Firefighting Simulator: Ignite Review for Xbox Series X/S

I’m still relatively new to realistic simulation games—most of my prior experience has been with The Sims in middle school—so it’s always fun when I get to experiment with something totally new and different. Enter Firefighting Simulator: Ignite, an upcoming game from developer Weltenbauer and publisher astragon Entertainment. The title is self-explanatory; you play as a firefighter for the fictional Oakridge City Fire Department, starting as a “probie” (the lowest rank of firefighter in the real world) and quickly progressing through the ranks as you complete various missions. Missions are initially single-player only, but after you complete enough, you can unlock multiplayer mode and play with friends.

Your base of operations is the Oakridge Firehouse, which you can explore freely after completing the first mission. One of the highlights of Firefighting Simulator: Ignite is the detail in the environments, and that’s especially on display in the firehouse. Posters on the wall have fully realized unique text (no Lorem Ipsum here), as do the individually designed books on the bookshelves. The single-unit living quarters each have their own unique flair; some have free weights and resistance bands, while others have computers and notebooks, making them feel truly lived-in and real.

While there’s a ton of detail in the environments, the people that make up the world are less unique. There are eight preset characters to choose from as you create your firefighter, with no further customization options for hair, skin color, eyes, etc. What’s more, the rest of the fire team seems to be made up of the other seven presets, so there’s a feeling of repetition. I understand this isn’t an RPG where the goal is to design a totally unique character, but it would have been nice to have a little more variety.

That being said, the repetitive characters aren’t really enough to take away from the game; the environments and mechanics are more than enough to enjoy yourself. You select missions from the firehouse map, divided into Major, Main, and Side categories. Side missions are generated randomly and include challenges that you can complete at your leisure. The goals of an initial mission typically include putting the fire out (obviously) and rescuing a number of victims.

You can do it all yourself, which is possible but very tedious, or you can use the game AI to direct your squad members to help. This is done through a command menu that has a long list of options, from breaking down doors with axes to hooking up hoses and fire hydrants to fetching supplies for you from the truck. When selecting a mission, you can set the level of intelligence for the AI, so it can be entirely autonomous or entirely reliant on your commands. You can also select the difficulty level and your fire engine of choice (you start out with the default but can unlock up to six more), and you can choose whether to teleport to the fire location or drive the fire truck yourself. I have to say it’s a lot of fun to drive the truck, especially because it lets you honk the horn, flash the lights, and pulse the siren. Driving too fast and too recklessly earns you a game achievement, but it also earns you some snarky comments from your squad (e.g., “That sounded expensive” if you smash headlong into a car). Naturally, I earned the achievement on my very first mission, because I’m still getting the hang of realistic driving simulators.

The game graphics are excellent (the only thing that’s less than stellar is the fire itself, but that’s hard to animate 100% realistically), and the mechanics are smooth, although sometimes I wish the firefighter could walk a little faster. You can hold down the right stick to run, but you can only do this over short distances, so the rest of the time you’re ambling along at best. My only complaint about the game display is that the text is extremely small, small enough that I had to sit on the floor in front of my TV to read some of it. You can change the size of the subtitles so they’re larger and easier to read, but as far as I can tell, there’s no way to adjust the text for in-game tips, objectives, and descriptions. It’s not a huge drawback, but be prepared to squint if you want to catch all the text.

Ultimately, I’m pleased with Firefighting Simulator: Ignite. It lives up to its name and thrusts you into a fast-paced world where you face danger and save lives. There are elements of strategy and collaboration, all wrapped up in gorgeous graphics and realistic mechanics. And it gives you just enough information through initial tutorials that it doesn’t feel overwhelming when you launch into the real missions. If you’re looking for an exciting real-world simulator with a rich level of detail, check out Firefighting Simulator: Ignite when it comes out September 9^th!

Score: 8.5/10

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Ian Robinson-Lambert

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I've loved video games ever since I started playing Mario Kart on my parents' Wii back in seventh grade. These days, you can find me playing a mix of historical RPGs and horror (shout-out to Assassin's Creed and Resident Evil). I also love a good puzzle, and of course I still have a soft spot for the Super Mario series!