The firefighters are back! The third part of Fire Department puts us back in the shoes of some suffering firefighters who will have to travel across Europe and the United States to ensure that fire does not prevail. Help them in thirteen dangerous missions and do not forget to take the hose.
The job of firefighter is one of the most respectable and heroic jobs that can be done. Saving lives by putting yours is something very rewarding. You just have to look in some countries like the United States, the recognition that you have. Therefore, Montecristo wants us to feel that experience in the purest Hollywood style. Have they managed to become firefighters?
Back in 2003 the origin of the saga appeared, Fire Department, an original game that we put on a firefighter suit to be able to end large fires in unusual and dangerous places. The game was a critical success due to its approach. The sequel would not wait and the following year, Fire Department 2 appeared with juicy news, for example an increase in the number of missions as well as in different types of firefighters and vehicles. The scenarios were increasingly more elaborate and original and followed the same path as its predecessor with regard to the criticism of the media in France.
So we come to 2006 with a new delivery that finally appears in our country. The news? Few respect to the second part of the saga but being the first time it appears in our country we will be very pleased to discover that secrets hides a title that is highly valued in Gallic lands.
The begining of everything??
History situates us in Ukraine, an old friend named Ray has been fined and removed from the body by negligence. Our first mission is to make sure that the largest European transport aircraft, Mriya-225, can make its first inaugural flight. The event was ruined due to a surprising explosion that left a large number of people trapped.
Little by little, as we advance in the missions, the plot unfolds and we discover that a conspiracy is hovering over our fire department. We must go from the Ukraine to the United States, passing through France, England and Germany, to discover that the dark hand manages to get the place burned wherever we go.
The argument is an incentive for the game that has no influence on the measure of it, within the missions we can not change the course of the story or change it. Just try to get us more in the game, but without getting it.
The units that we will control during the game are of two types: firemen and vehicles. Within each one of them we have a great variety since to extinguish the different types of fires we need different units.
Nine is the number of different firefighters with unique abilities that take us from the current firefighter accompanied by his faithful hose to units with unique skills such as explorers, with the ability to climb walls with his hook. We will also have canine teams that help us discover people buried in the rubble. Doctors, as well as special units for each type of fire, do not miss this appointment with the flames.
he different vehicles are adapted to the terrain and the fire we will fight against and some also have special abilities such as the mythical truck with the elongated ladder to climb the tallest buildings. The ambulance is one of the most important vehicles of the game, since the rescue of civilians depends largely on getting them to this vehicle. The helicopter and the boat have a low participation in the game and within the campaign we will see them appear a couple of times.
the fire
Our only rival in the game. The only thing that will get us to repeat the different screens with the sole purpose of destroying him. The fire is the great protagonist of the game, much more than firefighters since in addition to being the big problem that we must quell, its realism makes it unique.
Fire can be of four different kinds according to the material on which it has been caused, for example, if the fire reaches a chemical plant we will have to use our chemical specialist because other firefighters against this terrain do little. In addition, the fire depends on a series of factors such as wind, whether it occurs indoors or outdoors, the heat of the place, the inclination of the land, etc.
Other existing dangers can be the accumulation of smoke in a room that can cause fire suddenly or the constant danger of explosions that can leave our firemen unconscious. Do not let the fire approach flammable materials!
There is no doubt that this is the most worked of the game, to be our only goal of elimination. Although if we get fussy we could say that with respect to previous deliveries this has not undergone a major improvement, since the dangers are the same as in their predecessors.
g rics and sound
Fire Department 3 uses a 3D engine that we can observe at our whim, the camera can move in all directions and zoom in or out depending on how we want. The graphics of the different locations are not bad offering the different buildings or nearby vegetation with a good detail.
The first tug of the ear to the developers comes because of the poor animation that the firemen have. When you move from one place to another, you can see how to get to the place of destination is an instant caught in the position of running and then stand straight. When we take a civilian on his back, something similar happens, since sometimes this civilian floats on top of our character as if by magic. In addition the design of characters is quite neglected without we can see where they get the contraptions that define the firefighters, whether ax or hoses.
The fire seems to have been treated differently, since it responds very well to its dangerousness or different types. The explosions produced are quite realistic and have a touch of spectacularity, as well as good light effects. See the damage that urban furniture has suffered due to the action of the fire is amazing. The passage of fire through buildings, forests or cars makes us see the destruction that can cause a powerful fire.
The sound that will accompany us during the game is epic and will support us in our attempts to put out the different fires until we get rid of it, as it is the only background music that we will hear during the stages, without counting the sound of the fire that It will urge us to destroy it and that it varies depending on the area in which it is located. Other sounds that we will hear during the development of the game are the water we use to extinguish fire, the sirens of our trucks or the footsteps of our characters that have been recreated with high fidelity.
The different types of mission are the great attraction of this game. Its different diversity means that none resembles the previous one. In each of the scenarios we must meet a series of objectives that as we move on the screen are increasing, making the mission increasingly difficult but almost always realizing the same final objectives: the extinction of fire and the rescue of civilians. We can not allow civilians to die, because if only two of them die, the end of the mission may result.
We will begin the missions with a stage plan and the location of the key points of the screen, such as the hydrants or the location of the civilians, all enlivened by the narrator's comments telling us how the incident occurred. We will have a few initial units that we can increase with the reinforcements that will be delivered to us after a time or when we have exceeded one of our objectives. The duration of the missions is around 15 minutes on average.
Scenarios that put all the meat on the grill, never better said, like a spectacular fire in a fireworks factory, a terrible fire in a chemical plant, the incident of the well-known Eurotunnel or a German prison in which we must rescue one of our men from the flames.
The control and handling of units is quite crude because they do not react often to your orders and you have to insist on the place where you want them, since the characters often do what they want by demonstrating great heroism or a great lack of intelligence when ignoring our orders. With the vehicles it is worse, since they are rarely placed as we want.
The learning curve is good, the game has a complete tutorial in which we show all the basic actions of firefighters as well as doctors. Discovering the skills of specialists is not a difficult task as they tell us how to do it in the development of the scenario and we can always go to the instruction manual or to 'Cuartel' a game option where we detail each unit that we will handle in the game.
We have three levels of difficulty in which to test our know-how, 'arcade' is the easiest way and in it we will have more time to meet our objectives. The 'realistic' mode will face us in equal conditions with fire and the speed of our actions will be the key. The last option is the 'extreme' mode only recommended for the best players, since it will increase the speed of propagation and the destructive power of fire.
The multiplayer mode allows us to put out fires in the company of other people and there are two available modes: 'Divide Units' in which we will relive the different scenarios of the game by dividing the available units among the different players that participate. In the 'Cooperative' mode we can participate up to four players and in it we will fight against the flames in three special scenarios designed for this mode. The lack of modes and scenarios for the multiplayer is a fact that does not help the game at all. It has not improved in this respect with respect to Fire Department 2.
The missions are narrated in perfect English although with the texts in Spanish. Here we see another glaring failure in the game because many times the lack of synchronization leaves us without knowing important details of the mission or the lack of translation into our language of some units that appear with the name of 'No Name' as well as in the mission of the Bank of England in which the objectives appear under the same definition.
Fire Department 3 could have been a great game but the developers have preferred to stick to the second part of the series and give us a clone with improved graphics and different missions. This fact could be ignored in part if it was well translated or if the units will not fail in their management. Oh, I'll also add that as a multitude of games sometimes it gives you a surprise and in the middle of the game appears the characteristic Windows message that urges us to close the game.
The game entertains thanks to its diversity of actions and scenarios and its competitive price can be a great asset in its acquisition. The heroes of each house have the possibility of becoming heroes of humanity fighting in the most dangerous fires produced to date.
The appearance of a patch can largely correct these errors although it is incomprehensible that at this point, in 2006, titles with this amount of errors continue to appear. Montecristo must seriously consider trying to correct these failures that we find in some of its games and launch to the market titles a little more elaborated, with the objective of placing itself among the leading companies with competitive products.
*** The originality of the theme (a game of firemen!).***
- Fire, that great enemy.
- Diversity of scenarios.
the bad
- Numerous mistakes in translation.
- Irregular management of units.
- Few improvements compared to its predecessor.
It is not the latest or the most original, it does not have the best execution, but it can be fun if you like the genre. Good, but improvable.