Games You Don't Play: Game.com blog & Yoshi!

Games You Don't Play #5: FireFighter F.D. 18 PS2

I really love to play video games that aren't like the rest. When I saw Firefighter F.D. 18 come through the store, I had to pick it up. I've always thought firefighters were really cool, ever since I was a child. The reason is probably because my father was a firefighter (Retired/Disabled).
To me, this game is pretty cool. I guess the only reason I think it's cool is because it's a Firefighter game and it's not something you see or play everyday.
In Firefighter F.D. 18, you play as Dean McGregor, a firefighter who is determined to save anyone in trouble. The reason he's so determined, and I mean more determined than any other firefighter in the world, is because he lost a loved one to a fire. That seems like a pretty good reason!!!
You're trying to save people caught in fires set by an arsonist who has some some sort of vendetta against Dean. Along the way you'll also meet a woman named Emily, a news reporter who seems like she's in the way but ends up helping you as the story progresses.
The controls in this game are manageable but sometimes clumsy and you have no camera control unless you're standing still. It's not such a big deal though, because the camera usually stays in a pretty good spot.
Everything that happens in this game is scripted, so after a few times of dying (if you die at all) you will have the entire map memorized.
There are a few items you can pick up along the way to heal yourself like first aid kits, which help a lot because sometimes fire embers or explosions happen and catch you on fire, depleting your health quickly. You can also get rid of the fire burning you by running around (Whatever happened to "Stop Drop and Roll"?).
You are on a time limit in this game, dictated by your survivors health bar. The more damage they take, the less time you have, so save them before they die, because if you don't, your mission will end and you'll have to start over again.
This game has most things any action-adventure game would include, action, adventure, boss battles, you name it. The boss battles to me are the most interesting part, because it's more like fighting a monster than an actual fire. The AI is good but still somewhat predictable and easy to memorize. You can usually defeat the fire by calling backup and blasting it, resulting in a somewhat hilarious scream.

Other things of note are the dialogue and music. Both are very dramatic.

I give this game a 6.5 out of 10.

Pick it up if you're a collector (it's quite rare) or a fan of firefighters!!