Fire Department 3

30.03.2006

Critic 50/100

Genre: Strategy

The third game in the Fire Department series once again follow the life of fire fighters - this time in 13 missions in five locations: France, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Ukraine - the home country of the developers. The game uses a dynamic fire and smoke dynamics system. Fire does not follow a scripted path and is influenced by the wind or flammable substance. Smoke follows ventilation paths and suppresses oxygen levels. Players manage a fire fighter crew with different classes and 15 different vehicles, all in real-time. Each class has a specific set of abilities. Regular fire fighters break doors and save victims while putting out the fires, medics provide first aid, others are able to get through obstacles, repair machines, command dogs, specialize in toxic substances or wear special suits that withstand extreme temperatures. Each unit can be assigned a defensive, offensive or heroic stance. The list of vehicles includes fire engines, ambulances, boats, bulldozers, trucks, helicopters and planes. Missions feature both primary and secondary objectives, requiring the player to create groups to approach fires from different directions. The game offers two multiplayer modes. Players can replay all missions from the singleplayer mode with both players controlling all units at the same time, or a more cooperative approach where players can divide the units between them. There are three multiplayer bonus missions as well.