FBC: Firebreak is studio Remedy Entertainment's first multiplayer romp. As a Left 4 Dead-esque objective-based horde shooter taking place in the Oldest House (the headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Control), the game is heavy on action and light on story.
That doesn't mean that the game is completely divorced from the shared Remedyverse that bridges the events of Control and the Alan Wake series. Firebreak takes place six years after the events of Control, and dimension-hopping Hiss invaders are still causing havoc throughout the building.
There are many references and bits of dialogue that hint toward the events that transpired in Control, but you might miss them as you hose down the Hiss, stomp out sticky notes, pick up radioactive pearls and do more of the jobs no one else wants to volunteer for. As a matter of fact, the entire Firebreak initiative is named after the black rock-lined bridges that disconnected entire sectors of the Oldest House from one another when the Hiss initially invaded the FBC.
Readers beware -- if you haven't yet beaten Control, this article will contain spoilers for events throughout the game. Here are the most interesting nods to Remedy's take on the X-Files/SCP Foundation genre of government agencies taking on the supernatural.
This ragtag team of volunteers better hope and pray their HRAs don't get knocked off during the more frenetic fights. Remedy Entertainment/Screenshot by CNET
Every player is carrying a Hedron Resonance Amplifier
No matter what cosmetic skin you apply to your Firebreaker, you'll notice there's a little black box strapped to your suit somewhere or another. Those are Hedron Resonance Amplifiers, and it's a good thing you're carrying them around. If you lost that piece of your kit, you wouldn't be yourself for much longer.
These devices prevent the Hiss from taking over the human body by pumping out a different frequency from a more benevolent resonance-based organism: Polaris, Jesse Faden's symbiotic mental passenger, who accompanies you during the events of Control.
Lots of care was put into differentiating the character cosmetics in Firebreak. The ragtag team of volunteers isn't armed to the teeth, but they've devised different ways to armor themselves against gunfire, flames or other field hazards.
The single constant is the HRA, because no one would survive a mission without it. It's a nice bit of attention to detail -- keep a keen eye on your character model as you try out different cosmetics, because you'll always be able to spot Dr. Casper Darling's protective device.
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