Developer: weltenbauer. Software Entwicklung GmbH
Publisher: astragon Entertainment
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PC
Firefighting Simulator: Ignite – Review
Simulator games have always had a certain following, even though in the past they were often limited to niche topics, such as aviation. Nowadays, the genre has a huge variety of titles to choose from, ranging from those that are realistic to ones that are beyond silly. Even so, most of these games are single-player experiences, which is a bit of a shame. Today’s topic of our review aims to bring about a change in that regard. Firefighting Simulator: Ignite is a multiplayer-focused simulator all about being a firefighter.
Story
Firefighting Simulator: Ignite doesn’t really have a storyline or an overarching narrative. Instead, it relies on its gameplay and realism, making sure that aspiring firefighters can learn more about the profession. We didn’t mind the absence of a bigger plot, as the gameplay proved to be engaging enough on its own.
Graphics
Graphically, Firefighting Simulator: Ignite does have a few rough edges, but all in all, it looks quite good for a simulator title. We enjoyed the realism when it came to the actual fire trucks, the locations, the tools, and a lot of the interactions with the NPCs and environments. We felt fully immersed during missions, and it was rather interesting to see what a fairly realistic visual representation of this heroic job would look like. That being said, the game also suffers from clipping issues, texture pop-ins, and general performance issues. We noticed occasional muddy visuals and frame drops, but nothing that truly ruined our experience. We did find the fire station to be a bit too static, however.
Sound
All in all, the sound design isn’t too bad, but it’s nothing to write home about either. Everything feels ‘functional’, the SFX provide proper audio feedback, and there is some chatter on the radio and random comments from fellow firefighters. Everything sets the mood for a fairly realistic situation, even though the ‘victims’ might just be a bit too relaxed when they are in the midst of a burning building.
Gameplay
Firefighting Simulator: Ignite is a simulator game where you’ll play as a firefighter, going from one fire hazard to the next. The offset is quite simple, as you just select missions and perform as best as you can with different difficulty options. During every mission, you are backed up by three other firefighters, be it AI-controlled ones or actual players. The latter is definitely the most fun, especially when you’re able to communicate directly via Discord. The game will introduce new mechanics and items as you progress, but some of the tutorials prove to be unclear, and it does make interacting with certain items and objects a bit more frustrating than it should be. Luckily, the gameplay loop never gets too complex, and the game is also still very accessible to genre newcomers.
The objectives in each mission may vary slightly, but it’s pretty much always a case of getting the raging fire under control and rescuing those trapped inside the location. It’s possible that the approach is different, however, as you may have to bash in doors, turn off the electricity, climb through windows, rescue people from the roof, and so on. The gameplay is fairly varied, and you can choose the difficulty level. You can opt to play with three other players, and thus try to communicate who does what, or you can simply have AI firefighters backing you up. The latter can also be customized, as they can pretty much do all basic tasks automatically, or they can wait until you give them orders. We were actually rather surprised by how capable the AI firefighters were, and we never truly felt they were doing useless tasks. More complex tasks outside the regular fire extinguishing, rescuing civilians, and busting open doors proved to be too much, however, meaning we couldn’t rely on our AI companions to do all the work. The regular difficulty options simply make things more punishing in the sense that you will take increased damage, the mission may fail when a trapped civilian dies, etc.
As a whole, Firefighting Simulator: Ignite does have a pleasant gameplay loop, but we felt the fire station in particular felt a bit lifeless. There are quite a few NPCs in the building, but you can’t interact with them, and there’s pretty much nothing to do. You can select your next mission and practice in the training grounds, but other than that, the building feels rather lifeless. It would have been cool if there were NPCs you could really interact with, or more customization options for the building itself, for example. We hope that something will get done with the fire station in the future, with updates or even DLC.
Conclusion
Firefighting Simulator: Ignite is a very enjoyable simulator title that never makes things overly complex, while still feeling fairly realistic. While there were some graphical inconsistencies, the overall presentation proved to be great. We mainly enjoyed the game with a friend or two, leaving one or two AI firefighters to assist us with the basic tasks while we were out there doing more complex things. If you’re looking for a simulator in which you’re a firefighter, and you would like to play it with friends, then we can wholeheartedly suggest looking into this one.
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