Deep down I doubt any armchair hose jockey wants a totally realistic fire brigade sim. If forty percent of in-game call-outs were false alarms caused by confused or malfunctioning fire alarms, extinguish-em-ups would alienate all but the most patient and dedicated PDQ. That said, I like the fact that the consistently entertaining Into the Flames occasionally sends me on wild goose shouts.
A mere three quid at present, Into The Flames boasts a ‘Very Positive’ Steam reception which bodes well.
Most of my initial optimism survived the twenty or so hands-on tutorials…
…and my first taste of firefighting outside the academy.
Yes, the fire engines felt somewhat simplistic compared to Emergency Call 112’s beauties and a plunge caused by permeable terra firma never leaves a good impression, but racing through obliging traffic on one of the game’s impressively large maps, or surrounded by disorientating smoke in the midst of a combusting home or business, the shortcomings seemed fairly insignificant.
It was around the three hour point when, struggling to deal with some of the larger randomly-generated blazes on my own, I collided with arguably ITF’s most serious flaw.
Right now, although you can spawn AI colleagues, helpers are uncontrollable and often annoyingly static.
In addition to being sedentary, NPCs also cheat. For example, while I need to cut my way into a lock-up garage in order to battle the blaze within, summoned teams seem to be able to direct water jets at an intact wall or door and get the job done.
Developer Fully Involved Game Studios has promised smarter AI squadmates (presumably, they’ll be part of the big final update due later this month) and recommends the dissatisfied multiplay until they arrive.
Alternatively, you could shun the ‘Random’ button on the sandbox’s incident generator, and only kindle fires in small structures like houses, barns, and sheds. It’s only when faced with well-established fires in buildings such as high-rises and warehouses, that the absence of smart silicon comrades proves a major handicap.
Hopefully, the final update will also include a few improvements to the dodgy satnav, amateurish UI, and fairly basic fire physics. The menus used for managing jobs and equipment are not as elegant or intuitive as they could be, and although backdrafts do occur in Into the Flames, they’re not half as scary or spectacular as the ones found in the title I’ll be talking about tomorrow.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention sometime this week the now somewhat obscure Sega arcade game Brave Firefighters from 2000. It was a lightgun game where instead of a gun, you were equipped with a life-sized firefighters hose and put out fires onscreen instead of shooting enemies. Great fun.