The rise of co-op games has totally gone haywire. Every week, there's a new trend: four people hunting ghosts or trying to do something stupid together for points. These games are undeniably fun with friends, which is why I wrote a separate piece dubbing them “Friendslop Games.”
Enter FBC: Firebreak—a game from industry giant Remedy Entertainment. On the surface, it follows the same familiar formula. So, what sets it apart from the rest of its peers?
It’s a Remedy Game
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+ 4One major reason to pay attention to FBC: Firebreak is simple: trust. Remedy Entertainment, the studio behind Max Payne, has earned it. The fact that they’re making a “Left 4 Dead”-style shooter is completely unexpected, but hey, they made Alan Wake and Control. That alone is reason enough for me to check it out when it drops.
It’s a 3-Player Co-Op
click to enlarge+ 4Unlike most of its four-player co-op counterparts, FBC: Firebreak is a three-player co-op. As the cleanup crew, you and two others perform “cleaning” duties inside the Federal Bureau of Control’s Oldest House. By “cleaning,” we mean fighting off swarms of Hiss, and sometimes stopping a Sticky Note infestation from taking over the facility.
Yep, you read that right.
Control and Alan Wake Crossover
As you might have guessed, FBC: Firebreak exists within the same universe as Alan Wake and Control. Being inside the FBC is no small thing—you’re not shaping reality on a typewriter or flying through the air hurling concrete blocks as Jesse Faden. You’re just a regular employee caught in the middle of the Bureau’s questionable labor decisions. (Don’t tell the Board.)
click to enlarge+ 4Existing within the Remedy Connected Universe (RCU) means one thing: this is going to be a weird co-op game. From what we’ve seen, there’s a Sticky Note infestation, a Teapot turned makeshift weapon, and more. These aren’t just quirky props—they’re Altered Items, everyday objects imbued with supernatural properties. Remedy uses them to inject SCP-style flavor into the world, and FBC: Firebreak looks full of them. Like a Boom Box that deals area damage and a Garden Gnome. Enough said.
The Weirdness of It All
One of the biggest draws of FBC: Firebreak is its appeal to fans of the Remedy Connected Universe. But if you're like me and just into the weird stuff, there’s a lot to love here too. Sure, it may share DNA with games like Back 4 Blood, Killing Floor, or the vampire one that shall not be named—but Remedy’s bizarre, bureaucratic universe offers a refreshing twist on the formula.
SCP-like items, redacted documents, a malevolent Garden Gnome—there’s enough strangeness here to keep even the most jaded co-op players intrigued.
click to enlarge+ 4So yeah, I’ll gladly take this kind of novelty over another generic co-op shooter with normal guns and a zombie apocalypse. In FBC: Firebreak, you’re not fighting undead, you’re trying to stop Sticky Notes from consuming your entire body and preventing the end of days as a regular salary man with a 9-5. And honestly? That sounds fun.
FBC: Firebreak releases on June 17 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. PlayStation Plus subscribers can play the game for free when it launches.
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