To say I was psyched about FBC: Firebreak when it was first announced is an understatement. Nothing gets me foaming at the mouth quite like quirky, eldritch, co-op shooters. So you can imagine my disappointment when I finally got to play Firebreak and it wasn't as outlandish as I had imagined.
The foundations of Firebreak are certainly there, as you would imagine for something inspired by Control. There are some creative enemy designs and funny objectives like destroying trails of sticky notes or beating up janitors dressed in rubber uniforms. But Remedy doesn't manage to build anything worthwhile on top of that, to make something mindblowing or even that exciting.
Once you've encountered the various quirky enemies for the first time they all start to fade into [[link]] the background. The focus shifts to spraying crowds of the Hiss with bullets or just trying to complete enough objectives to get a new pair of gloves.
I desperately wanted something mind-bending that could be hilarious, tense, and scary to enjoy with my friends. But after giving it more thought I've realised I just wanted a higher-budget version of SCP: Secret Laboratory.
Executive Access
Assigned a random role at the start of a Secret Lab game you could drop into a containment facility as a security guard, a scientist, an SCP creature, or if you're really unlucky, a Class D Personnel member, otherwise known as a D-boy. Each class has a role to play but most of them boil down to killing D-boys, even the ones that usually shouldn't.
As a D-boy, I've been hunted for sport by cruel scientists, herded off the side of a very tall bridge by the peanut, and kept hostage and forced to listen to the USSR's national anthem locked in #914. To be fair that last one was perpetrated by another Class D who got corrupted by power after being the only one to find a gun. But it's all just part of Secret Lab's charm. It's confusing, funny as all hell, and one of the best co-op shooters I've ever played.
But Secret Lab isn't just great thanks to the people you play with, other players can always make or break any co-op game. It's great because it provides all the necessary tools for players to have the best time possible. It doesn't hide anything away forcing you to unlock weapon parts or missions, everything is there for the taking you just have to find it.
There's a Micro HID capable of incinerating SCPs or anything unlucky enough to be caught in its path, a rubber ball that is capable of breaking through facility walls, a tweed hat that makes the wearer invisible, and who could forget the bowl of candies which will kill you if you take more than one.
These bizarre items alongside chaotic players, terrifying SCPs, and a game loop that is tumultuous, to say the least, form an utterly unhinged experience. That's exactly what I wanted Firebreak to be like, and while Remedy's new shooter may be fun, the hinges are in fact intact.
This has been a real full-circle moment for me. Given how SCP inspired Control and then Control inspired Firebreak, I've pretty much landed back where I started: Consuming as much SCP content as possible and begging all my friends to read up on it and play Secret Lab with me.