Games from Remedy Entertainment – how Alan Wake 2, control and Max Payne-I am a single player, linear adventure with cutscenes, a lot of dialogue and endings. FBC: Firebreak Is not like these past games at all. And although some remedy fans could disappoint, I'm curious that the studio is doing something else.
At the beginning of this month I took part in a digital preview event for the Coop Science Fiction Horror shooter from the first person FBC: Firebreakwhich will start later on Xbox, PS5 and PC this year. The developers of Remedy talked about their design philosophy behind the Left 4 dead 2-S -like shooter, answered some questions and showed one of the missions of the game.
What kind of game is Firebreak?
FBC: Firebreak Is in the same universe as controlWhat is even part of the bigger ones “Medium -related universeThat also includes one Alan Wake. Special, FBC is defined about six years after the events of control. The destructive interdimensional hiss is still afraid of most of the oldest house, the incredibly large and cosmic-horror-filled headquarters by control Bundesburo for control. The blocking is still there, and after all these years the supplies expires and people are desperate to take back the headquarters and finally switch off the hiss. So the director of the office –control The protagonist Jesse Faden – has ordered the creation of the Firebreak initiative. This is a voluntary emergency reaction team that is commissioned to stop hissing.
One of the first things that surprised me was the remedy that confirmed this FBC: Firebreak Has no cutscenes. This is part of Remedy's wish FBC Pick-Up-Play Friendly, one of the core design pillars of the game. The idea is that no matter how many hours you played, you should quickly get into a game with a buddy and have a good time.
The other two pillars: FBC is fun to repeat and content must have the feeling that you can only be found in the wild, strange world of control.
During the event, the means showed a recorded mission in which three players were involved. Remedy calls these missions “jobs” with a single main goal, with the campaign being distributed in a series of sections. Players can check how long and difficult these jobs are before they get into what the types of rewards determine and how much XP is allocated in the end
The work we saw was called a paper hunt and involved Control, While they destroy thousands of adhesives that were scattered in the oldest house. The post-it notes can even stick to them and cover their view. The fight reminded me of what they could find Left 4 dead 2 or Back 4 bloodOr even a mission in Fate 2. A lot of shooting, managing space and working together to defeat hordes of villains or complete smaller sub-lenses.
Each player takes a special kit into the battle that contains different tools that can change things in a large way. This includes towers that are only weapons that are glued to office chairs, or a boombox that attracts enemies. How L4D2The players reach large emergency control points throughout the mission and can take a breather and fill it up again. How many of these doors appear in a mission depends on how difficult you did the job.
Finally, the group took out a huge monster at the end of the mission, which was made from yellow sticky notes. With regard to the key columns, this certainly seems to be something that could only happen in the universe of control.
FBC I won't feel like a second job
If you wonder why the means of limitation has decided FBC For only three players instead of the more traditional four, the developers explained that they tried four players early, but it felt like “a little too much to pay attention” during the jobs, and three players felt “better”. You can play alone if you want, or only with another buddy, but there are no bots. So you need some friends and have to plan time to play together.
It is difficult for many adults to bring friends together, and that is aware of this. Your goal is to overthrow the game extremely easily, therefore no clasps or lengthy tutorials and no fomo elements or make -up FBC Feel like a “second job”. You can stop playing FBC For months and then they come back and they will not be back or have to grind to catch up with friends.
Regarding me when I asked if FBC Had an end that the players could reach at some point, I was told no. The game should be played over and over again, with the players unlock new advantages and equipment to change how they play while trying out more jobs. Interestingly, there will also be no big “tailor -made” story updates. So it seems the world of FBC Will be quite static compared to some other online games.
As a big fan of controlI asked how FBC: Firebreak Will and influence the already announced and currently in development Control 2. For the most part it is not. In a later answer, which was given to me by e -mail after the event, the means provided more details about their thinking.
“This was a very conscious decision that was made early for protection control Players who should not be made to go out of their genre comfort zone to follow these stories and to protect non-controlling players who should not feel like they are from their genre comfort zone to understand Firebreak“, Said Game Director Mike Kayatta. Remedy confirmed that FBC Is “canon” too control And indicated that some characters from the game could appear in Firebreak.
Is FBC: Firebreak A live service game?
Means revealed during the event that FBC Contains paid cosmetics and updates after the start, another rather large departure from Remedy's earlier games. However, they admitted that they hesitate to use words like “live service” or “seasons”, since they mean very different things for different people.
Instead, they explained that they wanted to respect the time of the players. No content in FBC is “restricted in time” or is based on Fomo. Remedy insists that you are working hard to play a game “for people with children”, also known as a player with a limited time. They also confirmed that all playable content updates are free and promised more details at the start.
When I asked if FBC: Firebreak Will have a combat pass or not, the answer was pretty vague. I asked for some clarification and received this answer:
We will not have time -limited mechanisms for the delivery of content. We will reveal more about our post start a little later, but in the end we can confirm that none of this content is published when the time is limited. We would like to make sure you have the opportunity to acquire the same objects, whether you play every day or play every other week.
Picture: Care entertainment
When I asked how FBC: Firebreak Will be competing with other online shooters and co-op games, Remedy has pushed back and said they didn't compete with such games. Instead, they want FBC To “insert” their lives between other games, which may demand more time. FBC Can be a thing that you come back to whenever you want and have some free time. Once again the developers brought the goal of not doing FBC Feel like a second job.
Finally I asked about Switch 2. Remedy made a point during the presentation to talk about how to do it FBC Steam Deck verified and wants things going well on lower specifications. So I wondered if this was a Switch 2 connection.
“We are very busy developing the game for the start,” said Kayatta. “So we did not think about Switch 2 at this time, but things can always change in the future.” Well, I tried it.
Currently, FBC: Firebreak will start later on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC this year. It will start on the first day for the game pass and PS PlusAnother path as a means tries to give FBC The best shot to find an audience and to avoid the fate of Sony's failed FPS Harmony.
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