil those. These types of enemies worked really well in Control, but they just do not feel right here. Maybe it is the shift to first person, or maybe it is the overall lack of impact in the gunplay. Whatever the case, when a swarm of enemies shows up, it feels more like a nuisance than a thrilling challenge. That is the core problem, combat in this game simply is not fun.
Visual Tech and Audio
Alright, it’s time to quickly talk about the visuals and audio of the game. FBC: Firebreak runs on the Northlight engine, the same engine behind Remedy’s recent titles like Alan Wake II and Control. For the record, my PC is equipped with an RTX 4090, 64GB of DDR5 RAM, and a Ryzen 9 7950X CPU. I’m not sure if my system is starting to show its age or if the game simply isn’t well optimized. Most modern titles default to ultra settings on my rig, but FBC: Firebreak automatically set itself to 4K resolution on medium settings with ray tracing turned off. It ran smoothly and looked decent enough.
However, I’m used to playing games at native 4K with ultra settings. Once I bumped everything up and enabled ray tracing, I began experiencing noticeable FPS drops. Is ray tracing still that demanding, or is this just a case of subpar optimization? For context, I wasn’t using any kind of frame generation at first. The RTX 4090 only allows for double frame generation, so I decided to turn it on and once I did, everything became buttery smooth again.
While frame generation is a nice feature to help boost performance, I still feel that for a game with visuals this basic and relatively simple geometry, I shouldn’t be experiencing performance loss at all. There are plenty of games with more complex geometry that run better on my system without needing any performance tricks. Maybe it’s just how this engine operates, or maybe there are deeper issues. I’m not a tech expert, so perhaps that’s a question better left to someone like Digital Foundry. Still, I want to be transparent with you and share my personal experience.
As for the game’s art style, it mostly resembles Control, which is expected since it shares the same universe. That said, I personally think the third person perspective worked better in that world. I’m not entirely sure that the first person view was the right move here, but that might be more of a subjective preference than an actual flaw. So in that case, I’ll let you decide what works best for you.
As for the audio, the game won’t really blow you away. The voice acting from your crew is more than serviceable, but nothing memorable. The soundtrack is virtually nonexistent, and most of the time you’ll just be hearing gunfire, showers turning on, and shelter doors opening.
Your main boss also communicates with you over the radio, giving updates on objectives or warning you when the Hiss are incoming. But if you compare the sound design and music to other co-op titles like Warhammer 40K: Darktide or Deep Rock Galactic, FBC Firebreak doesn’t even come close. Every time you finish a mission and head to the elevator, the same dull and generic rock music kicks in. There are no unique or varied tracks to set the tone or elevate the action. It’s a complete miss in the audio department, utterly forgettable, which is a real shame.
Final Verdict
In conclusion, FBC: Firebreak feels like a big experiment from Remedy to see if they could craft a fresh and exciting cooperative multiplayer experience. Unfortunately, I can say with full confidence that this experiment has failed which is a shame. I love co-op games and spending my downtime with friends, and I genuinely looked forward to enjoying the game. But after playing it for over 25 or so hours, I just can’t. FBC: Firebreak will be receiving a final verdict of 5 out of 10.
The game feels uninspired, boring, and incredibly tedious to play. At first glance, it might seem like it has solid gameplay ideas, but once you dive in and complete a few jobs, it quickly becomes clear how shallow the experience really is. The lackluster gunplay only makes things worse especially for a first-person shooter. And to top it all off, this isn’t even a free-to-play title. You either have to pay $39.99, or access it through Game Pass or PlayStation Plus. If you suffer from insomnia and your over-the-counter meds no longer do the trick, then sure, feel free to drop $39.99 on FBC Firebreak. Because this game will drain your energy and put you to sleep faster than any pill ever could
