FBC: Firebreak

I've been a fan of Remedy's games for a long time, starting with the first Alan Wake all the way up to when its sequel came out and loved it even more. Now I've played 3 hours of their new FBC: Firebreak and it's become one of if not my favorite co-op games of all time. I was intrigued by this title because Remedy had never made a co-op game before and was excited to see how they would bring their unique spin on it, and believe me they do not disappoint. The missions are fun and have a mix of COD Zombies style hordes of enemies to fight with your friends and after the objective is complete you have a Helldivers 2-like last stand as you escape the area. Overall from the missions themselves to the job progression and upgrades this is overall and amazing game and just goes to show that Remedy can step out of their mold and make something fresh and incredible.

Honestly, I don't even know where to start with FBC: Fire Break without getting completely sarcastic. I've been a huge Remedy fan-loved Control, Alan Wake is legendary-but what Remedy has released here honestly feels like a slap in the face. Sorry, there's just no sugarcoating it.

You pay 40 bucks for a "game" that's completely finished after barely three hours. And what do you get in those three hours? Five missions that all play out basically the exact same way: You do some trivial chore (like smashing 15,000 sticky notes), then you do the exact same thing again-just for longer this time-and then there's a small "finale" task at the end. This isn't varied gameplay, it's just digital busywork, the kind of tedious office job where the only thing missing is a paycheck at the end.

The enemies? Absolutely irrelevant. I started playing on "Extreme" because I wanted some kind of challenge, but seriously: you can drop the so-called elite enemies in four shots with a regular gun. The only difference between "Normal" and "Extreme" is that you get fewer revives. That's it. The normal enemies barely do any damage at all. I never felt in danger-ever-even when I tried.

It gets worse: the so-called upgrades, perks, and progression systems are so boring and uninspired, you may as well not even bother. You can "earn" new abilities, but they barely change anything about the game. After maybe two hours, you've seen literally everything this game has to offer. The only real challenge is surviving your own boredom.

Honestly, I was rarely this unmotivated. It's like a Dementor just sucked all the fun out of me-Fire Break feels that empty and meaningless. The fact that Remedy made this makes it even sadder, because usually this studio knows how to build exciting, interesting worlds. Here, though? Nothing's left. There are maybe four types of enemies, all constantly recycled. Boss fights? Snooze fest. Co-op gameplay? Nice idea, but even with friends the fun dries up after two rounds, because you're just doing the same repetitive tasks over and over again.

I seriously don't understand how anyone can genuinely hype this game up. For me, it's just expensive, uninspired busywork, but not a real co-op shooter by any modern standard. If I'd known beforehand, I would have saved my money for sure.

I don't play a lot of FOS games and this one is different. It still follows lore of the universe created and I feel the matchmaking has done well for me so far since I don't have friends playing it yet. The weapons and tools take a little getting used to but it's fun even trying to figure them out. There is a lot going on once you move to harder tasks but it's rewarding and lenient on players like me that aren't that great.

Plenty of chances to revive and play kits that complement with other players. Considering this is the day 1 release I can't wait to see what they add along the way. I love the remedy-verse.