Fire Department 3 does have its moments, but the problem is you are usually far too busy to enjoy them. Here's how a typical mission works. Your units are dumped down beside a blaze and within seconds the objectives window starts screaming instructions. Extinguish that flaming electricity transformer! Recover those five injured scientists! Contain the fires by the fuel silo! Click. Click. Click. Click. A frantic minute passes and you get a couple of things done only for them to be instantly replaced by a couple more. Turn on those extractor fans! Bulldoze that gate! Rescue that kitten! More panicky clicking, more time-sensitive objectives. By the time the victory screen pops up you are as frazzled as the hero-narrator's Gallic eyebrows.
Firefighting games obviously can't be too leisurely, but there's no good reason why they can't be more freeform than this. The devs have gone to the trouble of creating a very impressive fire and smoke propagation model that factors-in things like oxygen supply, wind direction and ignition thresholds, yet you are so busy dashing round trying to complete the contrived tasks set by the control-freak mission designers, you barely notice it. By the end of the thirteen-episode campaign I was praying for a mission in which I arrived at a scene and was told, simply 'Put the fire out and save as many lives as possible'.
There just aren't enough meaningful choices in FD3. Areas where players might have had power are selfishly monopolized by the game makers. Take units for instance. There's a good selection, but do we get to pick or purchase our own squads before a job? Not on your nelly. Apart from some token reinforcement decisions, you get what you are given and that's that. Being as the campaign follows the adventures of a single globetrotting fire-team, you'd think the devs might have thought to include some sort of persistent experience or skills system. Picking new upgrades for individual firefighters, choosing to rest weary or injured crewmen during certain missions... With a few inspired touches the game could have been so much better.
MegaGames - founded in 1998, is a comprehensive hardcore gaming resource covering PC, Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, Mobile Games, News, Trainers, Mods, Videos, Fixes, Patches. Fire Department Demo English This demo of the fire department simulation title allows one mission where you need to extinguish a gas station alive with flames and save some innocent citizens.
Predictably, the lack of choices extends to the campaign structure. Like a strict parent, FD3 forces you to finish one course before moving on to the next, but even on the lowest difficulty level progress can be third-degree-burns painful, and the puzzle-like nature of the missions and numerous time limits ensure a lot of reloading. Those that do stick around until the end get rewarded with the blindingly obvious conclusion to the game's thin storyline. Amazingly, it turns-out that the roving French fire-crew at the center of the plot aren't just hilariously unlucky. The fact they were in Kiev when a nuclear research lab was bombed, in Paris when a virus lab went-up, on a Channel Tunnel train that caught fire, etc etc, wasn't just a coincidence! (My head is still spinning, my jaw is still slack.)
Ironically, the best of the scenarios are the ones with the most workaday settings. At one point during the French segment you are sent off to a city suburb to manage the aftermath of a huge gas explosion. Buried casualties have to be sniffed-out with dog teams then extricated by strapping axe-wielders, people trapped on upper floors need to be located by agile climbers then rescued with the aid of long-ladder fire engines, blazes need to be extinguished. As usual you are trying to do all of these things at once which is horribly stressful, but it's fun too. A game that generated incidents like these semi-randomly, then let you tackle them using your own tactics and team selection, now that would be a firefighting game I could get really enthusiastic about.
Part of the reason the concurrent mission objectives and the time-limits are such hard work is that a lot of the activities in the game require micro-management. Though personnel and pumps will happily attack nearby fires without specific instructions, operations like rescues and indoor fire-fighting must be carefully choreographed. Firemen won't open doors without your say-so, which is wise considering the risk of backdrafts and flashovers, but equally they won't carry victims to safety unless instructed. Another area that can get quite fiddly is the switching of extinguishing agents. The game models four types of fire - 'classic', electrical, chemical and metal - and four types of substances for fighting them. Because maps often feature several flavors of flame, you sometimes need to re-equip firemen at appropriate vehicles or hydrants. It's tactical texture, but it's also another thing to think about during the manic missions.
One answer to FD3's scary workloads is to bring a friend to the inferno. All of the campaign missions can be played co-operatively with up to four players sharing the same force. Just in case the squabbles over the fireboat and the rescue chopper get out of hand, there are also some large bespoke missions in which every player gets their own firehouse full of equipment and men. Not tempted? No, me neither.
One day someone is going to make an excellent strategy game about firefighting (this isn't it, by the way, just in case you haven't been paying attention). If you'll excuse the inexcusable combustion-related puns, Monte Cristo has a good enough engine but it doesn't seem to have the necessary flare for level design or pacing.
People who downloaded Fire Department: Episode 3 have also downloaded:
Fire Department (a.k.a. Fire Chief / Emergency Fire Response), Firefighter Command: Raging Inferno, Emergency 3, Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life, Emergency: Fighters for Life, 911 First Responders, Wildfire, Gangsters 2: Vendetta
Fire Department presents players with the real-life dilemmas of fire fighters and fire departments. With limited resources, very real dangers, and trapped people who must be saved in a few scant minutes, firefighters have their work cut out for them. Players will tackle ten missions including explosions, a petrochemical refinery, a railroad accident, and a warehouse fire. Six firefighting jobs -- basic, nurse, protective clothing specialist, engineer, commando, and obstacle specialist -- offer a variety of gameplay experiences. Players must make decisions, sometimes rushing in, but sometimes containing and waiting for specialists. Performances are evaluated from mission to mission, with captains receiving rewards for outstanding performances and detailed memorials for firefighters who don't survive the inferno. Firefighting vehicles include the massive Aerial, the Pumper, the mini-Pumper, the Water Tower, the Tanker, the Medic Master, and the Wildland Xtreme (a bulldozer).
It was every child's dream growing up, to visit a fire station and see how fire fighters spend their time through an ordinary day, then getting the call to respond to a situation. Watching the big red truck roll away with the sirens on only makes a child say: 'That's what I want to do when I grow up'. Every child that happened to play Emergency Fire Response would never again dream of becoming a fire fighter.
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Developed by Monte Cristo and published by Dreamcatcher, Emergency Fire Response primary appeal wasn't just to the US, but to the European countries as well. In fact in other nations, the game has a completely different title. Therefore if you find another game similar to this, but under a slightly modified name, it's probably the same game.
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The premise of Emergency Fire Response is simple. The game unravels in a number of cinematics before each mission. The style used is reminiscent to those of early Blizzard cinematics of Diablo or Warcraft II. Not to make a direct comparison to the two, the graphics are better, though still makes a dismal attempt at being anything up to par. After seeing the given cinematic, the mission begins.
The structure of gameplay is, overall, a point-and-click system. This comes to no surprise as Monte Cristo and Dreamcatcher have previously worked with point-and-click adventure titles. Selecting fire fighters is done with the left mouse button, and issuing orders is done with the right mouse button. Unfortunately, the gameplay doesn't offer anything new; when playing, watching the fire fighters in action becomes very boring.
Once they're done controlling a segment of the fire, another click sends them away to a different portion. This is done far too many times, and you'll find yourself sitting and watching, instead of playing.
Trying to 'spice' up the gameplay, during a mission, you'll have to also try to complete sub-missions. To no ones surprise, these are also completed by pointing and clicking. Sub-missions include saving unconscious civilians, stopping bombs from exploding, and various other things that go hand-in-hand with the mission played. The worst part of the gameplay lies within the sudden changes within a mission. During a mission the game cuts into a cinematic opening another task to be completed. At first, this made for a more in-depth experience, but then, things went completely wrong. After receiving one of these tasks, you'll get five or six more on top of that. This means, you'd have to try to control the primary fire, save special people, and hack into the security system while using five fire fighters. Because of this, the mission will come to an abrupt stop, causing it to be replayed. (Of course, for strategy fans there's probably just the right amount of challenge.)
Being a top-down game with little characters, the surroundings need special attention, in order to create a believable setting. For the most part, the team did a pretty good job making the settings look decent with destructible buildings and pseudo-realistic fire effects. I say 'pseudo' because the fire effects don't always move like an actual fire. This can be seen after controlling a fire for quite some time, then looking back and seeing the fire lit up again, while there aren't any other fires around that single portion. This is frustrating, but not to worry, other things are far more frustrating then this. The character graphics are, surprisingly, poorly done. Hard ridges and lack of detail plague each character when compared to the surrounding graphics.
On the topic of sound, what is there to expect? There is subtle music, but for the most part, the crackle of the fire is what is heard. Sometimes a building or two will collapse, but other then that, repetitive sound fuels the game.
Emergency Fire Response was a great idea gone awry like many good ideas do. For fans of fires or fans of just wasting away time staring into a dark monitor, Emergency Fire Response will be your 'Game of the Year'.
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People who downloaded Fire Department (a.k.a. Fire Chief / Emergency Fire Response) have also downloaded:
Fire Department: Episode 3, Firefighter Command: Raging Inferno, Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life, Emergency 3, Emergency: Fighters for Life, 911 First Responders, Wildfire, 911 Paramedic