When Control released back in the summer of 2019, my friends and I fell in love with the wild oddities and mysteries of the Oldest House. Now, as we wait patiently for its follow-up, Control 2, Remedy has released FBC: Firebreak, a new co-op experience that lets players dive back into the house — this time with friends. While the concept is exciting, the game as it currently stands is a bit rough around the black rock’s edges.
Picking up about six years after the events of the first Control game, the Oldest House has been locked down, and you and up to two other players as Firebreakers, agents sent in to deal with the strange happenings in the house. Firebreak is a purely cooperative endeavor where teams of up to three players complete one of five (at the time of this review) possible missions, each containing one, two, or three stages. These missions vary wildly in goals, from fixing fans to dispersing heat buildup to shooting post-it notes and a giant monster made out of them. Their outlandishness fits perfectly in the world that Remedy has crafted, especially with what we already know about what goes on in the Oldest House. Don’t worry, though, if you haven’t played Control, as there really isn’t much story here in Firebreak, and you don’t need to know anything outside of “weird things happen here” to enjoy yourself.
To tackle these missions, players have the choice between three classes, or “kits”, that determine their primary role during the mission: Fix Kit is good at fixing broken down equipment with his hammer and deploying a turret to deal with the enemy mobs; Jump Kit is about recharging devices and shocking wet enemies; and the Splash kit could be thought of as the hearler/support role, rinsing off hazardous ailments from team-mates and soaking enemies so they can be electrocuted. Each kit has its unique tool, and eventually, a unique tool and a powerful ultimate ability, once you purchase it from the requisition shop. Still, outside of those three kit-specific items, anyone can equip any weapon or perk, so long as you have them unlocked.
There are two areas in which I have found Firebreak to excel: one is its ability to capture the strangeness the team created with Control, and the other is that this game incentivizes a well-rounded team composition. Missions are drastically more manageable when you have a well-rounded team of one of each kit. This becomes almost a necessity at the higher difficulty levels, and when you add corruption, which throws another wrench into the mix with strange objects you need to deal with for bonus resources to craft with. I appreciate when a game rewards party composition, as it makes the multiplayer experience more rewarding and meaningful. That said, playing solo is an option (though not quite balanced just yet), with each role able to complete any requirements. Depending on your kit, some tasks may take a little longer to perform.
Now we get to those rough edges that I alluded to in the beginning of this review – FBC: Firebreak suffers from what I have coined as “Yea, but…” syndrome. This affliction is where a game has a bunch of good ideas, but each of those ideas is hamstrung by some mechanic or decision that sours it a bit, and stops it from reaching its potential. Let’s take the missions, for example, as I’ve mentioned, they do a great job of capturing the strangeness of the setting wonderfully…BUT in the first and second stages of each mission, you do the same thing. In a game where you will be expected to grind and replay missions over and over, the fact that 60% of each mission you are doing identical tasks, every time you play it, gets old quickly. Shooting notes, chucking radioactive little balls into an engine, or fixing fans is only fun for so long.
Other examples of YBS are that you and your fellow Firebreakers are pitted against some pretty neat-looking enemies, and the risk of being overwhelmed is ever-present. However, the gunplay never quite feels right, with shots not inflicting enough damage or lacking a sense of impact. Or how the perks you can equip on your kits are meaningful and do make a difference, BUT they aren’t all that exciting. Take, for example, “Asbestos Hands,” which reduces the penalties when you make a mistake while repairing, charging, and extinguishing things. Helpful, 100%, but it would be so much more fun if you see the asbestos covering your hands, or something changes in response to that perk. Similarly, things like switching equipment faster, reloading faster, or collecting ammo faster are beneficial, but it’s just so…un-Control like? Is getting extra ammo capacity a worthwhile reward for grinding my character to level 37? Compared to everything else, so many of them just feel plain and flavorless.
I’ve completed each of the five missions, all three stages of each, and I think for the time being, I’m done. FBC: Firebreak is one of those games that I feel has the potential for greatness, bubbling just under its surface. Playing with a squad of my friends with all of us on voice chat was a good time, full of tense moments trying to revive one another and moments of revelation when we figured out what we needed to do to complete an objective. That said, it also is a game I feel would have been better served launching in early access for a bit, giving the team some time to flesh out the experience a bit more, fixing the odd bug or graphical hiccup, and locking in the balance, before launching the the “retail” game. I am excited to check in on the Oldest House from time to time and see how the game continues to evolve after launch. You never know what sort of havoc the Hiss will cause next.
Thank you to the game’s PR firm for providing us with codes for FBC: Firebreak to use for this review.
