Firefighting Simulator
- December 6, 2022
- Chronos Unterhaltungssoftware
- 6h median play time
"Firefighting Simulator is a strategy game that allows you to experience the life-or-death challenge of firefight as part of a US firefighting team, both in single-player and co-op multiplayer modes. Operate real fire trucks, wear authentic gear, and fight fires across a large, Westcoast-inspired townscape. With awesome graphics, the game is let down by some grinding and bugs, but the thrill of the fight makes it worth it."
Reviews
- The game features amazing graphics and realistic fire dynamics, making firefighting feel immersive.
- The AI can assist in firefighting tasks, and the game is enjoyable, especially in multiplayer mode.
- The game has a good variety of missions, and the ability to replay them with random elements adds to its replayability.
- The game has been largely abandoned by the developers, with no significant updates or new content since its release.
- Driving to fire scenes can be tedious and time-consuming, often taking longer than the actual firefighting.
- The AI is often unresponsive or ineffective, failing to use fire extinguishers or assist properly during missions.
- story612 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 81 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is largely criticized for its lack of depth and variety, with many players noting that missions feel repetitive and formulaic, primarily revolving around extinguishing fires and rescuing victims. While some enjoy the challenge of completing missions, the absence of a cohesive narrative or dynamic gameplay elements leads to a sense of monotony, especially after completing the limited available missions. Overall, players express a desire for more diverse mission types and a more engaging story-driven experience.
“Much like Grand Theft Auto V or Red Dead Redemption 2, I believe there should be a story mode with good lore added so that it’s not just a random, uncoordinated game.”
“The missions themselves have a decent amount of variation but the random missions become tedious.”
“The game has a wide variety of missions and things to do, objectives to complete.”
“The game doesn't have a true story to it, so there is that.”
“It's boring doing the same missions over and over again.”
“The missions are the same thing over and over again, same missions since release.”
- graphics202 mentions
- 62 % positive mentions
- 34 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
Overall, the graphics in the game receive a positive reception, with many users praising their realism and detail, particularly in fire and smoke effects. While some players note minor glitches and performance issues, the visuals are generally considered impressive for a firefighting simulator, with several reviewers rating them as excellent or near-perfect. However, there are also mentions of the need for optimization and improvements in certain areas, such as vehicle graphics and animations.
“The graphics are unbelievable; I thought it was real life!”
“The graphics are amazing and the map is really thorough with skyscrapers, single-family residential houses, industrial and commercial buildings, and apartment buildings. The animations are pretty good, and the graphics of the smoke, water, and fire are really awesome.”
“This game has some of the best graphics on any firefighting simulator I have seen to date.”
“Graphically, this game isn't living up to soon hitting 2023; its city visuals are bland, boring, and visually uninteresting.”
“However, I do not recommend it for single player since the boring driving routes, repetitive gameplay, and some of the worst graphics I saw on a 3D game that cost 25 dollars in 2020.”
“The graphics are fairly basic and there are no physics when you are driving.”
- gameplay187 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising the realistic fire mechanics and engaging multiplayer experience, while others criticize the repetitive mission structure, clunky driving mechanics, and lack of variety in gameplay. Players appreciate the potential for immersive firefighting scenarios but express disappointment over technical issues and the need for more content and features to enhance replayability. Overall, while the core mechanics are solid, the game suffers from a lack of depth and polish, leaving some players feeling that it falls short of its potential.
“Introducing various weather conditions like rain, snow, and wind would impact firefighting strategies and gameplay and would add an extra layer of realism and challenge.”
“Allowing players to switch between third-person and first-person perspectives would increase immersion and realism and will also provide a different gameplay experience.”
“The fire mechanics are pretty good; the way the fire spreads quickly makes it challenging if you aren't focusing on it.”
“This game is riddled with stereotypical fire whacker commentary, lackluster gameplay, and frequent crashes.”
“Repetitive, abandoned by devs, same gameplay loop that gets very boring after not that long.”
“The driving mechanics are some of the most frustrating I've ever played in a game.”
- stability46 mentions
- 2 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 98 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and crashes that significantly hinder gameplay. Many users express frustration over the lack of developer support and updates, leading to a perception that the game is abandoned or poorly maintained. While some players find enjoyment despite these issues, the overall consensus is that the game is currently too unstable for a full recommendation.
“The graphics are attractive, the lighting is good (especially the bright fire), and the game itself is relatively bug-free.”
“The game runs smoothly without any major glitches, providing a stable and enjoyable experience.”
“I appreciate how the developers have prioritized stability, ensuring that gameplay is consistent and reliable.”
“Do I recommend this game? Hell no, at least not in its current state. Before the mission updates, the last of which was on November 29, 2022, the game worked as intended. While it lacks in anything other than putting out fires, it's a fun game to play. However, this game seems to have been abandoned by its developers as a hot, flaming pile of buggy issues.”
“Last update ruined the game. There's zero support for any issues being experienced; it freezes and crashes. There's a common bug (for me at least) where the game will go into slow motion upon arrival for no reason and then sit at a black screen, forcing me to use Alt+F4 and restart to play the mission again, where it will most likely just happen again. There are just too many things wrong with the game; they either need new developers who know what they are doing or revert to the old version and leave it that way.”
“Game is buggy and the AI is terrible. The developers have ignored it for over a year, and I can't complete some missions because the hitboxes on the fire are not registering.”
- optimization37 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 22 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing significant performance issues such as frame drops and crashes, while others report smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems. Many users emphasize the need for further optimization and bug fixes, although a few commend the game for running well and being better optimized than other firefighting titles. Overall, while there are notable performance concerns, some players find the game enjoyable and well-optimized for their setups.
“Overall the game is great; I love that it released on time, with minimum optimization issues unlike other firefighting games that have been out for some time and take a long time to run and will most likely crash.”
“This game is amazing for just being released; it's amazingly optimized and I'm starting to prefer this to Emergency.”
“It's optimized, the fire behavior is wonderful, and the smoke behavior just puts the cherry on top.”
“Good lord this game is so poorly optimized it's unreal.”
“I have 32GB of DDR4, a 3070 RTX, and an i7 processor... the game has semi-lagged and crashed on me twice.”
“Less optimized game I've ever installed on my PC.”
- replayability26 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 81 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag, with many players expressing disappointment due to a lack of diverse content and limited mission variety after initial playthroughs. While some find enjoyment in replaying missions to improve skills or achieve higher scores, others feel that the absence of features like a scenario editor or sandbox mode significantly hampers long-term engagement. Without new content or updates, the replay value is perceived as low, with many players suggesting that the game could benefit from additional features to enhance its longevity.
“With new features and added functionality, this game has enormous potential for replayability.”
“Although the missions are premade, I see a lot of replayability in the missions as you learn how to deal with the fires better as you play.”
“Like I said, I only have 4 hours on record, but in those 4, I've encountered many different scenarios, including levels that are 'random' for that replayability.”
“The replayability ran out around 10 hours of playing, for me.”
“There is no real replay value here.”
“Game has very little replay value.”
- grinding23 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 57 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and time-consuming, often requiring significant effort to achieve certain milestones, such as using 100k liters of water or traveling 1000km. Many reviews highlight the repetitive nature of missions and the frustrating AI mechanics in single-player mode, which contribute to a sense of monotony. Overall, while some appreciate the realism, the grinding elements are seen as a major drawback that can detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“They created some last achievements (100k liters of water used and 1000km traveled in a vehicle) that are deliberately grindy to keep you playing longer.”
“You will burn through this game quickly, and a lot of missions have repetitive and tedious mechanics.”
“The missions themselves have a decent amount of variation, but the random missions become tedious.”
- music10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 80 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding the slow piano tracks during long drives to be dull and sleep-inducing, while others appreciate the energetic metal music during shorter missions, despite it often cutting off too soon. Additionally, the use of familiar themes, like the town of Salem song, adds a humorous touch, but there are complaints about distracting background music and occasional audio bugs, leading some to recommend turning off the music entirely for a better experience. Overall, while the sound design has its merits, it suffers from inconsistency and can detract from gameplay.
“Uses the literal town of Salem theme song when fighting fires, lmao.”
“Wow: visually satisfying, the close encounters of objects crackling and cooling as sprayed down are music to my ears.”
“- the graphics and music are nice.”
“I had slow piano music, which almost made me fall asleep and took away any sort of buildup for excitement.”
“Another mission that took 1-2 minutes to drive, I had hectic and exciting metal music, but the track didn't even complete before we had arrived at the scene.”
“The background music is pretty distracting; I recommend turning that off and turning off the fire number indicators.”
- humor7 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in "Firefighting Simulator - The Squad" is characterized by its quirky and often hilarious moments, particularly in multiplayer interactions and unexpected glitches, such as cars flying across the map. Players appreciate the comedic elements that arise from the game's mechanics, though some express disappointment over the lack of more dramatic scenarios, like burning houses. Overall, the game successfully blends humor with its firefighting theme, making it an entertaining experience.
“Firefighting simulator - the squad is a short, funny rescue and firefighting game.”
“A funny game for multiplayer to become firefighter buddies.”
“Yes, it has some quirks, some hilarious moments, and then other things that make you scratch your head and go, '...what?' I am legitimately disappointed that I couldn't get a house to burn down.”
- monetization5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization of the game is widely criticized as a blatant cash grab, with users expressing disappointment over its potential being squandered due to poor management and abandonment. Many reviewers do not recommend the game, citing its exploitative financial practices as a major drawback.
“Fun at first, but very much a cash grab.”
“A simple cash grab that the game could have had potential, but as far as I know, this game is abandoned and left in a mess.”
“Bet my money I paid for this game that it's a cash grab.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the game to be deeply emotional and heartfelt, often expressing a strong connection to its narrative and characters. Despite some minor bugs, the overall experience is engaging and memorable, leading to high recommendations from users.
“This was probably one of the most heartfelt reviews I have ever made, and it is the honest truth when I say this game is really good. Despite a few bugs and minor issues, this is one of those games that I could never get bored with, and I could not recommend it enough.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers note that the atmosphere remains consistent and undisturbed even when water is introduced to enclosed spaces, suggesting a well-crafted environmental design that maintains immersion.
“There is no sense of atmosphere when water is introduced to an enclosed space.”
“The game fails to create a compelling atmosphere, leaving players feeling disconnected.”
“The lack of atmospheric depth makes the environment feel lifeless and uninviting.”