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Emergency Rescue Firefighters
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Graphics & Sound:
Emergency Rescue Firefighters boasts some fantastic graphics for a so called 'budget title', meaning you can pick up the game at your local store for $20 dollars or less. The actual gameplay has very detailed graphics, giving you a good view on what it's really like to become a fireman. Houses, fire trucks, the fires themselves, the water, and the firemen are all beautifully done, and well animated. However, menus are done very poorly with very bland and boring text. They do not take away from the gameplay, although still hurt the overall game, giving it a cheap look and feel. The music found in the game is ok; nothing you'll be humming the next day, but it's decent. Sound effects are what you would expect - the sounds of roaring fires, water, and sirens - and are done fairly well.
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Gameplay:
Ever wonder what it would be like to become a fireman? That's what's Wizard Works wanted to accomplish in the game, and for the most part, they got it down. ERF allows players the opportunity to command and control 20 distinct engagements. In addition to the regular residential and commercial properties that most firefighters deal with in the real world, ERF allows you to fight fires in oil refineries, logging camps, farms, and truck terminals. Each area features a wide variety of fire types, which makes you think of a different plan of action every time in order to determine the best strategic approach to put out the fire in the fastest amount of time. At the end of missions, you can also view TV news reports of your completed missions, and you also receive thank you notes and e-mails from the rescued citizens, which give the game a very realistic feel.
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Difficulty:
ERF is not too difficult. The gameplay is designed in a way where even the most novice player will have an opportunity to complete the game's missions. For those who are still not going anywhere fast, ERF boasts a number of different training missions that will help show you the ropes of fire-fighting.
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Game Mechanics:
This is where the game falls apart somewhat, for the most part. I found that moving the firefighters in and out of the burning houses wasn't always the simplest task. I would order my team in to a fire, and I found them still standing in the same place while the fire roared on. It was also difficult at some points to see the actual fire when you went into house, walls blocking the fire from view. Not that everything was that bad, I just found a couple situations were nothing would go right. ERF is good for what it is, a simulation of fire-fighting, and at a suggested retail price of 20 bucks, it's a hell of deal. So if you like fires or fire-fighting, you might want to pick it up.
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-Raider, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Duran |
Minimum System Requirements:
Pentium 200MHz, 40MB RAM (48MB Recommended) 120MB hard disk space, 4X CD-ROM drive, DirectX compatible sound and video cards, Mouse |
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Test System:
PII 450, 128MB Ram, 44X CD, Voodoo 3 3000 video accelerator |
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