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
- Very realistic firefighting experience with engaging fire dynamics.
- Great graphics and sound design that enhance immersion.
- Fun to play with friends, offering a cooperative gameplay experience.
- Repetitive missions with limited variety, leading to boredom after a short time.
- AI teammates are often unhelpful and can hinder progress.
- Lack of updates and new content since release, making the game feel abandoned.
- 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 uninspired, often revolving around similar tasks like extinguishing fires and rescuing victims. While some appreciate the potential for randomization in missions, the overall consensus is that the game lacks a compelling narrative or engaging progression, leading to a sense of boredom after completing the available missions. Players express a desire for more diverse mission types, including non-fire scenarios, and a more dynamic gameplay experience rather than the current mission-based structure.
“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.”
“The missions are pretty copy and paste, and within 14 hours I have basically milked this game dry.”
“It's boring doing the same missions over and over again.”
- graphics202 mentions
- 62 % positive mentions
- 34 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
Overall, the graphics in the game receive a positive reception, with many players praising their realism and detail, particularly in fire and smoke effects. While some users 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, like I thought it was real life!”
“The graphics are phenomenal and it is semi-realistic.”
“The graphics of the fire and water are incredible, the gameplay is top notch.”
“The graphics are also a bit underwhelming.”
“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 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.”
- gameplay187 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
Gameplay in this firefighting simulation game is a mixed bag, with many players 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. Although the fire behavior and graphics are well-received, the overall experience suffers from technical issues and a need for more content and polish. Many reviewers express hope for future updates to enhance gameplay depth and variety.
“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.”
“Do I recommend this game? Hell no, at least not in its current state. The last mission update was on November 29, 2022. The game worked as intended back then, but now it feels abandoned by its developers, like a hot flaming pile of buggy issues.”
“The game suffers from massive bugs and random glitches that make it feel like it's barely holding together. It's frustrating to play when it constantly crashes and freezes.”
“Game is buggy and the AI is terrible. The developers have ignored these issues for over a year, and I can't complete some missions because the hitboxes on the fire aren't 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 other firefighting games.”
“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
- 12 % positive mentions
- 77 % 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 generally considered low, with many players suggesting that the game could benefit from additional features to enhance replayability.
“With new features and added functionality, this game has enormous potential for replayability.”
“Furthermore, the replay value is very, very high especially if you're playing online.”
“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.”
“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
- 4 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 57 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and time-consuming, often requiring a significant investment of time 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, which contribute to a sense of monotony and boredom. Overall, while some appreciate the realism, the grinding elements are seen as a major drawback that detracts 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
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % 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 technical issues such as overlapping tracks and distracting background music detract from the overall experience. Overall, while the audio elements are well-processed, many players recommend adjusting settings to enhance enjoyment.
“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 flinging across the map. While players appreciate the comedic elements and the lighthearted take on firefighting, some express disappointment over the lack of more engaging scenarios, like burning houses. Overall, the game successfully blends humor with its firefighting theme, making it an entertaining experience for players.
“Firefighting simulator - the squad is a short funny rescue & firefighting game.”
“A funny game for multiplayer to become firefighter buddies.”
“Yes, it has some quirks, some hilarious things, and then other things that make you scratch your head and go, '...what?'”
- monetization5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization of the game is widely criticized as a cash grab, with users expressing disappointment over its potential being squandered due to poor management and abandonment. Many feel that the initial appeal was overshadowed by aggressive monetization practices, leading to a lack of value for their investment.
“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's the honest truth when I say this game is really good. Despite there being a few bugs and wrong things here and there, this was still one of those games that I could never get bored with, and I could not recommend it enough.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Reviewers note that the atmosphere remains consistent and undisturbed even when water is introduced to enclosed spaces, suggesting a well-crafted environment that maintains immersion without disruption.
“There is no sense of immersion; the atmosphere feels flat and lifeless.”
“The game fails to create a believable environment, leaving players disconnected from the experience.”
“The lack of dynamic elements makes the atmosphere feel stale and uninviting.”