FBC: Firebreak – Remedy’s three-player co-op first person shooter based within Control’s Oldest House – is set to release this summer, and now the team has given us a fresh look at the upcoming game.
In FBC: Firebreak, players will take on the role of volunteer first responders, who are doing what they can to help sort out the Hiss that remain within the building – essentially, what happens when the Federal Bureau of Control actually loses control?
The studio shared a new trailer for FBC: Firebreak as part of this evening’s Future Game Show presentation, giving us a look at how volatile office stationary can really be! I am talking about lacerating post-it note people – it’s chaos!
These post-it note entities are part of FBC: Firebreak’s aptly-titled “Paper Chase” job. Jobs are this game’s version of missions, with each job being a “wrapper for a unique crisis” within the Oldest House, so if you have played Control, you will recognise locations.
In the case of FBC: Firebreak’s Paper Chase job, it’s set in the bureau’s Executive Sector. “And, just like real world crises, like fires and floods, these things have a way of coming back – your work is important, but never ends,” adds game director Mike Kayatta.
As to how FBC: Firebreak will all work, once players have selected a job to take on, they will then select a Threat level – that is to say, decide on the combat difficulty, as well as how many rewards players can earn – as well as a Clearance level. The Clearance Level determines the number of zones players can make their way through, as well as what type of rewards they can earn.
Then, there are FBC: Firebreak’s loadouts, or to give them their Remedy name, Crisis Kits. These kits are each centred around a unique tool, and FBC: Firebreak players will have three saved kits to choose from: Jump Kit, Fix Kit and Splash Kit.
The Jump Kit is an electricity-focused Crisis Kit, complete with an Electro-Kinetic Charge Impactor. The Fix Kit comes with a chunky wrench (or, spanner for those of us in Blighty), while the Splash Kit is a water-focused kit with a Crank-Operated Fluidic Ejector.
Meanwhile, if you are already thinking about FBC: Firebreak’s post launch content, well Remedy is on it. The game itself will be a premium mid-price release on its debut, but any playable post-launch content will be free for all owners. There will also be some cosmetic items players can spend some additional money on, if they so choose.
The team at Remedy is, understandably, aware it is about to release a multiplayer shooter into the world during a period when multiplayer shooters are having a hard time standing out – but even so, it says it isn’t nervous.
During a Q&A about FBC: Firebreak attended by Eurogamer, the developer said it wasn’t concerned about the game finding its niche. “It’s not that we are arrogant,” said Remedy spokesperson Thomas Puha, “but since the inception of this game, we’ve very carefully thought [about] who the audience is, and that dictates everything from how we built it – such as how easy it should be to get into, how long the sessions are… we are not going to do a game that [feels like] another job.”
Puha continued: “There are reasons why we [Remedy] have managed to survive for 30 years in this industry, which is so volatile. It’s managing risks, which means ‘let’s be careful with the budget and make a game in a sensible budget and time frame’. But also, we are not naive. It’s our first multiplayer game, so we are doing everything in our power to make sure things launch well.”
Puha added Remedy intends to support FBC: Firebreak for “the longhaul”, and the studio has “very concrete plans” on what the post-launch content should look like. “Let’s get it out first, and we will take it from there,” Puha said.
FBC: Firebreak will be making its debut this summer (a more specific date is TBA) across PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It will also be available via Game Pass Ultimate and PC, as well as on PlayStation Plus’ Extra and Premium tiers.
