Here’s our first look at Control’s terror-filled co-op shooter spin-off

Remedy Entertainment’s first multiplayer game is called FBC: Firebreak and takes the player into the world of Control, the critically acclaimed 2019 paranormal metroidvania. The co-op PVE shooter looks like a horror-filled funhouse, but studio Alan Wake 2 is keeping its underlying story and deeper mysteries close to the vest for now.

Revealed during the latest Xbox Partner Showcase, FBC: Firebreak trades the third-person action of Control for a first-person shooter with teams of three players navigating familiar levels from a new point of view and an arsenal of much bigger and weirder weapons this time. The big pollution suits, chunky guns, and welding mask give it a slight but undeniable BioShock vibe in my opinion. However, there is no release date yet.

Take a look:

Players spent Control’s story campaign navigating the oldest house, a meandering tribute to brutalist architecture and bureaucracy-infused horror. FBC: Firebreak will bring them back, taking place after the events of the original game, to play what appears to be a cleaning crew that must purge the Hiss (otherworldly evils) from their various office cubicles and mazes underground Players will also be able to take advantage of powerful artifacts in their missions.

“What I can say is that the Firebreak crew has been cleared to carry ‘paranormal augments,’ which are altered items designed into tool attachments,” Remedy communications director Thoma Puha said in a blog post from Xbox Wire. “Like the garden gnome you saw in the trailer. These are more or less our take on the “latest” and should not be taken lightly. I like to think of them as a jaguar in a box (laughs). You take the box, point it at something, open it and hope the jaguar doesn’t turn around and eat you or your friends.”

Remedy confirmed that FBC: Firebreak will receive post-launch updates, but didn’t want to call it a full live service game. The goal is to make it easy to jump in and experience new things without it feeling like a second job. “It’s a pick-up-and-play experience (about) having fun with your friends when you have time,” Puha said. “That’s not to say that FBC: Firebreak doesn’t have deep player progression and things to unlock, it does, but it’s not about logging in every day for some loot or fear of missing out on materials.

If the spin-off can take advantage of Control’s haunting environments and wonderful vibes to deliver some fun co-op action, that might be enough. This is the remedy we’re talking about, though, so I’d still be surprised if there weren’t plenty of easter eggs and clues for fans of the original game to pick up on, or even in the larger “remedy-verse”. the company has been building in all its games.

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