At one point in his life, every little boy has wants to be a firefighter. Few ever actually go through with this dream, but it still presents an interesting premise for a video game. Firefighter FD 18 takes all of the excitement and harrowing heroics of fighting fires and puts them into a game that doesn't quite live up to what it could be. Though fun in the beginning, Firefighter FD 18 soon eventually boils down into a typical 3rd-person shooter with a few out-of-place gameplay moments.

The main character, as well as a few of the other firefighters look sharp and feature a wide variety of animations. With this variety come a few silly looking animations -- mostly taking place during death sequences. Other characters you come in contact with, namely the victims, don't look nearly as good. The game's environments do a better job of selling the firefighter experience than the gameplay. There's really nothing to look at in the game's environments. Everything is overly blocky and devoid of textures, but this is forgivable since everything is covered in fire most of the time anyway. Fire effects, which one would expect to be the star of the show, come across as both realistic looking and silly at the same time. Fire animations look great and seem to follow their own distinct movement patterns. However, the flames also look incredibly flat at times and tend to spread way too quickly -- even after spraying an area down. Smoke effects are also played up for maximum impact and play a major part in the gameplay.

Sound is just okay and doesn't do much to help the game along. The voice acting gets the job done, but isn't anything you will miss. But, before you completely turn off the sound know that the game's score and ambient sounds more than makeup for the annoying chief squawking orders in your ears.

Firefighter FD 18 places you behind the hose as firefighter Dean McGregor, a one-man rescue crew. Though the job description of a firefighter is to extinguish flames, the fires in FD 18 are simply too big to put out alone. Instead, you simply navigate smoke and fire filled mazes saving lives. At your side are your trusty hose (which is, without question, the longest hose in the world) and firefighting foam to quell fires. There are even times when you get your hands on an axe to smash through doors. The experience is fun, but ultimately repetitive. After a few levels of fighting fires and saving people, there's really no reason to continue your adventure. Even the story isn't compelling enough to keep you glued to your PS2.

The action is accompanied by a clich-ridden story that never capitalizes on the few interesting threads it presents. McGregor is haunted by memories of not being able to save someone from a fire. In addition, he also has to deal with a reporter who tends to get in the way -- and will usually need to be rescued from her story. Fire plays the main nemesis in the game, but McGregor will eventually have to face off with an arsonist who is out to get him.

To its credit, Firefighter FD 18 does a great job of making you feel like you're trapped in a life-or-death struggle. Trying to put out every flame is simply out of the question, so there are times when you'll have to use your best judgment as to how much of the fire you want to put out before charging through the fires to rescue someone. One of the bigger failings of the entire experience is the overly scripted AI, which goes against the unpredictable nature of the profession. This leads a trial-and-error feeling to the game, thus making it easy at times.

About halfway though the game, it becomes abundantly clear that Firefighter FD 18 takes a more arcade approach. While its always obvious that things aren't exactly in the realm of being a simulation, the inclusion of boss fires makes that point blatantly obvious. Yes, I know it's close to April Fool's Day, but this isn't a trick. Throughout the game there is an idea that the fires are more than just a natural element, but it's own fierce entity. This was something I really liked and could appreciate. At the same time, I thought the idea of end level fires was going a little too far. Not only are these just massive fires, but they also make their own sounds, have life bars and will even wield special attacks. If done right, this could have been a great idea -- but it's not executed nearly as well as it should and comes off as silly.

The control scheme could have also used some polish. The setup feels very awkward in practice and will take time to get used to. The camera cannot be reset on the fly and requires you to stop before manipulating it. This is great during calm areas of the game, but when you're going up against one of the bosses or completely surrounded by fire, it's a pain. Extinguishing areas of fire is difficult, even without the tendency to spread quickly, due to an unresponsive aiming setup.

Even with all its problems, Firefighter FD 18 isn't a total loss. Anyone looking for a weekend rental can probably get at least one play through under their belt. Beyond a rental, it's hard to recommend Firefighter FD 18.