'FBC: Firebreak' (Image: Remedy Entertainment)
Released on June 17, FBC: Firebreak quickly made headlines for being Remedy Entertainment’s first-ever multiplayer title.
FBC: Firebreak takes place six years after the events of Control, a supernatural third-person action-adventure game also developed by Remedy Entertainment. Like its prequel, FBC: Firebreak will feature supernatural chaos, and players will face off against unpredictable scenarios with their teammates in the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC).
PlayStation recently had the opportunity to discuss the inspiration and challenges of FBC: Firebreak with Communications Director Thomas Puha, Lead Level Designer Teemu Huhtiniemi, Lead Designer/Lead Technical Designer Anssi Hyytiainen and Game Director/Lead Writer Mike Kayatta.
When asked if there were any challenges with developing their first multiplayer first-shooter, Hyytiainen responded, “It’s radically different from a workflow point of view. You can’t really test it alone, necessarily, which is quite a different experience. And then there are times when one player is missing things on their screen that others are seeing. It was like, ‘What are you shooting at?'”
Kayatta explained that the game was inspired by a mix of sources, including the popular TV show Dirty Jobs and games like PowerWash Simulator, where he shared, “Cleaning dirt is oddly meditative and really fulfilling. It made me wish a zombie would attack just to break the Zen, and then I’d go right back to cleaning. And we thought, that would actually be pretty fun in a game.”
Huhtiniemi and Kayatta explained they wanted to embrace the chaos to differentiate FBC: Firebreak from other co-op multiplayer shooter games. Huhtiniemi stated, “That’s the whole point of the game. It’s supposed to feel overwhelming and busy at times, so that was great to say it out loud.”
Kayatta described the original prototype with only two Hiss-es per level as unfun. He then added, “Then everything just accidentally went in the opposite direction, where it was super chaos. At some point, we actually started looking at Overcooked quite a bit, and saying, ‘Look, just embrace it. It’s gonna be nuts’.”
Since its recent release, FBC: Firebreak has garnered mixed reviews. Some fans wish the game were more narrative-based, a user on Reddit commenting, “Stick to narrative games, Remedy. Everybody wants their own multiplayer cash cow.”
On the other hand, a user on OpenCritic remarked, “FBC: Firebreak is a successful co-op PvE shooter with fresh ideas, charming chaos and an audiovisual style that clearly stands out from the genre standards.”
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