Firefighting Simulator – The Squad

Firefighting Simulator – The Squad by developer Chronos Unterhaltungssoftware and publisher astragon Entertainment—Sony PlayStation 5 review written by Jim with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

I have always liked firefighters and have been playing games about them since I played the original Emergency: Fighters for Life game that was released way back in 1998 for PC. Since then I have played just about anything that has to do with firefighting and firefighters from the newer Emergency games to platformers like Firegirl. My favorite has always been Firefighter FD 18 for the PS2 mainly because I liked the story in it. So needless to say I am a fan of firefighters

Firefighting Simulator – The Squad is mostly for those looking for coop with some buddies but it can be played alone with an AI-controlled squad of three plus yourself. I mostly played this single-player mode but I did also try out the online coop with some random people.

Starting you play an introduction level that helps so you how to play once that level is done you are brought to a world map where you can pick a mission to do. I picked training so I could learn how to play better. Once I completed all of the training I jumped into a mission. After selecting a mission you are asked if you want to play online, alone with AI, or with friends in a private game. You also get to pick what kind of fire truck you want to use. At first, you can only pick one, but as you beat levels and gain experience and level up you can unlock some new trucks. These are a ladder truck, and another that I’m not sure what they are called but can shoot water out of them. You also get to pick if you want to deploy at the scene or if you want to drive to the scene yourself.

For every mission I played, I picked to drive myself as you get more experience for arriving fast. There is where I ran into a few small problems. The first was the graphics. As you drive there is a lot of pop-in with objects coming into view. Trees, buildings, cars, and other things all pop in while driving and it can be distracting. I also had cars disappear in front of me for no reason. The second thing was sometimes it took me longer to drive to the fires than it does to put them out.

These are more apparent in special missions called walk-in missions where the only truck you can pick are two walk-in vehicles. This means you can not hook them up to fire hydrants but you have to use fire extinguishers. After you beat a level you get experience points that will level you up unlocking more trucks and levels. Once you reach the max level though there doesn’t seem to be any reason to revisit any of the levels.

There are a decent amount of missions to be had in this game most of them take place in houses. There are a few that are in warehouses and restaurants and then a few special ones. Some of the warehouses and restaurants had the same layout as each other which does feel a little lazy but luckily this only happens a few times. The game does look pretty good when at these fires from some electrical sparks. The fire looks real and the hose you and your team carry around never disappears on the ground. Smoke was one of the things the game does well. You won’t be able to see well unless you crouch or you can vent buildings by breaking or opening windows so you can see better while inside a burning building.

One thing I didn’t get was the game telling you how important it was to find victims first, but even if you don’t and they are right in the middle of a fire they will never get hurt or die. Another issue I have was there are no car accidents only fires meaning you won’t get to use the jaws of life. Putting out fires in this game is pretty easy as little icons appear on the screen as you try to put them out. Most of the time this works fine other times it seems you have to aim just right. There are also two kinds of fires, normal fires, and grease / chemical fires. Normal fires can be put out with a hose and water, and grease / chemical fires have to be put out with a fire extinguisher or it will start more fires. Kind of like real life they say never put water on a grease fire.

There are other tools in the game though like a saw to cut locks, a pry tool to open locked doors, an ax to cut open doors, and fire extinguishers. Some of the things in the game are somewhat realistic, like needing to attach a supple hose to the truck and then to a hydrant. You can turn a setting on so that the AI does this automatically at the beginning of a level or if you want to do it manually. Then you have to attach an attack hose to the truck and then attach a nozzle to the hose before you can use it. Another thing that I liked that could have easily been overlooked by the devs was that you need to put out the outriggers before you can use a ladder on a truck. Something that real firefighters have to do.

Now another problem I had with the game was that the AI squad mates are dumb. You can tell them to grab a fire extinguisher but they won’t use it they will just hold it and stand by you. Sometimes when you tell them to put out a fire, and they will go to the area where you tell them, but they will just stand there. This makes it playing single-player more frustrating than needed if only some more time was spent on the AI. When the AI is doing what they should be doing a level can go smoothly, but this is rare.

Now playing coop online is fun even if you play with random people online as I did. It was fun and smooth but there are not always players online and if the host decides to drive to the scene the other three players just sit there waiting. Sometimes it can take five or more minutes to drive to a fire. I do wish there was split screen coop for the game though. I really would have liked to play with some of my family.

One last issue I had with the game was the music. It didn’t always fit the game or what you were doing. If you are racing to a fire or even putting out fires, one song that plays sounds classical and it feels more like a song that should be playing in an elevator or a hospital waiting room.

Summary

Overall Firefighting Simulator – The Squad is a decent firefighter game and one of the better ones on the market today. It’s not perfect but it can be fun to play with friends online. And if they keep updating the game, they could add more levels as there is a decent amount, but still could use more. Also, make the AI better, and maybe add car accidents. This could be a really good game, but as it stands it is decent but not as great as it could be. I do wish there was some kind of story with the game though.

Other than the issues stated I still did enjoy this game. It could be a decent game to show younger players what it’s like to be a firefighter.

Score: 7 / 10

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Construction Simulator Review

Construction Simulator by developer weltenbauer. Software Entwicklung GmbH and publisher astragon Entertainment—PC (Steam) review written by Hayden with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

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Construction Simulator by developer weltenbauer. Software Entwicklung GmbH and publisher astragon Entertainment is a visually gorgeous simulator that will satisfy everyone who ever wanted to know just how much work goes into every building we see - without having to actually get out of their gaming chair. Challenging players with projects ranging from local parks to full building complexes, road repair and more, Construction Simulator tries to take you from your desk to the worksite. This isn’t just a game about driving big trucks, however, as Construction Simulator also touches on all sorts of aspects of running a company in the industry - vehicle repairs, material costs and more will make players think not only about what they are doing, but how they are doing it.

So much to do...

The banner appeal in Construction Simulator is the huge fleet of vehicles that the game offers players. Over 70 extremely detailed replicas of real-life vehicles from flatbeds to backhoes, cranes and loaders underscore Weltenbauer’s commitment to an accurate simulation environment. Vehicles function in a manner that is immediately familiar and recognizable, allowing players to quickly understand what equipment can (and cannot) do.

Vehicle control in Construction Simulator can be daunting at first glance, with just your average flatbed having standard driving controls, deployable side stabilizers, openable side boards on the bed, and a fully articulated and player-controlled knuckle-boom crane onboard. Weltenbauer handles this smoothly, with the player swapping control modes between major function groups. The flatbed, for example, can’t be driving around when the stabilizers are deployed and the crane in use, so there’s a natural division there.

Control schemes are generally shared between vehicles, so WASD often controls equipment rotation and height adjustment, while QE handles boom extension or secondary joints. Perhaps the only awkward control set that I encountered was when driving tracked vehicles - since the treads can be controlled separately, left and right treads have to have independent forward/reverse motion. While forward was QE, the natural reverse mapping would feel like ZC - but key conflicts force it to be CY instead, an oddity that took a lot of getting used to.

Looking good while you do it

Articulation and animation in Construction Simulator is extremely detailed and high quality as a general rule. From watching stabilizers deploy to watching a load sway on a crane hook because you swung it around too quickly, there is little disbelief that needs to be suspended here. Having a personal background in trades and manufacturing, I was ecstatic to see the game get some of the tiny details right.

One that stuck out to me was how forklifts are modeled - not only is the player in control of the vertical lift of the load, but the fore/aft tilt of the forklift mast is also modeled so that loads can be angled to secure them during transit. The downside to such attention to detail, however, is that the few areas where it wasn’t put in stick out much more prominently. A few small items like raising or lowering the side boards on a flatbed truck - a seemingly simple single-hinge movement - aren’t animated, instead just snapping from one state to the other. After all the work in the rest of the game, this is the sort of thing that you can’t unsee once you’ve noticed it, precisely because it stands in contrast to the level of quality everywhere else.

Construction Simulator provides a look into the administrative side of running a construction company as well. The player gets their building tasks through accepting various contracts, and must both buy the required materials and have the appropriate vehicles available to complete the work. A dealership provides both purchase and rental options for vehicles, and both equipment fuel and maintenance needs are modeled in the game. Growing the player’s company will require a constant awareness of what is deployed to the contract and attention to ensure that equipment doesn’t get used for longer than needed to keep costs down. Over time, the player can expand their company to include more vehicle slots and handle larger jobs, as well as storing unused material from one job to the next.

Travel and pacing

Travel in the game relies on the player to drive (or walk) to each location at least once. After that, a fast travel system is in place that allows the player to avoid the tedium of having to drive every vehicle from the company yard to the contract site or other location. I found that this system was a bit of a mixed blessing, however, as it led to me having equipment scattered around town at former contract sites that I hadn’t bothered to bring back “home” to the company yard. Flipping between vehicles as you fast travel around can also be a bit disorienting, as every style of vehicle has its own control scheme, so switching mindsets from A to B to C as fast as you can bounce around the map takes some getting used to.

 

Perhaps the single greatest downside to a game like Construction Simulator is that it requires you to do everything yourself - which ironically is also a great source of its appeal! Players who want to say “I built that!” are going to love the appeal of seeing their site come together piece by piece. Players who are looking for that extra reward of dopamine that comes with a completed job, however, are going to find frustration as they yet again go to the gravel pit for material, drive it to the job, unload the material, and generally do every step of the process solo. Construction Simulator offers the ability for your friends to jump in, however, so that many hands can make light work of complex projects.

Conclusion

Construction Simulator does what its name says, and does it well. If you enjoy detailed simulations and enjoy replicas of authentic equipment, this game is going to be a solid hit for you. If you enjoy playing management sim games and growing a company, this might also be a good game to try. On the other hand, if you are looking for a quick, arcade-like payoff to your games, give this one a pass. Construction Simulator has more depth than a freshly-dug foundation, and more grit than a load of gravel.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to build a house - from the comfort of my chair!

Summary

Construction Simulator is a highly detailed simulation of the modern construction process. Putting the player at the controls of a huge fleet of replicas of authentic equipment, this gorgeous game will hit the spot for players looking for a relatively relaxed, engaging game.

This is a great fit for the dedicated building or management gamer, but has a slower pace than RTS or action gamers will be used to. Grab this one when you need a break from against-the-clock action and you won’t be disappointed.

Score: 9 / 10

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