(This is in response to Paul’s review of FBC: Firebreak here: https://pixel-response.com/fbc-firebreak-review/)

I hate voice chat. 

Halo 2 was the beginning, where the constant badgering and shouting and malarkey basically prevented me from being able to focus on actually playing the game well. 

Then, Scene It happened. I was kicking a guy’s ASS at movie trivia on the 360 and he was such a bitch about it. He was mocking me, not taking his brutal, ignorant loss particularly well and letting me hear about it. It effectively destroyed my enjoyment of a game I really loved because that was my standout experience of it. 

There are exceptions. Among Us provided hilarious moments thanks to its voice chat options. Such as the time I answered the accusation “I saw you stab that guy” with “my knife needed sharpening”. 

In FBC: Firebreak, I want no voice chat. I need no voice chat. I want the sanctity of The Oldest House maintained at all times. I want that pristine environment unsullied by the spoken word of anyone not taking this as seriously as I am.  

I wish to highlight that pretty much everything an attentive player would need to know is onscreen at all times. 

The location of your teammates. Constant ghosts are visible, through any wall or obstruction, at all times.

The status effects, health bars, shields and class info of your teammates, onscreen in the bottom left at all times. 

Many, if not all, gameplay relevant objects and aid stations are specifically pingable. There is even unique dialogue for showers, ammo stations, and shelters, and strong enemies can be highlighted for teammates to focus on should you be downed and it be best they clear the area before attempting a rescue. (That said, there is a perk that neutralizes all enemies around you when you die, allowing you to redeploy in the closer shelter, perhaps even the very one you just died in, so you can retrieve your precious loot. Pro Tip).

Like Paul, I have hit level 49, but I intend to get the full 1000 achievements currently available and unlock EVERYTHING. 

That’s because, unlike a Left 4 Dead, a Darktide or even an EVOLVE, I care tremendously about the lore and setting here. The head canon of just being a grunt worker in the Federal Bureau of Control is tremendously stimulating. I’d gently push back on Paul’s assertion there aren’t enough easter eggs here. If you spend time really walking around those levels and not treat every round like a speed run attempt, there is a lot of flavour in this environment. Computers with specific screens on. Posters and things in the break rooms you find (and the shelters, but I mean those charming rooms with the sink and whatnot). And hey, if there isn’t a poster there, YOU can put one there with the spray system. 

The sprays in this game showcase tons of enthusiasm for the world of Control. The black pyramid is in there. Every Altered Item you’ll encounter in FBC is whimsically drawn. And more besides. That fridge, you know the one, is drawn with aplomb, and what hard working member of the Firebreak team wouldn’t smile seeing that posted over the water fountain? 

This devotion to such an antiquated multiplayer feature is also one hundred percent in my nostalgia window and I’m glad they put time into it and I hope they add more and not indulge the naysayers freaking out over there being too much ART in the game.

But the main thing I’m finding is special about this game, the community of players engaging with it. I’ve played several games with the same people, presumably due to region based matchmaking, and really been impressed by the savvy of some fellow FBC coworkers out there. I’ve learned amazing tips and techniques just by observing how others are tackling the various challenges and adding them to my tool bag. And I’m discovering things too and showcasing them in my play. 

The first such breakthrough was barrel gathering in Hot Fix. Paul and I ran into a player, the subject of the cheeky write-up, that was feeding the furnace one barrel at a time, causing near constant flares. Now, you COULD solve this issue by yelling at the guy,  but,  like Paul acknowledged, there are a lot of new players and they simply don’t know how best to approach these deliberately obtuse problems. 

Firebreak is on Game Pass, and I want that one million players number to go up so Jeff Gerstmann has to acknowledge he just doesn’t like PVE games and should really stay in his lane (which is Rygar and NES related). 

Gerstmann’s vitriol at this game actually fueled me to just buy the damn thing. I took his barb “that’s a million played, not a million sold” VERY personally and immediately forked over 63 dollars for the deluxe edition. 

I even wrote a 4000 word RAMBLE to Microsoft when their system automatically popped up a feedback window after I stepped back from buying the regular edition. That piece has been sent into the bowels of one of America’s largest tech companies, perhaps never to be seen again. 

JUST like a strange document that may populate the Oldest House itself. 

That’s the thing, this game has me feeling creative. Spray placement, min-maxing builds and how to approach each level in effective ways. Subsequent breakthroughs, invented by myself and observed by “Rando Calrissian” are as follows. 

You can charge the generators for the fans with a single, well placed, shock grenade.

If you stick an epoxy grenade to an armoured pipe wielder, one hit kill. 

The water cannon removes fungus in Frequency Shift. Permanently in some areas, but it grows back swiftly in others. Saves you ammo. 

In Paper Chase, Randos will often focus so much on the paper that you’d be better served setting up infrastructure in the area. Shelters, ammo stations, showers. Just get things ready for when they invariably end up in trouble. 

The “Shake it Off” perk is particularly useful in “Ground Control”. I’ve been holding a pearl while jumping, with no slime coating, and stayed at zero radiation level. 

As for the weapons, I feel they are weak at the start so you start on lower difficulties. 

That said, my very first game I jumped straight to Hard( “Pshaw, I’ve played Control like 4 times, I know what’s up”)  with the default submachine gun and my team won that game. Sure, they had to revive me a LOT, but that’s because I was catching on fire so much and didn’t know everything yet. Fire extinguishers put you out. The sprinklers have tell-tale signs as to where they may be. 

Also, crucially, I didn’t have “Shake it Off’ (which again, Perk of the Year. Better than the Taylor Swift song. Get it. Upgrade it. Love it. )

I also have the added benefit of missing the most awkward, earliest phase of this game as I was still in the hospital following my kidney transplant. 

And, it is worth acknowledging, my onboarding came while I was on a TON of drugs. So I was on uppers, essentially, and this game was posied to blow my mind. I cannot guarantee similar delight, but that leads me to my conclusion. 

Play Remedy’s Control if you haven’t. It’s incredible. 

Better than The Outer Wilds (that is a  warning shot fired DIRECTLY over Vinny Caravella and the Nextlander crew.  I missed because I love you guys, but come on, recognize a masterpiece when it’s in front of you. And play Majora’s Mask, the game Outer Wilds clearly borrowed from). 

If you love that like I do, you get to play in that environment with other people now. You can essentially do some performance art and act out how you would manage a Firebreaker unit in the FBC. I deeply, DEEPLY wanted to do that so this one’s a no-brainer for me. 

5/5

The game to beat in 2025. 

I’m going to go play it right now. Kraznor on XBox for those looking for an instructor.