Firefighting Simulator – The Squad Review: Not Quite a Raging Inferno

Firefighting Simulator – The Squad for the Nintendo Switch faces a daunting task: to live up to its PC counterpart within the Switch’s more constrained environment. The game, while battling with the usual graphical downgrades of a Switch port, surprisingly manages to retain key aspects of its core firefighting experience. Balancing the depth of firefighting with the portable nature of the console, it offers an experience unique to the Switch, catering to those intrigued by the profession’s nuances and looking for an accessible way to enjoy it. Despite certain technical limitations, the game finds a way to deliver an engaging experience that can appeal to both enthusiasts of the genre and players seeking a firefighting adventure on the go.

A Smoky Adventure

In terms of presentation, Firefighting Simulator – The Squad grapples with the Switch’s limitations, leading to a significant disparity between its ambitious simulator goals and the actual execution. The graphics, while striving for realism, are noticeably underwhelming. Key visual elements like smoke, fire, people, vehicles, neighborhoods, and cityscapes are all toned down. The low-resolution textures across these various elements, essential to the firefighting setting, detract from the immersive experience expected in a simulator, making the game’s environment feel less vibrant and dynamic.

Sounds of Sirens

In Firefighting Simulator – The Squad, the audio and voice acting significantly underperform. The voice performances, marked by stiffness and a striking lack of emotional depth, often verge on being comically rigid. This unexpectedly adds a layer of amusement for players who find charm in such jankiness, albeit unintentionally. Combined with the game’s less-than-stellar visuals, these elements weave together an experience that is crudely unrefined yet peculiarly entertaining for enthusiasts of quirky game design. The soundtrack, though unique, misses the mark in conveying the true intensity and peril of firefighting, becoming increasingly monotonous with its repetitive tunes, particularly evident in the game menus.

Navigating Fire and Frustration

While the user interface and overall user experience of Firefighting Simulator – The Squad on the Switch are serviceable, they come with their own set of limitations and quirks. The game, albeit struggling with low-resolution visuals, manages to maintain a stable framerate most of the time, a small consolation given the toned-down texture quality, reduced view distance, and sparsely populated streets.

The UI is intuitive, but can feel cluttered with numerous controls, particularly when switching between driving and firefighting modes. While initially overwhelming, this complexity becomes more manageable with experience. The game effectively conveys crucial level information, guiding players through their firefighting missions with necessary tools and strategies, albeit within the game’s constrained graphical and technical framework.

A Narrative Drought

The game’s storytelling aspect is another area where it falls short. Firefighting Simulator – The Squad places the player into the role of a firefighter without a compelling narrative backdrop. This lack of an overarching story or context diminishes the player’s emotional connection to the game world. Despite this narrative gap, the game does have moments where it successfully immerses the player in the life of a firefighter. The experience of driving an ambulance through traffic, sirens blaring, and receiving updates from the dispatcher stands out as a highlight. These moments bring a sense of realism and urgency that is otherwise lacking in other aspects of the game.

However, the attempt to immerse players in this high-stakes profession is often undermined by the game’s presentation flaws. The lifeless civilian models and simplistic dialogue delivery detract from what could be a more engaging and authentic experience.

Playing with Fire

In Firefighting Simulator – The Squad, the essence of firefighting and rescue operations combines realism with an arcade-style framework. The mechanics of operating hoses and saving civilians are straightforward, mirroring the routine yet vital aspects of a firefighter’s role, sans the downtime of waiting and night shifts. However, this simplicity often results in gameplay that feels too methodical and predictable, lacking the dynamism of dealing with spontaneous, spreading fires. The game introduces strategies to prevent fire spread, but these tactics don’t fully capture the depth and unpredictability of real-life firefighting scenarios.

Driving the emergency vehicles adds another layer to the gameplay. The powerful feel of maneuvering firetrucks through the city streets is gratifying, lending a sense of realism and urgency. However, this is sometimes offset by the game’s floaty handling and less populated environments, which dilute the challenge and intricacy of navigating urban areas during emergencies.

The game oscillates between engaging action and predictable patterns in both firefighting and driving. Breaking through barriers with tools like saws, halligan bars, and axes is thrilling, yet the excitement is often tempered by a lack of immersion and complexity due to the game’s overarching arcade-style approach. Players are afforded some freedom in how they tackle each scenario, but the game tends to guide them towards a handful of main routes, which can limit replay value and strategic engagement. Despite the routine nature of these tasks, the game does well in equipping players with the necessary tools and information, though it falls short in offering a gameplay experience that evolves or varies significantly across levels.

Teamwork Trials and Triumphs

Managing AI companions in Firefighting Simulator – The Squad presents its own set of challenges, often influencing the overall gameplay experience. The AI behavior leans towards the cartoonish and erratic, which starkly contrasts with the game’s otherwise realistic setting. These virtual teammates can be frustratingly ineffective or unresponsive, particularly during critical firefighting operations. This often transforms strategic coordination into a cumbersome task, reducing the sense of authentic teamwork and impacting the replay value negatively.

However, the game’s multiplayer dimension offers a redeeming contrast. When joined by friends or other players online, the experience transforms. This cooperative mode injects a robust sense of teamwork and camaraderie, elevating the gameplay significantly. It facilitates better coordination and strategic planning, allowing players to tackle fires more effectively. This not only enhances the enjoyment but also adds a layer of immersion that the single-player mode with AI companions struggles to achieve. In multiplayer, players can experience the true essence of firefighting teamwork, making it a more rewarding and engaging aspect of the game. However, a notable caveat is the challenge in filling matches through public matchmaking, making it essential to have friends ready if you wish to fully enjoy the best way to play.

Final Alarm

Overall, the Switch port of Firefighting Simulator – The Squad is a bit of a mixed bag. Graphical issues and AI quirks aside, the game still delivers where it counts: the fundamental mechanics and the thrill of multiplayer gameplay. Despite its repetition and simplicity, it does a decent job of introducing players to the nuts and bolts of firefighting. The game truly comes alive in multiplayer, where teamwork elevates the experience, capturing some of the excitement and challenge of the job. It’s not perfect, but for those with a keen interest in firefighting and a willingness to overlook its technical issues on the Switch, this game can be a solid pick.

Final Verdict: 3/5

Available on: Nintendo Switch (Reviewed), PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5,  Xbox Series X|S; Publisher: astragon Entertainment; Developer: Chronos Unterhaltungssoftware; Players: 1-4; Released: September 28, 2023; MSRP: $34.99

Full disclosure: This review is based on a copy of Firefighting Simulator – The Squad provided by the publisher.