‘FBC Firebreak’ Is a Chaotic Multiplayer Experience That Is More Work Than Fun Without Friends (Review)

When FBC: Firebreak was first revealed, I was extremely excited for it. Remedy Entertainment is not only one of my favorite developers of all time, but the new co-op game is set in the universe of their 2019 masterpiece Control. Unfortunately, FBC doesn’t take full advantage of the studio’s imaginative gameplay and storytelling we’ve come to expect from them.

‘fbc: Firebreak’ is A Job Simulator

At its core, FBC: Firebreak is a job simulator. The game has five levels: Hot Fix, Paper Chase, Ground Control, Frequency Shift, and Freezer Duty. Each job has its own unique objective. Hot Fix, for instance, has you repairing broken-down transfer fans to reduce the heat that is overtaking the level. Ground Control, in contrast, has you exploding giant insect pods to obtain leech pearls to power up a shuttle. Regardless of which job you select, the game’s general gameplay loop is similar: complete a set of tasks, call an elevator to escape, and then survive a wave-killing mob of Hiss—including a powerful boss.

Every job has three levels you can unlock, which increase in difficulty the further you progress. While the main loop stays the same, you will now have Hiss attacking you while trying to complete your objectives. This can turn the job into complete chaos, as you are constantly fighting off waves of enemies trying to interrupt you. Level 3 has the biggest change, as the job unlocks a final section with a completely new task you need to complete before you can escape.

While I appreciate the game’s progressive difficulty, it’s still ultimately the same gameplay loop underneath it all. And once you start completing jobs back-to-back, you will really start to notice just how derivative it can all start to feel. So, if you are going to play FBC: Firebreak with friends, I recommend jumping around between jobs instead of directly progressing from level 1 to 3. At least then, you will get a bit more variety with your objectives.

‘FBC: Firebreak’ Can Be Played Solo, But It Is Better With a Team

If you want to play FBC: Firebreak solo, it’s completely doable. Now, whether you will find this an enjoyable experience or not may vary from person to person. But one thing I have to give Remedy Entertainment credit for is how they designed each job level to work for either single-player or co-op. For example, in the Hot Fix job, you’ll be putting out many fires. In an ideal situation, someone on your team would pick the Splash Kit Firebreaker so they can use their gun to put out flames quickly.

But if you are playing solo and don’t have the Splash Kit equipped, you can still put the flames out by shooting sprinklers on the ceiling. It’s little touches like this in the game that make me appreciate how well-thought-out the levels were designed to accommodate solo or group teams. The problem is that as you progress, jobs become a lot more tedious if you are tackling them on your own. Level 3 of Hot Fix, in particular, becomes annoying when trying to repair fans as you’re constantly getting interrupted by Hiss every few seconds.

However, if you are in a group, you can have one squad member fixing a fan while the other shoots down approaching enemies. You could even have your third teammate working on a second fan to speed things up. But in solo mode, jobs become a much slower experience with a lot of interruptions. This is especially apparent in the Paper Chase job, where you have to destroy thousands of sticky notes. Yeah, it’s as laborious as it sounds. FBC: Firebreak almost becomes too punishing for solo players.

Different Classes

One of my favorite aspects of FBC is the different Firebreaker classes, which include: Splash Kit, Fix Kit, and Jump Kit. When you play with a team, these different roles gel together really well. A teammate with the Fix It kit can quickly repair fans, while another squad member with the Jump Kit can instantly boot up downed generators with electricity. This can make a huge difference if you need to fix something in a pinch.

A Splash Kit player can even debuff enemies by spraying them, as they get stronger the hotter they get. The water class can also keep your team from catching fire, so it almost becomes a Support role. Class kits don’t just impact enemies, either. In the Paper Chase job, water can strategically make the sticky notes soggy and wet. This makes it easier to destroy larger clumps of them together. Each of these classes opens up the more you progress through the game. There are over 48 Research Perks and Requisitions for you to earn.

You can even unlock new variants of your class’ kit. So, instead of having the basic water gun, it can be turned into a rapid-fire version with a crank that lets you shoot out H2O as bullets. If you are playing solo, you’ll need to upgrade multiple classes. Since you can’t rely on other teammates, you will be switching your Firebreaker class a lot depending on what the job entails.

A Complex Job With Simple Tasks

An aspect of FBC: Firebreak I’m not the biggest fan of is the mini QTE-like puzzles you have to solve to complete job tasks. So, when you have to fix a broken fan, for example, your character will be put in a mini-game that has you alternating between pressing “L1” and “R1” rapidly. I have to believe that the purpose of the mechanic is to create a level of anxiety and tension—which it does, especially if you are trying to complete it right as you hear a group of Hiss getting closer and closer.

However, having to do this mini-game over and over again for most tasks becomes grating pretty fast. I really wish Remedy Entertainment had created different task puzzles unique to each job. That way, you aren’t having to do the same thing repeatedly. It’s also fairly simplistic, as the only thing you have to do is press buttons fast while alternating. It becomes a bit mind-numbing after a while.

This becomes even more obvious on Level 3 jobs, where sometimes you are asked with completing four of these mini-games back-to-back. Although this is an issue that largely impacts Solo mode. When in a team, each Firebreaker has specialties that speed up tasks. And you can also divide up which teammate fixes what.

You Have to Do Many Jobs Before Gameplay Opens Up

At first, FBC: Firebreak‘s gameplay might seem simplistic on the surface. However, the class mechanics have a pretty massive jump in depth once you unlock Improvised Devices and Parautility Augments. The “Swivel Cannon” device, for instance, essentially gives the Fix It Firebreaker class an automated turret. However, it’s the Parautility Augments that are truly a game changer.

Using Control’s Objects of Power concept, the Parautility slot basically changes the way your Firebreaker’s kit works. The A144 “Teapot” Altered Augment literally turns your Splash Kit water gun into a fire machine. Instead of typical water drops, your gun will now superheat the liquid to burn enemies. This, of course, adds a lot of utility to the Freezer Duty job, which has a lot of ice-based elements.

The problem is, you really need to grind a lot before you can truly start to unlock improved gameplay elements. On the one hand, I get it. Remedy Entertainment wants players to have something to work towards. But it’s also a shame that some players might not realize — a few hours into FBC: Firebreak — that its gameplay becomes a completely different experience the more you play.

Wish It Had More Story

Remedy Entertainment fans who love Control will find a lot to love in FBC: Firebreak. Just getting to spend time in the Greatest House again is a treat, and the game has many small callbacks to the 2019 game. However, I was surprised at just how little story is in the game. And in all fairness, Remedy Entertainment never advertised this as anything but a co-op multiplayer experience. But given the studio’s rich history of worldbuilding and brilliant storytelling? I went into the game expecting more of a narrative.

I also feel that maybe FBC would have worked better if it had gone the Left 4 Dead route. Where you and your team are thrown onto a map and have to survive from point A to point C. But instead, FBC: Firebreak is mostly mini-levels where you complete a set of job tasks while trying to keep your head above water from the influx of Hiss mob waves attacking you.

And that in itself would have been fine, had the job tasks been more complex. Or if there had been a bit more variety to how you complete objectives for each level. FBC: Firebreak is very much a co-op multiplayer-only experience and not much more. I just personally can’t help but feel a little bit disappointed that the game didn’t have more of Remedy Entertainment’s narrative magic. Or, to put it more simply, I think there was a missed opportunity here to elevate the multiplayer genre with their studio’s unique storytelling.

‘FBC: Firebreak’ is Chaotic Fun When everything gels together

Overall, I did enjoy FBC: Firebreak. The game started to click with me once I got a group going. Having each teammate take on a role makes FBC’s more tedious elements less frustrating. In fact, most of the game’s gameplay elements start to fall into place when you have a group of friends working together to divide up the game’s challenges.

One of my favorite moments with FBC: Firebreak was on the Ground Control job. Normally, you have to find a leech pearl and then carry it back to the shuttle. The only problem is, carrying the pod makes you walk extremely slow, and your character also takes radiation damage. However, you can throw the leech pearl. So, on the fly, my team created a daisy chain, and we threw each pearl over to one another. This sped up the process substantially and made the job less annoying.

FBC: Firebreak is at its best when you and a group of friends use the game’s unique class system and perks to come up with creative solutions. At its core, the game is about juggling tasks while the game does everything it can to prevent you from completing your job. But it can become chaotic fun when your team works together to keep the fires out. I just wish there was a bit more depth to its task systems and a bigger narrative to tie into Control’s incredible lore. However, FBC: Firebreak is a solid multiplayer experience, especially in the context of it being a $39 AA budgeted title. Remedy Entertainment is also going to keep supporting the project post-launch, so it could eventually become an incredible co-op game. At launch, FBC has a good foundation, as long as you play with a team.

Verdict: Recommended

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FBC: Firebreak will be available June 17, 2025, on PC via Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. A code was provided for the sake of review. Reviewed on PS5.