Remedy Entertainment, the creators of Control and the Alan Wake games have announced a trailer for their 2025 release, called FBC : Firebreak, it is a co-op first person shooter, a departure from their regular gameplay style, it is set to release in 2025 on PC and Xbox.
Where And When Does This Take Place?
From the trailer, it is clear that the Federal Bureau of Control or the “Oldest House” from Control is our setting for Firebreak; it seems we’ll be fighting the same enemies we fought as Jesse Faden, along with some new enemies shown in the trailers. As per Mike Kayatta, the game director of FBC: Firebreak, they had been searching for a way to bring their deep and diverse world to a multiplayer experience.
According to Mike, the timeline of Firebreak is taking place 3 years after the events of Control, but is designed to be a standalone experience, complete with weird weapons and movement abilities that can only be expected from a Remedy title, as it is designed to be a three player co-op, each player can pick a specialized class and the point is to create synergies between the other two classes picked to excel in clearing out the infestation that is occurring in the Oldest House.
The Specialists We’ll Play As
The classes it seems can be customized to suit the player’s preferences, they can go full assault and try to take on a horde by themselves with shotguns or the mini cannon shown in the trailers, or go full melee brute and charge into hordes and clear them out that way. The trailer showcased a range weapons most of them can’t be described as being regular military guns that are named or have model numbers, other than the MP40 shown.
Specialists will also be able to choose from a range of grenades, support gear and paranormal gear which can then be modified to suit the player’s wants or needs. It also seems as if our specialists will also get to control at least one power akin to Jesse, such as telekinesis, which was shown in the trailer but the question to ask is will they also be able to pick up and throw objects like Jesse could.
Almost every nook and cranny from the Oldest House was showcased in the trailer, meaning we could be able play through the entirety of the building as we keep clearing out the hordes and find out what caused them to return even though Jesse did clear out most of the Hiss.
Players Reactions To The Reveal
While some players expressed their frustration at the design being scrappy and a mishmash of armor and clothes to make the specialists, others were quick to share demoralizing comments like calling this the next Concord. There is some excitement due to the Left 4 Dead style of gameplay that Remedy is going for, but there is a general desire for there to be proper lore to explore for fans of Control and Alan Wake.
The developers did confirm that this won’t be a live service title, it will be a co-op game with a proper story to explain the events and what is happening as Jesse isn’t here. It is genuinely sad to see people leave demoralizing and frankly brain dead comments on game trailers without even confirming the facts, those who have played through Control know exactly why the characters are wearing old scrappy gear and know exactly about all of the details shown in the trailer.
Remedy as a company have always tried to shake things up, Max Payne (now owned by Rockstar games) their very first title is the farthest thing from Alan Wake, Control is the farthest thing from Alan Wake and now Firebreak is the farthest thing from Control. The only common thing in all of the mentioned games, except Max Payne is that they all take place in the same universe. Remedy knows how to remain creative while still giving its fans and players something familiar to relate back to, there is no doubt FBC:Firebreak will be chock full of details harking back to the events of Control and it may even reference Alan Wake 2 and potentially give a setup for Control 2.
