Remedy Entertainment is entering the co-op shooter arena with FBC Firebreak, a game set in the Control universe. This detailed guide outlines everything that players must know regarding the missions, progression systems, currencies, etc. Basically, everything to master the game. FBC Firebreak is a thrilling sci-fi shooter game from the makers of Max Payne and Control. It takes place in the mysterious Oldest House. Players will experience wild combat and supernatural strangeness.
Missions and Their Structure
FBC Firebreak offers five distinct missions, each packed with growing challenges. Despite the fact that the $40 fee could indicate a somewhat small mission count, the depth of missions provides replayability. Every mission has three clearance levels that introduce another area and an objective. In tier one, you have one task before extraction. In tier two, there’s an additional task. In tier three, this ends with a task, commonly a boss fight.
To get to the higher level, the player must complete the previous one. It is worth grinding for better tiers for better rewards. Also, the difficulty settings range from Easy to Extreme for your convenience. When a player beats the three levels of a mission, the corruption tier becomes unlocked. Along with that a new mission comes which results in an added complexity in the game along with extra rewards.
Corruption Tiers and Their Impact
One of the features is the corruption tiers which add random modifiers. They range from low-gravity conditions to haunted items such as rogue traffic lights and wrenches that malfunction. How many corrupted items will appear in a mission area and where will they spawn? At level one of corruption, there is a single item that appears. At level three, each zone has three items that appear.
To destroy these items you will need to use a Black Rock Neutralizer. You will find this near the ammo stations.
Every neutralizer has limited ammo—3 shots—so shoot carefully! Corrupted items drop mission-related research sample for perks upgrades. These samples spawn randomly in places where corrupted items spawn, along with a deep sound. To keep the samples, players must extract with them otherwise they will drop upon dying thus must recover fast.
Currencies and Progression Systems
FBC Firebreak’s currency system is simple, with Lost Assets being the main currency. Lost Assets can be found in clipboards or satchels dropped by tough enemies or inside hidden shelters. They can be used to unlock skills and buy items in the Requisitions menu. When you die, they drop just like research samples, so remain alert.
The research samples, also known as secondary currencies, are mission-linked. An example is the Hot Fix mission which gives Whispering Ash, while other missions provide Resonant Globes, Achromatic Sand, Vicious Strips or Numbered Splinters. You can only find these things in corruption tiers. The higher your corruption the more you can gain. You can combine Lost Assets and research samples to unlock and upgrade perks across Weak and Strong and Resonant.
Perks, Levels, and Class Customization
There are two levels in the game: overall level and class level. Your overall level (to a maximum of 47) determines which skills are available in the Research tab. To illustrate, the Night Terrors skill requires level 47 to use as a reference. The class level is specific to each one of the three Crisis Kits (Fix, Jump, Splash) and which ones can have how many perks equipped on it. At level one of class, a player can use only one perk, while at level nine, a player can use up to nine perks.
Each class has to level separately which encourages players to try all three. All perks exist for all classes, but are activated based on class level. We can use guns and grenades across all classes. You can also customize your helmets, armor, gloves, voice lines, and sprays. But, like other shooters, these have no class-specific uniqueness.
Requisitions and Loadout Upgrades
Similar to a battle pass in other co-op games, like Call of Duty’s Warzone, the Requisitions system can have two packs – Operational Essentials and Fire Starter. The Operational Essentials is the primary progression path. It is made of nine pages of unlockable items. These include weapons, grenades, augments and tools. There are three rarities for items in Telegram—Faulty, Functional, Optimized, and better rewards are in the higher pages. In order to unlock new pages, players must spend Lost Assets. As such this creates a decision point where players must weigh the advantages of investing in either skills or gear.
Fire Starter, which comes with the $50 Deluxe Edition, is cosmetic and not pay-to-win. Items and augments automatically equip based on your class (Fix on left, Splash on right) thus making loadout management easier. The system is simple, but the strategic spend is important to prioritise upgrades for the class-you-prefer early on.
Crossplay and Community Features
You can team up with some buddies while playing with anyone from any platform. Instead of using a long and painful process such as IP logging and the like, players generate a session code to send, which is simple and easy. One major flaw about the game is the lack of in-game voice or text chat which makes coordination with random players hard. It is advised that you utilize Discord or console party chat for chat.
Final Thoughts on FBC Firebreak
FBC Firebreak is a love letter to fans of Control, placing the player in the brutalist beauty of the Oldest House. Feeling threatened when fighting off the Hiss is a welcoming change from Control’s remote telekinetic heroics. The shooting mechanics are fun, and it’s nice to see something out there that doesn’t have daily challenges or FOMO stuff.
Even with promised free updates coming in 2025, and new missions coming soon after launch, the initial offering of just five missions feels a bit light for the price. Plus, the imbalance in solo play and matchmaking issues at launch may frustrate early adopters. When you play with friends, it gets more interesting as you battle sticky notes and fire, which is what it is like. FBC Firebreak is not a brand new idea but one bettered by the team behind it.
Discover more our guides.