Yay, we’re getting a new game from the Control universe! But how does an extraction shooter fit in with Remedy? We reveal what’s behind this unusual decision.
The first day on a new job is tough. And as part of the Firebreak commando unit, I can’t afford to make any mistakes. I don’t know what Director Jesse gets up to all day, but nothing seems to be under control at the Federal Bureau of Control. And who gets to clean up all the mess with the corrupted items? You guessed it, us! I bet she doesn’t even know our names! Why should she? We first responders are dying like flies!
Just last week, some poor soul got caught up in it. He just wanted to help clean up the countless sticky notes in the cafeteria and ended up becoming a giant Post-it monster himself. And now I’m standing here with a water pump shoved into my hand and no idea what to do. Luckily, I’m not alone!
That’s how I feel as I sit in front of the PC in developer Remedy’s Finnish studio, about to spend almost three hours playing FBC: Firebreak, a cooperative shooter with extraction elements set in the universe of Control. Huh? What? Yes, I also have a lot of questions running through my head: What exactly is Firebreak?Why is Remedy suddenly making an extraction co-op game?Is it even the right genre for fans of Alan Wake, Quantum Break, and the like? And what am I supposed to do with this water pump?!
Firebreak will be released on June 17, 2025 – and in my preview, I can already give you a great insight into the co-op game and clarify who might want to check it out.
Even more exciting: Game Director Mike Kayatta revealed to me in an interview why FBC: Firebreak is so much more than just a fun shooter. Small spoiler: This should delight every Remedy fan!
Full disclosure: All costs for the trip to Helsinki, food, and accommodation were covered by Remedy. There were no editorial guidelines for our reporting. Together with two industry colleagues, I was able to try out three of the five jobs at different difficulty levels completely freely.
However, we played FBC: Firebreak as an “Accelerated Experience.” This meant we earned XP faster, had more in-game currency at our disposal, and costs were reduced so we could try out different weapons and abilities more quickly. We are therefore unable to comment on the pacing and motivation loop of the shooter at this stage.
In addition, our version was already over a month old at the time of the preview and contained outdated UI elements, among other things. The player guidance in the skill menus and the unlocking of new weapons in particular should be much clearer and more concise in the release version.
The screenshots in the article were provided directly by the developer.
Table of Contents
What is FBC: Firebreak anyway?
What would Control look like if, instead of Superwoman Jesse Faden, ordinary nobodies had to fight the strange threats in the Federal Bureau of Control? This question was the inspiration for FBC: Firebreak, as game director Mike Kayatta tells me.
My two co-op partners and I slip into the safety shoes of first responders who have to appease anomalous and corrupt objects and kill monsters with shotguns, revolvers, and machine guns for the federal agency. Along the way, they also complete important jobs. In Firebreak, jobs refer to the different game modes.
A total of five missions will be available at release – we were able to play three of them. A job always starts with clearance level 1 and a simple task: For example, in “Hot Fix” mode, my team and I have to repair broken ventilation systems and then escape again using the elevator.
Gradually, we unlock further clearance levels for the missions. The map is expanded with new rooms and additional challenges are added. For example, we have to repair more valves, withstand more monster hordes, and fight a huge and very aggressive furnace on level 4.
I’d love to tell you what this battle looks like… but unfortunately, I only got a quick glimpse of the thing before my co-op partners and I had our eyebrows fried off.
To ensure that the missions don’t always feel the same, there are different modifiers for the jobs. In addition to the clearance level, we can set four threat levels (i.e., the difficulty) and corrupted items. The latter allows random anomalous items to spawn, presenting us with some kind of challenge. For example, all enemies get a shield or all doors are suddenly locked.
We are already familiar with some of the items from the main game Control: The traffic light – which we unfortunately didn’t see when we played the game – only allows us to move when it’s green, otherwise “Ouch!” In the midst of waves of enemies, this could get pretty dicey.
Do I need to have played Control?
No. FBC: Firebreak takes place six years after the events of Control, but you don’t need to know the game to find your way around. All you need to know is that the FBC deals with mysterious objects and occurrences that don’t stop at their own office building. You might miss a few Easter eggs and references to the main game, but that doesn’t detract from the fun.
So, what’s the water pump for?
Director Jesse Faden probably has no idea who we are, but the Bureau doesn’t send us out on jobs completely unprepared. My two team members and I can choose from three tool kits: Fix Kit, Jump Kit, or Splash Kit. If we want, we can all choose the same one, but it makes more sense to split up so we can take advantage of all the synergy effects.
Each tool initially performs a rudimentary task. Many enemies or even the environment set us on fire. This is where I finally get to use my water pump to extinguish my colleagues and free them from the burning status effect. Or I spray enemies with water and let my colleagues fry them a little with the stun gun.
Outside of barbecue season, the stun gun is great for activating electrical boxes and skipping the mini-game that everyone else has to go through when making manual repairs. For mechanical repairs, there’s also a large wrench.
For example, my team has to repair the generators in the first job, but also ammunition stations and showers. What, showers? Yes, showers. We are still in a Remedy game, after all.
Showers are our health packs, restoring life and healing many effects such as burns, radioactivity, or washing away notes stuck to our left eyelids. Just don’t stand under the water if you’re shocked… or so I’ve heard.
For successfully completed jobs, we collect XP and then unlock more weapons and abilities for our tools. And this is where Firebreak really gets going. The water pump suddenly gains the ability to heal us. The stun gun spits out a gnome that peppers the enemy masses with shock waves.
We attach a piggy bank to the wrench, which really smashes when you hit it. Anyone who’s ever had one of those things fall on their big toe knows how much pennies can hurt! Oh, and did I mention that there’s friendly fire? I only found that out after my boombox (another item from my arsenal) sent not only the monsters to the afterlife. Oops.
Are there microtransactions?
Yes, there will be microtransactions when FBC: Firebreak is released, but they are purely cosmetic. For example, you can purchase skins for your armor with real money. However, these do not provide any gameplay advantages.
Content updates, the first of which is scheduled to follow this year, will remain free for owners of the game. For example, more jobs are to be added. There will also be no daily tasks, time-limited battle passes, or anything similar.
How does Firebreak play?
Without the support of the developers, it would have taken me much longer to find my way around Firebreak. The game initially overwhelms my team and me with information, tools, skills, and jobs that we don’t fully understand.
The first few rounds, we stand around like unattended children in a ball pit. However, Remedy is already working on making the overview and onboarding of players clearer. So hopefully I’ll get off to a faster start in the release version.
But once you start to understand the game, FBC: Firebreak develops into a really fun co-op shooter. Every run is different, and my co-op partners and I never know what’s going to happen next.
In the “Paper Chase” job, we’re supposed to clear away 19,180 yellow sticky notes (yes, really). But I roll around in the mountains of paper so often that I turn into a monster myself and waste all our revival tokens. Somehow, we still manage to make it to the boss, a sticky note giant, only to bite the dust just before the elevator – our exit.
The synergies between the tools and abilities are easy to understand, but they require a lot of finesse and coordination within the team. When our Webedia colleague Michał (gry-online.pl) throws his piggy bank, which releases purple tornadoes, I ideally need to use the other ability of my electric tool and take a big leap away from the crowd of enemies. That hasn’t worked so well in practice yet.
The principle behind Firebreak sounds very simple at first, but there are numerous systems behind it that intertwine and give each job a very special flair.
In the “Ground Control” job, I search the ceiling for wobbly bubble growths, which I shoot to obtain radioactive pearls. At the same time, we are attacked by a wave of enemies and a teammate goes down. I want to help, but I’m contaminated with radiation and should really be taking a shower.
As a team, we’re not only confronted with the challenges of the game, but we also create our own obstacles when we don’t communicate enough, split up, or are still confused by newly unlocked abilities.
By the way, the difficulty levels are pretty tough. We were already breaking a sweat on level three – Remedy is probably thinking about turning up the difficulty a notch. Sure, “way too easy” would have been my feedback after playing it…
In the nearly three hours I played, I was completely immersed in this fast-paced co-op shooter. Once you get the hang of it and can really dive into the flow of the game, Firebreak pulls you in. And of course, it’s twice as much fun in co-op.
The question I can’t answer right now is: How long will it stay motivating? As I mentioned, our progression system was accelerated. I can’t say how much grinding it will take before I unlock cool abilities in the release version and unlock the actual exciting game loop. And whether the five game modes offer enough variety to keep me playing for more than just a few hours will only become clear on June 17.
Why an extraction shooter of all things?
Remedy has chosen an unusual genre for its latest game. Not only does it break away from the atmospheric single-player games they’re known for, but it also ventures into a territory where many other development studios are currently failing. Keywords: Marathon, The Cycle, and the like.
As much fun as Remedy’s quirky shooter is, it will probably never reach the level of Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown. If only because Firebreak completely omits the PvP component.
But why is Remedy making an extraction shooter of all things when the whole world is waiting for Control 2, Alan Wake 3, or the Max Payne remake? Precisely because it’s so different, explains game director Mike Kayatta:
We’re doing something very new, very unexpected. It’s important for us to broaden people’s understanding of what Remedy is and what Remedy does. And our goal with this game is to make it as successful as possible. That’s why we’re Day One on Game Pass, Day One on PS Plus, on Steam, on Steam Deck… we want to be everywhere. We don’t want you to have any chance of missing Firebreak.
With this reorientation of the studio, Remedy doesn’t just want to explore new genres and try its hand at self-publishing. Firebreak is also set to herald a new release cycle: according to Remedy, we can now expect one game release per year. So if more Remedy means that we also get experimental and atypical games like Firebreak, then as a single-player fan, I’m more than happy to take that deal.
Editor’s conclusion
Remedy games are a real oasis of well-being for me. I love the wacky humor, the wild mysteries the game presents me with, and the creative outpourings of the developers. Before the preview of FBC: Firebreak, I was a little skeptical as to whether this unique flair could be translated into a co-op shooter. After almost three hours with the game, I can say: Yes!
I enjoyed Firebreak more and more with every minute. Getting to grips with the skills and jobs is still very fiddly, but luckily Remedy is already working on optimizations. But as soon as it clicks, I’m hooked and would have loved to keep playing for much longer.
I am a little worried, though, that the co-op shooter might be too niche to really gain a foothold in the extraction shooter genre. It will certainly find a small target audience. But the question remains as to how long Firebreak can keep players motivated and entertained. At least the first content update for this year is already planned.
Oh, and of course, I asked if there would be a music level again this time around. Due to the nature of a co-op shooter, it’s very difficult to implement a choreographed section, the game director explained. But maybe Remedy still has a surprise up its sleeve!
