Airport Firefighter Simulator | Rondo Media | PC | £24.99 | Released: 17/02/2012
The next in the long line of weird and strangely intriguing simulators from the guys at Excalibur Publishing has now arrived in the form of Airport Firefighter Simulator. There is obviously potential in a game based around the concept of fire fighting but have developers Rondo Media managed to put the fun in function this time around?
Just a little cheesy joke to break the ice and it’s probably required too because it’ll be a while before you see any fire in this game. Read the rest of this entry »
The tutorial just continues to drag as the game forces you to follow your ambling superior who has absolutely no concept of urgency. This would all be acceptable if the information provided in the tutorial was at all required, which because of the nature of the game’s map makes this all unnecessary. All in all the game’s guided tour can take about 15 minutes to complete, far too long.
The game requires you to train up so that you can access new vehicles to perform different tasks around the airport and the first of those tasks is patrol. The first portion of the game basically involves you driving around the outer edge of the grounds checking that the fence is still working. I’m sure that enthusiasts will enjoy or at least appreciate this inclusion it becomes dull fast, especially when you are regularly called away to respond to alarms which are often false alarms half away across the grounds meaning you then have to head back and restart the outer edge patrol.
The game is split into days and you are required to perform all of the necessary tasks before the day ends however the game is very generous with this time limit. Note: If my superior asked me to work a 24 hour shift I think a hand gesture and a call to the trade union might be in order.
Eventually you will come into contact with fire in the form of smoking bins, truly a life of kings. You will eventually come up to the duty of tackling the fearsome flames of the burning planes but after all the effort required to get to that point, the end result just wasn’t satisfying enough to make it worthwhile.
The presentation of the game is on the whole rather poor. It becomes apparent very quickly that the game is a low budget release. Graphically the game (even on max settings) is seriously lacking and coupling this with the game’s bland design and dark toned colour scheme it’s just not that nice to look at. This does however provide some unintentional humour such as your superior walking through doors and driving through other vehicles while you crash at over 100mph and take no damage. On top of this the game chugs along at a very choppy rate which takes away from the visuals that little bit more. Musically the game is a lot better however this isn’t really enough to make up for the visual issues with the game.
On top of this there have been many occasions in which the game’s translation has been lacking from its German origin providing some rather unintentionally humorous moments. In fact many of the game’s models and animations retain the original German lettering.
All in all Airport Firefighter Simulator is a game that offers very little for those not interested in the base concept and offers little more for those who are. If you are looking for a better simulation on offer from Excalibur Publishing why not try Demolition Company Gold (8/10 from Christian) or Traffic Manager (6/10 from Owen).
Review
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Unintentionally humorous moments, Includes all duties. | Poor Presentation, Repetitive and dull tasks to perform |
| Rating |
![airport_firefighter_simulator-46[1]](http://www.crasscast.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/airport_firefighter_simulator-461-1024x640.jpg)








