Coinciding with the launch of FBC: Firebreak's major September update for , Remedy has published a new Community First Look video, exploring the dev team's approach with the new reivisions.
The six-minute video showcases new gameplay footage, snippets of behind the scenes development, and interviews with Mike Kayatta (Game Director), Thomas Puha (Communications Director), and Julius Fondem (Commuity Manager).
The video complements the Steam blog posts released earlier in the week which details the economy changes alongside the new Outbreak crisis, Job structures, weapon changes, and Crisis Kit buffs. While the articles breakdown the changes, the video focuses more on the human side of game development and the team's response to the feedback both good and bad.
Check out the video below or on Remedy's YouTube channel, HERE. As always, you can find a transcript of the video below.
Major Update Breakpoint - FBC: Firebreak (Community First Look) Transcript
Thomas Puha: I mean, we should have done better, we know, but then again, but then again, this was always gonna be a game that we'll keep building update by update; making it bigger. making it better, adding in more interesting things. So-
Mike Kayatta: And one of the really great things is, the minute that you put that out to the world, everything that you're hearing is the truth. It's how to actually make the game better. It's getting out of your head and thinking about what other people want, and that's what unlocked for us, the minute that we launched the game. And it really has driven the team, like actually people are even more motivated because they say, "Oh, right, this is what we should be doing. This is how we can fix things and how we can make things better." And that's what's really driven most of the update.
Thomas Puha: Yeah, and in this first Major Update Breakpoint, yeah, we're addressing a lot of the pain points that the community has had. So I think let's get into it.
Mike Kayatta: Yeah.
[Opening Titles. FBC Firebreak. Community First Look: Major Update Breakpoint]
Julius Fondem: We've received your feedback and have really taken it to heart with the FBC: Firebreak development team here at Remedy, and since launch we've been working really hard on the first major update.
This represents the first big step in incorporating community feedback alongside implementing new features that we've been cooking up for a while. If you want to know the full details of what Major Update Breakpoint has included, check out our blog post that we released earlier today. [Blog Post] Link to that is in the description below. But now, let's go over the key features of Breakpoint.
Mike Kayatta: One of our key changes has been the addition of the Crisis Board, which is a fresh way of us presenting curated content in a way that is a lot more dynamic, a lot less predictable, and way closer to the first responder fantasy at the heart of this game. Basically, what we're trying to do is let the game find the fun for you, instead of asking you to hunt for it yourself.
One of the things that we've been thinking about a lot for this update is variety. Now, some of that comes down to how much you're being asked to do inside of, especially Zone 1 and Zone 2. So we've cut those objectives down by about 25% across the board. Then, more excitingly, we've also added what we're calling “Alternate Objectives”, which are new things to do that randomly pop up inside of your sessions, totally replacing the normal objective with something fresh. We've got about two per Crisis already in the game, and we're looking at adding more in the future.
So putting these things together, what we're trying to do is create more variety for you right now, but also produce a platform and a framework for the team to deliver even more exciting content in the most fun way possible in the future.
Julius Fondem: We're bringing a new location to the game that might be familiar to some of you. Following a series of devastating house shifts across the Research Sector, the Mold has begun to spread and evolve, transforming both Firebreakers and Hiss alike into dangerous new enemies. Your mission? Descend down into Research, analyse any spores you find, then brew a custom poison to eliminate all mould in the area. Just remember, do as you're told, don't eat the mould.
Mike Kayatta: In this Crisis, it's your job to actually go get those mould spores and take them to an analyser, all the while set upon by the Hiss and two new enemies that we've got just for this experience; the Mold Turret, which fires these massive projectiles that you're going to actually have to dodge or maybe slide out of the way from, or Mold Walkers, which are kind of slow but pack a really heavy punch if you get too close. Now, there's a few different ways to move those spores around. You actually have to either hold them, which puts you at risk of eating them and becoming mouldy, which does not end well for you, or you need to use these new trains that Firebreak has set up that can safely transport them around the room until they get sucked up automatically by these large vacuum tubes.
With a new Crisis and all new enemies across the game, you're going to need a lot more firepower. So we've added three brand-new guns to the game alongside a new feature called Gun Mods. As you level up, you will unlock three mod slots for each one of your guns, giving you a lot of ways to customize the functionality of your weapons.
Jerry Standish: Hello, fellow Bureau employees! Have you tried leaving the office for a cigarette break recently?
Thomas Puha: With this first major update, we're really trying to tackle and improve the onboarding. There's a brand new tutorial mission that explains the game's systems, explains Crisis Kits, and then we've made other changes as well that hopefully make it a smoother experience, especially for new players.
Mike Kayatta: We are hard at work here at Remedy. We know that we didn't get everything right at launch, and we are working to improve those things. We are working to add even more of the stuff that you already love about Firebreak. And this is our first of many major updates that are coming. And with Breakpoint, there's already so much stuff to get excited about. We've got a whole new Crisis with Outbreak. We've got two new enemies for that Crisis. We've got three new guns. We've got an entire new Gun Mod system to upgrade them. We've got a revamped economy to get the Gun Mods, new XP rewards, new cosmetics, new exotic cosmetics. We've got new voice packs, three new grenades, and I'm sure I am forgetting tons of stuff. It is a huge update, but also, again, just the first step to getting us on the right track and making sure that you can have as much fun with this game as possible.
[Kayatta closes door and walks away before pausing and then returning following the shot.]
Mike Kayatta: Am I like slamming it in your face?
Thomas Puha: -rewinding back, that was great.
Mike Kayatta: Oh yeah?
Thomas Puha: That was very smooth.
