In terms of any authorities clear up job, there’s going to be some soiled work. The work simply occurs to be dirtier when extra-dimensional ghouls are concerned. That’s the premise of Treatment Leisure’s new cooperative shooter, FBC: Firebreak (out now), and it’s one which the builders have leaned into with hilarious outcomes.
Set on the planet of Treatment’s 2020 paranormal action-adventure sport Management, Firebreak takes place six years after the occasions of the mainline title, whereby a authorities group dubbed the Federal Bureau of Management (FBC) has arrange store to comprise an otherworldly risk often called the Hiss. Whereas Management was a single-player, third-person journey that targeted on exploration and backtracking, Firebreak is Treatment’s tackle cooperative first-person shooters like Left 4 Lifeless (2008).
It’s a really totally different sort of sport for the studio, whose earlier work like Management and the Alan Wake collection have been celebrated for his or her atmospheric and often experimental storytelling — routinely mixing live-action footage with in-game graphics to eerie impact. Right here, the plot takes a again seat to gameplay, making for an odd mash-up of inspirations that feels equal elements dollar store Ghostbusters and intense extraction shooter.
However does it work?
What’s FBC: Firebreak?
FBC: Firebreak is a three-person cooperative shooter that sees gamers tackle the position of Firebreakers, a unit of not-quite-elite troopers tasked with quelling the chaos contained in the FBC’s HQ, often called the Oldest Home. Below perpetual siege by the Hiss, the FBC depends on Firebreak to mow down monsters which have possessed their workplace employees and remedy an escalating collection of issues (usually mundane duties like fixing air flow and cleansing up haunted stick notes) earlier than issues get out of hand.
Gamers can select from three Disaster Kits, which function particular class specializations. The Repair Package is a wrench-wielding mechanic, the Soar Package is an electrician, and the Splash Package is a poor man’s firefighter. Weapons and equipment (like grenades) are interchangeable between the kits, however every serves a selected function. Round every stage, sure jobs should be accomplished, like fixing machines devoted to powering followers or workstations, which may be accomplished extra rapidly by Repair and Soar courses. For the Splash gamers, their glob-shooting hose can heal their teammates, put out harmful fires, and weaken the Hiss, who’re weak to H20 (and hearth, ice, and radiation!). The final bit is essential, too, as a result of gamers themselves can rapidly fall sufferer to environmental hazards and having a Splash Package helpful can rapidly right a collection of mishaps.
Previous to queuing up with others on-line, gamers should choose a selected stage that revolves round a job. Sizzling Repair requires them to repair all of the followers within the space as rising warmth turns into harmful. Paper Chase is a stage the place gamers eradicate possessed sticky notes like an influence washing simulator. Floor Management is about deeper within the depths of the Quarry, the place gamers pop leech pods like pimples to seek out irradiated pearls to shove right into a cart. Frequency Shift is pulled immediately from Ghostbusters 2, the place pink slime gunks up the gears of the power and should be cleared earlier than antennae may be restored. Lastly, Freezer Responsibility sees the workforce igniting moveable mills to warmth up frozen extra-dimensional anomalies.
The roles themselves are principally straightforward to carry out. Some solely require smacking a machine with a wrench, whereas others may be extra puzzling at first — like quickly hitting button prompts to kickstart a fireplace generator and tossing it right into a frozen anomaly with out setting your self on hearth. Most duties have some type of inherent risk that should be managed, and multitasking turns into key. Gathering pearls in Floor Management requires taking pictures pods which are excessive up, accumulating the intense inexperienced pearl and racing again to the cart (which may be pushed, however slides again on the rails when left alone). On this occasion, the pearls themselves are radioactive, and may kill you rapidly if not tossed. Gamers should then both rinse off in a close-by bathe (or Splash Package hose) to cut back their radiation ranges.
There’s additionally the ever-present risk of the Hiss which, fortuitously, is available in clearly telegraphed waves. When the comms ring alerting gamers to a Hiss invasion, it’s time to drop the job at hand and hunker down for battle. Enemy issue and density may be determined previous to the mission, and for veteran gamers, a Corruption modifier may be added guaranteeing high-powered foes seem. However on the base risk stage, the sport is manageable, even in single-player mode. With reasonable coordination, enemy AI may be overcome handily — not less than at decrease ranges.
Does it work?
Mechanically, FBC: Firebreak feels wonderful to play. The controls are tight and beneficiant with the stamina meter, which means that every one the sprinting, lifting, and throwing required for jobs may be accomplished plentifully with out continually stopping right down to relaxation. Aiming and taking pictures is strong, with snappy gunplay and affordable ranges of recoil retaining firefights enthralling. On the PS5, the adaptive triggers have an outlined crunch when pulling the set off, which hardly ever turns into distracting even when the chances are overwhelming.
Jobs and the person duties required can grow to be slightly redundant, nonetheless. Hotwiring a generator or mining ammunition from a workstation at all times requires the identical speedy enter of shoulder button presses, which might hurt the participant in the event that they mess up. The design shines when gamers are below duress; fumbling to correctly string collectively prompts for only one extra clip of ammo as an enemy’s footsteps loom nearer may be riveting. However when the identical actions are repeated advert nauseum whatever the risk stage, it may be monotonous.
That is considerably offset by the tempo of every stage which, in contrast to the 40-minute plus journey of every stage in Left 4 Lifeless, may be made to run a lot sooner. Jobs may be chosen at ranges one via three; selecting stage one means there’s solely a single space to clear, which may be accomplished in a few minutes. Every extra stage basically doubles the playtime, forcing gamers to filter out and full a job, then transfer deeper into the power to do a bigger scale model, then race again to the start line to extract by way of elevator. The choice to go deeper for higher and extra plentiful supplies (used for unlocking and upgrading gear and expertise) may be price the additional effort, nevertheless it’s good to have the ability to play a cooperative shooter than provides a blitz mode. Not everybody has time to descend each layer of hell, each time; an occasional jaunt may be simply as enjoyable.
At current, matchmaking may be hit and miss. Beginning up your personal workforce by choosing a job and ready for different gamers hardly ever pans out; it’s simpler to start a mission solo and hope somebody jumps aboard. Annoyingly, fast begin tends to drop you right into a mission at random, which means that any particular targets you might need (like finishing sure ranges to unlock extra) are on the will of the draw. It’s commonplace to be disconnected from servers too, dropping progress towards unlockables.
Whereas the sport is a cooperative shooter with totally different skins and development techniques, Firebreak isn’t precisely a live-service — which means there’s no battle passes or ongoing occasions to maintain up with. At $40 (technically a funds title!), what ranges, courses, and unlockables there are what you get, though the builders have a roadmap for releasing extra courses, jobs and extra totally free. For gamers accustomed to grinding out each inch of content material out of their video games, there could be a restricted pool of rewards in comparison with video games like Name of Responsibility or Fortnite that dole out infinite updates season after season.
For followers of Treatment’s earlier video games, the tone of Firebreak could possibly be the true subject. Whereas Alan Wake and Management aren’t themselves lethal severe, Firebreak hues way more closely into broad comedy than the mainline Remedyverse titles. If the humor clicks with you, there’s pleasure available in by accident setting your self on hearth over and over whereas being chased by a Slenderman-like apparition product of Submit-Its. However for anybody in search of deeper storytelling or nuance, it isn’t to be discovered right here.
It’s laborious to say if FBC: Firebreak could have longevity as a multiplayer expertise. It packs in lots up entrance, however with some redundant missions and duties, it could be higher fitted to occasional spurts of high-octane gameplay with buddies or strangers. However that’s not essentially a knock. Gigging as a ghost buster doesn’t have to be a full-time job.
FBC: Firebreak is out now for PS5, Xbox Collection X|S, and PC.
From Rolling Stone US.