ranzware
For nearly 30 years—ever since the release of its second ever game, Max Payne—developer Remedy Entertainment has been in the business of making narrative-driven singleplayer games. Recent releases have even taken that focus further, tying together the studio’s games into one connected universe of stories.
All of which ensures that, however you slice it, the biggest question hanging over its upcoming co-op shooter, FBC: Firebreak, is “why?”. With its multiplayer, systems-driven action and absence of cutscenes or scripted story sequences, it’s certainly not the Control follow-up diehard Remedy fans would be expecting.
“You should expect the unexpected from Remedy!” says Firebreak game director Mike Kayatta. “The studio has changed quite a bit. We are getting to work on lots of projects at the same time. And of course, that opportunity just breeds a lot of new ideas, creativity and opportunity.”
In that sense, Firebreak seems to be a side effect of a stronger, more independent Remedy than ever. Not only does it now have multiple games on the go at once, but this is also its first ever self-published game.
Despite the shift of genre—not only from singleplayer to co-op, but also from third-person to first-person shooter—the game still slots into the existing lore. The “FBC” of course stands for “Federal Bureau of Control”, and indeed Firebreak is set entirely within the Oldest House, the same sprawling office otherspace Jesse Faden found herself trapped in.
Now years into the Hiss invasion, the Bureau regularly sends out Firebreak teams of expendable office staff to deal with the endless supernatural crises that beset the House. That’s where you and two of your friends come in, gearing up with an arsenal of bizarre weapons and equipment to take on waves of foes or die trying.
Importantly, this isn’t a massive live service game. It’ll enjoy ongoing support (all gameplay updates free, with paid cosmetic items) but it’s intended to be “pick up and play”—something easy to jump into with your friends and undemanding on your time.
“We really wanted to make a game that people could access on their terms,” says Kayatta. “That’s not to say it’s a casual thing or that we don’t want people to get invested. Of course we want that. But we also don’t expect to dominate anyone’s life.”
Systems shock
During my advance (hands-off) look at the game in action, what surprises me is how systems-driven it is. In leaning so far away from scripted sequences, Firebreak tips all the way into organic chaos. There seems to be almost an immersive sim-like design to it.
Heat is a factor, for example, and the Hiss will actually get more effective as they get warmer—but if things get too warm, fires can break out and enemies can even spontaneously combust. Water douses flames, and it also heals you, via any source, but getting wet can make you cold which slows you down.
Mission objectives play into that design. The one I get to see involves a dangerous infestation of sticky notes, which seem to not only be spreading across the complex but spawning strange paper creatures. The goal is disarmingly straightforward: destroy over 250,000 sticky notes, however you can.
You can just point a machine gun at a pile of the yellow squares and fire away, but it’s not very efficient. Creative thinking is better rewarded.
Set off the sprinklers over a big pile, and then blast the wet mess with an electricity gun, and they’ll all fry at once—though make sure there aren’t any damp allies standing nearby. Equally fire will quickly spread across the notes, but creates its own risks—not just burning the team, but potentially buffing the waves of Hiss with their warmth. Brilliantly, you can even just run through sticky note piles, letting them stick all over you as they try to smother you, and then leap in one of the decontamination showers, washing them all down the drain.
“We were never going to be able to build a replayable game off of [scripted sequences], as amazing as they are,” says Kayatta. “As much as I wish we could figure out some sort of procedural musical number or something, we didn’t quite crack that one yet! And so from that perspective, we came at it from a systems lens. Because systems, if you get them right, are sort of an engine that generates those moments. They’re not as big and grand and controlled, but they are really unique. So though you kind of lose something, you also gain something if you get it right.”
The game’s strange selection of equipment looks set to provide plenty of opportunity to poke and prod at these systems. Just in the short section I was shown, I saw water cannons, lightning guns, leaf-blower sentry guns made out of office chairs, and an explosive piggy bank that unleashes a swirling storm of coins.
Kayatta describes “joyful discoveries” and “funny moments” the internal team is still running into playing with these systems. The game seems to bear inspiration from the emergent silliness of games like Helldivers 2 and Deep Rock Galactic, and certainly the footage I’m shown looks like chaotic fun. Every moment there seems to be some kind of explosion going off, fire breaking out, or burst of electricity crackling across the screen.
But it’s particularly hard to judge that kind of gameplay on sight, and I’m left all the more impatient to try the game for myself, to see how all this truly clicks together in play. In the meantime, as a long-time fan of Remedy’s singleplayer adventures, it’s hard not to be sceptical.
Breaking from tradition is all well and good, but with many of the studio’s core strengths set aside, is this set to be just a throwaway spin-off? And even if it turns out well, can it really have much of a lifespan in the crowded co-op multiplayer space?
Those are the pessimistic questions, but at the same time just the existence of Firebreak gives fans reasons to be optimistic. A big, self-published spin-off developed by a new team separate from whatever the next big project is—that’s an exciting new step from a Remedy seemingly at the height of its powers. Dipping into other genres could open this connected universe up to new fans, and lead to even more exciting developments in the future. The world of Control and Alan Wake is growing like never before.
And though this is in many ways a major departure, much of what I see is comfortingly familiar. As an enormous sticky note giant bursts up through the retro office floor panelling at the end of the level, looming over the team of put-upon office workers wielding guns made from improvised science equipment, I can’t help but think “This is so Remedy”. There may not be any FMV or internal monologues, but Firebreak certainly looks creative, strange, and unique enough to stand as a worthy addition to one of gaming’s most fascinating canons.
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Kurt Indovina
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