EMERGENCY 4 Deluxe
- April 24, 2018
- Sixteen Tons Entertainment
- 103h median play time
Get on SteamEmergency 4 Deluxe is a realistic emergency management simulation game. As the commander of various emergency services, you'll manage resources, respond to incidents, and ensure the safety of your city. The deluxe edition includes the base game and the "Facts of Life" expansion, offering new missions, vehicles, and scenarios. Cooperation and strategic planning are key to success in this immersive and challenging game.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game is highly enjoyable, especially with the extensive modding community that enhances gameplay significantly.
- Despite its age, the game offers a good mix of strategy and emergency response simulation, making it engaging for players.
- The graphics, while dated, are still considered decent for a game released in 2006, and the audio is generally well-received.
- The base game can feel empty and repetitive without mods, which are almost essential for a fulfilling experience.
- There are numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, particularly with unit pathfinding and AI behavior.
- The game struggles with modern hardware compatibility, leading to performance issues and crashes for some players.
- story44 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 75 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally considered minimal or generic, with many players noting a lack of depth in the narrative. While the campaign missions are described as intense and action-packed, featuring unexpected challenges, the overall storytelling is often overshadowed by gameplay mechanics and mission structure. Players appreciate the strategic elements and variety in missions, but express a desire for a more engaging narrative experience.
“The game offers a realistic and immersive experience, with detailed missions and a variety of vehicles and equipment to manage.”
“Campaign missions: the missions are intense, and they also have lots of surprises changing the situation (for example, new accidents, new dangers suddenly show up forcing us to react immediately to save lives), which adds to the thrill.”
“Very great game in my personal opinion, increasingly difficult as missions progress, and will make you mad, especially if you are not used to playing games that require strategic thinking, logic, common sense, etc.”
“☑ no story”
“☑ no story”
“☐ no story”
- graphics42 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game, released in 2006, are generally considered decent for its time, with some users appreciating the visual quality despite acknowledging that it shows its age. However, there are reports of glitches and performance issues, particularly on certain systems, which can detract from the experience. Overall, while the graphics may not compete with modern titles, they are still enjoyable and do not overshadow the game's engaging gameplay.
“Honestly a really good game to play and the graphics are good, surprising this was made in 2006.”
“The graphics and sound design are also top-notch.”
“Graphics are definitely great for the game's age, although the graphics engine is showing its age with the coming years, but definitely still looks great.”
“Be careful, some users recommend trying the game before playing it due to issues with graphics.”
“I'm experiencing between 4-17 frames per second regardless of graphics settings.”
“Graphics keep glitching out when I try to deploy any unit.”
- gameplay30 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is generally well-received, with many players praising its addictive nature and the depth provided by various mods that enhance or completely transform the experience. While the base game offers decent mechanics and enjoyable missions, the true potential is unlocked through modding, which adds realism and new gameplay elements. Despite some bugs and dated graphics, the core gameplay remains engaging and challenging, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of the genre.
“A game that is older than a lot of people, but somehow still offers gameplay that is yet to be equally matched.”
“One of the things that really stands out about Emergency 4 is the level of detail in the gameplay.”
“If you had played older emergency games, you know the gameplay, and you know what to do.”
“Why why why why didn't it work for gameplay but you stole my money $17.99???”
“Maybe the graphics are aged, but the gameplay and the mission difficulty didn't; it's challenging and fun.”
- stability13 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is frequently criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and crashes that significantly hinder gameplay. While some players appreciate the graphics and the efforts of the modding community to enhance the experience, many still encounter persistent issues that detract from overall enjoyment. Overall, the game is described as janky and problematic, with stability issues being a major concern for players.
“The game is janky, buggy, and all around a mess.”
“I can't play the game; it glitches when I try to place any unit. The texture glitches and then the game becomes a black, glitched mess. I've searched and didn't find anything that could help me fix this.”
“When you try to mod it, it doesn't really work; it glitches and then crashes your game. Waste of money; graphics are not really good and need to be fixed!”
- grinding6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
Players consistently express that the grinding in the game is excessively time-consuming, often requiring a significant investment of effort akin to having a "second life." Additionally, some find the micromanagement and limited autonomy of AI companions to be tedious, further complicating the grinding experience.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“Though the micromanaging and lack of autonomy on the AIs may still feel a bit tedious at times.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews; while some players report smooth performance even on older hardware, others criticize its lack of improvements or updates since its 2018 re-release on Steam, indicating a failure to optimize for modern systems. Overall, the game maintains its retro feel but could benefit from graphical enhancements and better performance optimization.
“I'm just gonna say this: retro, good performance (I'm on a 6-year-old laptop that isn't even meant for gaming).”
“Control is a bit flaky, but overall a great game that runs smoothly on a less powerful computer.”
“Considering the game was re-released on Steam in 2018, Sixteen Tons appears either incapable of or unwilling to improve its performance on anything even vaguely approaching modern hardware.”
“I would accept the price if they had updated the graphics or optimized it somehow, but it is the same game as it was in the past.”
- music4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game generally complements the gameplay well, enhancing the atmosphere with fitting soundtracks that match the intensity of different situations. However, some players find the music can become repetitive and annoying after extended playtime, with issues regarding volume control where music remains audible even at low settings.
“The soundtracks are awesome; they really fit well with the situation you're in, perfectly intense when something bad happens and perfectly calm when the pace is slow.”
“The soundtrack can also get annoying at times, especially if you play for 50 hours.”
“Music usually works fine, but there are moments where you can lower everything to almost 0% and you will still hear music that sounds like it's at 100%.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability, particularly due to its unique features and the availability of mods that enhance the experience, making it a highly recommended choice for RTS enthusiasts seeking something fresh.
“Highly recommended if you're looking for something a bit new and unique in your RTS games. Plus, there are mods to add lots of replay value to this already great game.”
