Remedy is trying to fix FBC: Firebreak in response to middling reviews and player feedback
Remedy has shared its plans to improve FBC: Firebreak, the new multiplayer Control spinoff, following a string of less-than-stellar reviews that criticized the game's rough early hours. FBC: Firebreak was announced in October 2024 as the first online multiplayer game from Remedy, and another pitstop on the way to an eventual Control 2 .
The full patch notes for Remedy's first update are available to view on Steam, but in brief, the biggest change the developer is making is to how missions are unlocked. Previously, Firebreak required players to play a simpler, shorter version of the game's missions (like dealing with multiplying post-it notes or pink goo, for example), before a more complex version of the mission became available. Now those full-fat missions are available from the start, and completing one unlocks the next type. Remedy's update also rebalances the cost of cosmetics and makes it easier to see and find in-game collectibles, among other tweaks.
The developer is planning to make larger changes to how FBC: Firebreak explains the synergies of in-game weapons and abilities, but those onboarding improvements will take longer to implement. Future updates adding new missions and cosmetics where already planned for the game, so fixes will presumably be worked into the existing roadmap.
We enjoyed our hands-on time with FBC: Firebreak , but reviewers report a less rosy picture after playing the game over a longer period of time. Eurogamer found Firebreak charming in Remedy's typical oddball way, but also inconsistent in terms of difficulty. GameSpot noted similar messiness in the game's mission design, and also the general lack of explanation for weapons and abilities. The more damning and existential problem highlighted by TechRadar is the dearth of story in the game, something that Control generally excelled at. Remedy doesn't appear to have a plan to address any perceived narrative shortcomings in FBC: Firebreak , and since it's a multiplayer game, the company may just have different goals.
FBC: Firebreak is available now for $40 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. If you pay for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PlayStation Plus Game Catalog, you can play the game at no additional cost.
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Remedy has shared its plans to improve FBC: Firebreak, the new multiplayer Control spinoff, following a string of less-than-stellar reviews that criticized the game's rough early hours. FBC: Firebreak was announced in October 2024 as the first online multiplayer game from Remedy, and another pitstop on the way to an eventual Control 2 . The full patch notes for Remedy's first update are available to view on Steam, but in brief, the biggest change the developer is making is to how missions are unlocked. Previously, Firebreak required players to play a simpler, shorter version of the game's missions (like dealing with multiplying post-it notes or pink goo, for example), before a more complex version of the mission became available. Now those full-fat missions are available from the start, and completing one unlocks the next type. Remedy's update also rebalances the cost of cosmetics and makes it easier to see and find in-game collectibles, among other tweaks. The developer is planning to make larger changes to how FBC: Firebreak explains the synergies of in-game weapons and abilities, but those onboarding improvements will take longer to implement. Future updates adding new missions and cosmetics where already planned for the game, so fixes will presumably be worked into the existing roadmap. We enjoyed our hands-on time with FBC: Firebreak , but reviewers report a less rosy picture after playing the game over a longer period of time. Eurogamer found Firebreak charming in Remedy's typical oddball way, but also inconsistent in terms of difficulty. GameSpot noted similar messiness in the game's mission design, and also the general lack of explanation for weapons and abilities. The more damning and existential problem highlighted by TechRadar is the dearth of story in the game, something that Control generally excelled at. Remedy doesn't appear to have a plan to address any perceived narrative shortcomings in FBC: Firebreak , and since it's a multiplayer game, the company may just have different goals. FBC: Firebreak is available now for $40 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. If you pay for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PlayStation Plus Game Catalog, you can play the game at no additional cost.
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FBC: Firebreak MSRP $40.00 Score Details 'FBC: Firebreak hides a fine co-op shooter behind a tedious grind.' Pros Clever premise Creative mission structure Good use of Control universe Cons Matchmaking woes Thin teamwork Demanding grind 'Why you can trust Digital Trends – We have a 20-year history of testing, reviewing, and rating products, services and apps to help you make a sound buying decision. Find out more about how we test and score products.' You start a new job. It's nothing special; you're just a low rung paper pusher. The starting pay is meager, but it's enough to pay the bills. Your boss says that he sees a bright future for you in this company. Work hard and you'll get a promotion. More money. More perks. More power. You bust your butt to hit every milestone you can, occasionally getting a small holiday bonus or a few extra vacation days. 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Maybe they will for the most dedicated company men, but I imagine many workers will hand in their two weeks before getting to that point. A job's a job FBC: Firebreak makes a strong case for itself on day one. The idea is that players embody the Federal Bureau of Control's most underappreciated workers. These are the cleaners who are tasked with keeping the office in order and cleaning the fans. Of course, mundane is a relative term in The Oldest House. The halls are filled with Hiss monsters that need to be exterminated – even the sticky notes are evil. It's a supernatural send up of The Office where squads of three work together to tackle odd jobs while fighting back waves of Hiss and snatching bonuses that will unlock more upgrades later on. To execute that clever idea, Remedy invents a clever gameplay loop rather than copying its multiplayer peers. Rather than dropping players into a singular playlist, there are a smattering of jobs to complete (with five available at launch and two coming by the end of 2025). In one mission, my team and I need to clean pink goop off of some machinery. In another, we need to fix some broken fans to keep The Oldest House from overheating. It's a funny idea, though there's only one mission currently that really feels like it fully nails the joke. The standout job has my team cleaning millions of sticky notes up, by shooting at thick patches of them scattered around an office. They can get stuck to my character's body, obscuring their first-person vision and eventually swallowing them whole. It's a zany workplace premise that simply isn't matched by blander missions that simply have me collecting orbs and dropping them in a minecart. Discovering the punchline of each job is the real draw early on. Missions always start with a simple janitorial joke, but build out in complexity the more players dial up the difficulty. Each job has three phases, each of which is more involved than the last and the final one culminating in some final test. In Hot Fix, the first phase simply tasks me with fixing up broken fans by pressing my controller's bumpers in the pattern shown on screen. The second phase opens up a second zone, where I need to watch out as fans occasionally blast out heat rays that can set me on fire while I'm working. The third phase does all of that, but then culminates with my squad having to fill up barrels of water and zipline them into a giant furnace that's about to blow. Discovering the punchline of each job – especially the excellent end gag of Paper Chase – is the real draw early on. That mission structure does wear thin fast, though, even with four difficulty levels and optional Corruption modifiers that raise the danger and rewards. Each job is a one-trick pony that loses its luster after the first full go around. It feels a bit like playing one interstitial puzzle in a Destiny raid blown out into a full mission. It would be a little easier to swallow if there was some exploration to be done during missions, but there's very little potential for that. The small maps only contain a smattering of upgrade materials to find, whether hidden in locked safe rooms or just lying around on tables, but any side areas are largely empty. The customizable mission structure doesn't shake things up enough to make it feel worthwhile, but it does come with one side effect: a matchmaking headache. When you jump into a multiplayer game, you usually have a few playlists to choose from. Those focused options make sure players can easily get into a round because there are only so many places for players to queue up. Consider how much more complicated that becomes when each mission has three possible phases, four difficulties, and multiple corruption options. You're talking hundreds of playlist permeations that not even the world's most popular games could hope to fill consistently. I'm not sure how Remedy is accounting for that, but judging by the fact that I have never successfully matched into a specific job setting yet, the situation is a bit dire. I've mostly had to spend my time in Quick Play, where I wind up just doing the basic first phase of jobs over and over again. That issue has been worsened by some unreliable connectivity at launch. I have been booted from jobs mid-game several times so far. That included one time while playing with a friend, after which I had to struggle to get back in with a room code that didn't appear to work for a few minutes. I imagine that these issues will be smoothed out over time (Remedy has already pushed some matchmaking improvements post-launch), but all of it leaves a bad first impression out the gate. Thin teamwork While jobs can be tackled solo, FBC: Firebreak is meant to be played with a squad of three coordinated friends. That's because the selectable character classes all have abilities that are meant to synergize with others, or cover their weaknesses. There are three selectable 'kits' at launch, each of which can be customized with different perks, weapons, and throwable grenades. The Fix kit's deal is that they have a wrench, which means that they can repair electronics by smacking them rather than carrying out a button pressing minigame. The Splash kit has a water cannon that can put out fires and soak enemies. The Jump kit (the total dud of the three) has an electric tool, the best application of which is firing it at wet enemies to electrocute them. There's some clever interplay born from that trio, as each class has a specific role to fill in a mission. Being 'better with friends' is such a low bar that I hesitate to give FBC: Firebreak credit for limboing under it. The problem, though, is that Remedy still wants the entire experience to work for solo players. That design philosophy means that every class' specific skill isn't actually necessary at all. If I see a fire on the ground, I can simply pat it out with that same bumper pressing minigame that I use to repair objects. If I don't want to do that, there might be a sprinkler above it that I can shoot to put it out. More often than not, I can just walk around it since fires rarely block my path. I don't need a Splash kit to deal with that, nor do I need a Fix kit to power up healing showers and ammo-giving workbenches. I can do that job with any character, and almost as fast. I understand the instinct here, but there's some missed potential here to make players solve for missing kits in more creative, puzzling ways. When I'm not cleaning turbines or putting out fires, I'm shooting waves of frequently spawning Hiss monsters. They're essentially zombies, but Remedy's inventive worldbuilding pays off here with an array of bizarre creatures, from flying chair demons to illusory orbs. It's a perfectly fine way to add some action between the run-of-the-mill tasks, but the shooting is as thin as the kit powers. Each player can only equip one gun, more or less just choosing between a handgun, machine gun, or shotgun. None of those feel like they have much impact when they fire, nor do grenades that hardly do damage to even the weakest degs. All of this is a little more fun with friends, of course. There are a few systems that encourage coordination, such as the fact that players' shields will only regenerate when they stick by one another. But frankly, being 'better with friends' is such a low bar that I hesitate to give FBC: Firebreak credit for limboing under it. Everything is better with friends! I would have a nice time painting over the Sistine Chapel if I was chatting with two close pals during the process. The most fun I've had so far is when I logged in to play with another reviewer. The mission itself was just background noise as we chatted about our issues with the game. As is the case with even the most boring desk job, it's the people gathered around the water cooler that can make it all worthwhile. But nothing's stopping you from hanging out with those coworkers outside of the office. Incentive structure FBC: Firebreak does get better the more time you put into it, but that's my biggest issue with it currently. It's almost a game that's designed to be boring from mission one. I don't have a grenade, my starting weapons feel weak, and my kits have no depth. Those issues change as I play and pick up upgrade currencies during jobs. Gradually, I'm able to unlock better weapons and new utilities for each kit's primary tool. The big hook is a long-tailed perk unlock system, which allows me to stack up more buffs as I level up characters and totally change how they feel. Put enough hours in and the early hour woes will clear up. That design decision is one built on hubris. Remedy seems to be banking on the idea that players will simply grind their way through a boring game by dangling the promise of a fun one in front of them. Play long enough and the Fix kit will a turret and an ultimate ability that involves a piggy bank. To get there, though, you'll have to play the same few missions over and over again to grab more upgrade materials. And when you finally get the tools you want, you'll be returning to those exact same missions again. It's an arbitrary grind, one that Remedy has already toned down in post-launch updates. As I wasted testing FBC: Firebreak, I was juggling two other online multiplayer games, Mario Kart World and Rematch. Both games have something in common that FBC: Firebreak lacks: They hooked me from the very first round. Mario Kart's racing is fast and fun from the jump and I never need to be convinced to queue up for another round of Knockout Tour. Rematch is similarly elegant, introducing me to satisfying soccer gameplay that's both casual and leaves a lot of room for personal growth as I pick up its nuances. The extra incentives for playing both are thin. Mario Kart World has some unlockable characters and stickers, but none of those things change the fundamentals of racing. Rematch only rewards me with some cosmetics in typical battle pass fashion, but I'm not thinking about that at all when I go for another round. They're like the surprise Christmas bonuses that you're not expecting. I just can't imagine signing off from my real 9 to 5 to clock into another one. FBC: Firebreak, on the other hand, is all carrot and stick. You're starting a contract job with low pay and no benefits, and then asked to get excited to work for the chance to get health insurance in a year. Sure, everything will feel more worthwhile once you get there, but you're probably not going to stop job hunting while you wait. There are other jobs to apply to out there, just as there are countless co-op games that don't lock the good parts away. In some high concept way, it all makes FBC: Firebreak more thematically functional. It treats players like the lowly employees they control. You have to imagine that their dream isn't to fight demonic sticky notes every day. Surely they hope to run the FBC one day, becoming one of those powerful people that gets to redact documents. That's the dream, but it's one hidden behind a gauntlet of hoops. The grind here feels true to life, perhaps making FBC: Firebreak the most accurate representation of what it's like to climb the corporate ladder. I just can't imagine signing off from my real 9 to 5 to clock into another one. FBC: Firebreak was tested on PS5 Pro.
