There have been firefighting video games for so long as there have been video video games, however for no matter purpose—and I’ll speculate on this in a second—there has by no means been a nice one. Fireplace Commander is the most recent recreation to try to break this duck, and whereas it doesn’t make it, I not less than admire the best way it tries.
Fireplace Commander was developed by Pixel Crow—keep in mind Beat Cop?—and Atomic Wolf, and was launched final week on PC, Xbox and PlayStation. It really works like a real-time ways recreation, solely as an alternative of capturing Nazis you’re placing out fires, and between missions there’s a complete strategic facet of the sport that may be greatest summed up as “XCOM, however with gyms for firefighters”.
I believe the principle purpose there’s by no means been an incredible firefighting recreation is as a result of, as thrilling as the topic can look on the information or in films, in actuality most fires are fought in an extremely routine approach. And hearth itself, whereas positively a hazard, simply doesn’t lend itself to being an incredible adversary in a recreation the best way an precise enemy does. Certain it’s harmful, nevertheless it’s often additionally sluggish, and usually you defeat it by…pointing a hose at it.
Fireplace Commander tries to get round this by abandoning any and all makes an attempt at simulation. If you happen to needed to get an perception into how fires are literally fought and what a day within the lifetime of a firefighter is definitely like, this isn’t the sport for you. At almost each level on this recreation, Fireplace Commander is ditching actuality within the title of constructing concessions in the direction of enjoyable and strategic gameplay, and whereas that is in some methods disappointing—I used to work for NSW Fireplace & Rescue, and would like to see somebody really get a good simulation made—in most methods it’s comprehensible, and the recreation is all the higher for it.
As I’ve stated, Fireplace Commander is break up into two sections. The primary, performed out between missions, has you overseeing your firehouse and roster of firefighters, and for those who’ve performed XCOM you already know what’s taking place right here. You may relaxation and prepare your current firefighters, recruit new ones and broaden or improve your base. It’s nice, and all of it works, however I by no means discovered it the problem the best way I believe it was speculated to be, since my firefighters would achieve XP so rapidly that resting and changing them by no means felt as pressing because it was clearly speculated to be.
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Most of your time in Fireplace Commander is spent out on a mission, although, and it’s right here that issues acquired much more pleasurable. Having deserted any try at realism, the builders have as an alternative constructed a real-time ways recreation that’s based mostly round you choosing the right individual for the suitable job on the proper time.
Each job you attend can have some form of time restrict on it, like a hearth spreading to one thing explosive, or quite a few civilians who’re in peril and must be rescued earlier than it’s too late. Standing in your approach is the hearth itself, which must be put out, but additionally quite a few environmental challenges like locked doorways (which must be chopped open with axes) and obstacles that may solely be overcome by a sure class of firefighter.
This class division is irritating in some ways—why can’t each firefighter use a round noticed or a pc!?!—however like I’ve stated, it’s one of many design concessions that was made to create a recreation out of this, and as soon as the preliminary gripe wore off and I began considering of everybody as “techs” or “rogues”, it was nice.
The important thing to finishing each single mission, then, is figuring out the quickest approach to obtain every goal, as a result of the longer you permit a hearth to unfold, or an workplace employee in a room filling with smoke, the more durable your job goes to get. I hardly ever acquired via a job on the primary try; as an alternative it will take a number of tries, as I needed to optimise which firefighters I despatched to every nook of the map, and ensure they have been doing the suitable jobs once they acquired there.
As soon as once more this was initially irritating, as continually having to restart missions in a recreation that superficially had a lot in widespread with a real-time ways recreation felt like bullshit. Absolutely a recreation that had a lot in widespread with, say, Metal Division needs to be testing me all through the mission, not simply presenting me with a single puzzle at the beginning and leaving the remainder as much as my execution?
Begin considering of every mission as a run, although, and it begins to make extra sense. Much less Metal Division, extra Neon White. Every mission will unfold the identical from the beginning, so a profitable job in Fireplace Commander is extra about perfecting your plan—a number of actions could be queued up at any time, even earlier than the mission begins—then executing that plan to perfection.
If you’ve mastered what Fireplace Commander is attempting to do right here—utilizing firefighters as window dressing for a novel real-time ways expertise, somewhat than simulating the job of a firefighter—it may be a extremely enjoyable. Transferring round a map capturing unhealthy guys has been achieved 1000 instances earlier than, however coordinating a workforce to comprise a spreading hearth, cleansing up chemical spills and dragging unconscious civilians out of a burning restaurant (typically abruptly) was a contemporary problem.
It’s removed from excellent, after all, and I don’t wish to make it sound like it is a contender for technique recreation of the yr. Even taking its lack of realism into consideration, there are nonetheless some weird choices right here, like not letting firefighters break large home windows subsequent to locked doorways, or giving everybody a transportable water tank as an alternative of utilizing hoses, which once more is one thing clearly designed to supply a problem (forcing you to juggle firefighters who must race again to a truck to refuel), however which in implementation is a big ache within the ass.
Most jarringly, and regardless of my general love for this “style” of European Catastrophe And Transportation Administration (for those who may even name it that), it’s stuffed with annoying little quirks like easy duties having to be clicked on a number of instances, and pathfinding sending firefighters on weird journeys across the map, and typically…straight into fires. It’s a janky discipline, another involved (or prioritising) its nuts and bolts over its polish, and I knew this coming into it, however that doesn’t make it any much less irritating.
BUT. I’m a forgiving man on the subject of these form of video games, as a result of as busted as they are often, and as unforgivable as that may be in so many different circumstances, on the subject of Euro administration video games I’m keen to miss so much, as a result of these video games are so earnest. This wide-ranging style has restricted budgets and is enjoying to a restricted viewers, so it’s unfair to anticipate the world of its video games. They’re attempting their greatest, rattling it, and on this case Fireplace Commander does sufficient that’s new and fascinating that I may work previous its rougher edges.