Control Spin-Off FBC: Firebreak Is A Defiant, Punk-Rock Take On Co-Op Shooters

I was several missions into my hands-on session with FBC: Firebreak when I consciously tried to pinpoint why I was enjoying it so much. The hordes of Hiss overwhelmed me and my group like an exciting round of Left 4 Dead, one of my favorite games ever made; that certainly helped. The objectives were varied, and the outcomes chaotic--the primary healing method is scrambling into a shower big enough to hold your whole team of three, but getting there is often like swimming upstream in a river of monsters. There's, of course, the tried-and-true adage that says most games are better in co-op anyway, so that worked to its advantage, too. But it wasn't until I spoke with Remedy after the session that it became clear how its punk-rock ethos is the glue that holds the project together.Punk engineering"One of the terms that we used to describe the aesthetics at some point was 'punk engineering,'" lead level designer Teemu Huhtiniemi told GameSpot. As the game's setup goes, the Oldest House's agents have been locked away inside the liminal maze for six years following the events of Control, which has led to equipment steadily decreasing both in quality and quantity. As a result, agents have resorted to do-it-yourself (DIY) methods to stay armed in the face of the Hiss threat.Continued Huhtiniemi, "They started building their own tools and modifying their body armor and everything." Thus, despite being a multiplayer spin-off of Control, the game takes on a markedly different style of its own, with bright colors decorating their non-standard-issue welding masks, and spray paints plastering the once-sacred space with irreverent displays of cartoon ducks.Continue Reading at GameSpot

May 14, 2025 - 15:42

Control Spin-Off FBC: Firebreak Is A Defiant, Punk-Rock Take On Co-Op Shooters

I was several missions into my hands-on session with FBC: Firebreak when I consciously tried to pinpoint why I was enjoying it so much. The hordes of Hiss overwhelmed me and my group like an exciting round of Left 4 Dead, one of my favorite games ever made; that certainly helped. The objectives were varied, and the outcomes chaotic--the primary healing method is scrambling into a shower big enough to hold your whole team of three, but getting there is often like swimming upstream in a river of monsters. There's, of course, the tried-and-true adage that says most games are better in co-op anyway, so that worked to its advantage, too. But it wasn't until I spoke with Remedy after the session that it became clear how its punk-rock ethos is the glue that holds the project together.

Punk engineering

"One of the terms that we used to describe the aesthetics at some point was 'punk engineering,'" lead level designer Teemu Huhtiniemi told GameSpot. As the game's setup goes, the Oldest House's agents have been locked away inside the liminal maze for six years following the events of Control, which has led to equipment steadily decreasing both in quality and quantity. As a result, agents have resorted to do-it-yourself (DIY) methods to stay armed in the face of the Hiss threat.

Continued Huhtiniemi, "They started building their own tools and modifying their body armor and everything." Thus, despite being a multiplayer spin-off of Control, the game takes on a markedly different style of its own, with bright colors decorating their non-standard-issue welding masks, and spray paints plastering the once-sacred space with irreverent displays of cartoon ducks.Continue Reading at GameSpot