A few weeks ago, Remedy flew me out to its headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, to play its newest game, FBC: Firebreak. In addition to my hands-on time, which you can read about here and watch here, I had the opportunity to speak with some of the lead developers working on the project about the game’s biggest inspirations.
“The dev team calls [Helldivers 2] the best game in the world,” lead designer Anssi Hyytiäinen says when asked about Firebreak’s inspirations. Director Mike Kayatta includes the Warhammer games as well, saying, “Darktide, and to a lesser degree, Space Marine,” had “quite a big influence.”
Each of these examples is pretty straightforward – it makes sense how one co-op shooter would inspire another – but the longer the team continues to speak, the more surprising the influences get. For instance, when Deep Rock Galactic is named, it is immediately followed by the caveat that Firebreak doesn’t have the same “amazing procedural generation,” and that the games are more similar “structurally than practically,” according to Kayatta.
Anssi Hyytiäinen mentions Overcooked, and Kayatta volleys back with Power Wash Simulator, likely in reference to the surface-clearing objectives in Paper Chase. “For a while, we tried really hard to figure out how to get a pressure washer in the game,” Kayatta says. Based on the final product, it’s clear that it didn’t pan out.
Kayatta then begins to talk about Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer mode, which immediately elicits playful exasperation from his coworkers, clearly rehashing a discussion they’ve had many times, possibly even earlier that day.
Kayatta starts by saying, “I’m the only one who’ll even say this anyway–”
Hyytiäinen quickly cuts him off, replying, “You are. Just say it. Just say it.”
“I stand by the fact that this game did not deserve to be a tack-on to a single-player game that nobody wanted, which made it so unfortunate,” Kayatta says of Mass Effect 3. “For me, it was like, so fun to just play with your friends. You don’t have to overthink it.” He explains that he enjoys synergizing with friends’ builds and how you don’t need to understand the mode’s plot to have fun, but for those that do, it ties into Mass Effect’s worldbuilding.
The very first inspiration they mention, before the question is even posed, is Monster Hunter. Despite the obvious lack of both hunting and monsters, Hyytiäinen says the structure of repeatable missions inspired Remedy. “It’s all about building your gear,” he says. “You have, what, five levels or environments in it? But that’s not what the game is. It’s not that you go to the jungle and experience the jungle. It’s actually about what you’re building up.” By implementing the Clearance Level system, which expands and alters missions as you play them, Firebreak wants players to master a gameplay loop while unlocking and upgrading new abilities.
After playing the game, I don’t think all these inspirations are immediately apparent. That said, we had an accelerated XP track to see as much of the game as possible in a short time frame. Additionally, the perk system (which will allow for more variation in player builds) will be overhauled when FBC: Firebreak launches, so I’ll have to wait until then to see the comparisons to a grind-focused game like Monster Hunter. I look forward to further analysis when the game launches next month on June 17.
