First impressions of FBC: Firebreak, the most unintentionally suggestive three-person co-op shooter I've played this year

Remember Bop It? The children’s toy that was like Simon, but instead of tones it called out instructions like flick it, pull it, twist it, and, of course, bop it. That’s what we sounded like in FBC: Firebreak, except it was whack it, wet it, and shock it. That’s the “suggestive” part I was talking about.

Firebreak is a cooperative shooter for up to three players, and each player picks one of three kits. The Fix Kit repairs stuff. The Splash Kit soaks stuff. And the Jump Kit powers stuff. That’s the gist. But how it plays out in a mission turns a decently clever shooter into a chaotic chemistry experiment.

While John liked the Fix Kit and wielded a big wrench, he did not appreciate us telling him to “whack it.” Joseph, who said he's, "Splash Kit for life," embraced his role as the person that would “get me wet.” And with the Jump Kit, I had no problems giving things “The Shocker.” Yes, we're dumb, yes it’s funny, and somehow, it’s all vital to your survival.

These three roles—these three kits—form a lopsided love triangle. One kit benefits everybody. One kit hurts everybody. One kit doesn’t affect anybody directly, but the mission can’t function without them.

The Splash Kit is the firefighter medic. They put out fires in the environment, extinguish flames on teammates, and soak enemies to weaken or slow them—which is especially useful because enemies are stronger when they’re on fire.

The Jump Kit is the crowd-control wildcard, powerful and a little dangerous. Every zap can hurt enemies and friends alike. Shocking a teammate is bad. Shocking a soaked enemy? Good. Shocking a boss who’s just been drenched? Excellent. 

The Fix Kit is the puzzle solver—even if they're solving puzzles with two good whacks from a wrench. It doesn’t help or hinder your friends. But it brings helpful assets online better and faster than the other kits. Interacting with control panels, rebooting generators, and getting mission objectives back online is their job.

Firebreak doesn’t throw you into a shooting gallery. It throws you into an often burning building with malfunctioning fire suppression systems, aggressive mutant enemies, and a never-ending list of repairs and objectives. It’s loud, it’s messy, and everything is on fire—including your friends. 

The co-op synergy is the point of Firebreak. Yes, you can solo missions. But it's nowhere near as fun. The splash player preps targets for the shock player. The repair player needs everyone else to keep fires under control while they fix the next objective. Success depends on communicating and coordinating in real time—which is also where all the absurd, suggestive callouts happen. 

You’re not just shooting zombies, you’re cleaning up disasters. Enemies show up, and there are times when the only solution is bullets, bullets, bullets. But the game is equally happy throwing broken shower valves and fuse-blown ammo refill stations at you along the way.

The verdict so far is that Firebreak is scrappy and a little rough around the edges. The visual style walks a weird line between grounded and goofy. The environments are sometimes maze-like and signposting is sometimes insufficient. The pacing is decently erratic, with a reasonable amount of downtime between panic attacks. But all of that is made up for in personality—and laughs.

It’s the kind of game where the deeper the teamwork gets, the funnier it becomes. Like a reverse party game, it’s less about competing and more about coordinating under pressure—even if it's badly, at first. I refused to consult the developer’s walkthrough documents. John is smarter than me and watched a few gameplay videos. Joseph’s a natural and didn’t need help. And Jason? He was the most patient among us—PlayStation Network kicked him out of the game a dozen times. When he finally joined our triage trio, it booted him again after ten minutes.

By the end, we were nowhere near being a pro Firebreak team. And it was great.

It’s too early to say if Firebreak has staying power. But for now? We're happy yelling out whack it, wet it, and give it the shocker.