I, like 500,000 other gamers here in the U.S. probably think of warriors, monsters, soldiers, tanks, and any other number of fantasy or real life simulated heroes when someone uses the phrase “real time strategy”. Well, Sixteen Tons Entertainment actually focuses on real life heroes in their new game for PC entitled Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life. Does this game stack up to the enjoyment factor of other RTS titles out there? Well, yes and no …

Emergency 2 puts you into the role of an operator in a pretty nifty looking control station, where your job is to monitor satellite info, all emergency vehicles and stations, and to spend cash to send vehicles and personnel to the scene of the emergency or accident to save the day and make a living. These things range from traffic accidents and bank robberies to nuclear emergencies and expanding forest fires, each one getting a little more challenging as you progress. You will have all types of government officials at your command. Police, firefighters, doctors, paramedics, you even have access to police psychologists and sharpshooters for negotiations and possible need for a sniper.

The first really nifty feature about this game is in the way it is presented. Most emergency games that I have seen in the past usually involve either driving at high speeds or being in more of an action role. Emergency 2 instead presents itself in true RTS fashion, so you will have a full 3-D view of the playing field and use point and click commands to move vehicles, enter or exit vehicles, and select multiple units to move at one time. There are 25 different single player missions to go through, and you will have to select one or multiple vehicles and personnel to complete each one.

Another really neat thing about Emergency 2 is the way that you always seem to have exactly what you need in the various vehicles. Fire trucks will carry all sorts of things for example, so if you have trees blocking the potential pathway of emergency vehicles or crunched up cars with a trapped passenger inside, you have access to chainsaws, ropes, the jaws of life, or whatever is needed. Any of the rescue branches also have mobile automobiles that hold multiple passengers so you can use one vehicle for quick dispatch and arrival which can be crucial since most missions are timed before some major catastrophe takes place and calls for a game over.

I was really impressed with the way that all of the different personnel actually react and will do their jobs the way that they would do them in real life. The police officers for example will be responsible for blocking traffic, arresting or taking people with them, or asking questions to get more information if you are not sure where the next piece of your mission is (if it revolves around finding a person or whatnot). Not that it shouldn’t surprise you that they all worked well, but they just did a good job emulating the types of people and the various jobs that they should do during the game.

Unfortunately, there are a couple of things that just didn’t go quite as well in Emergency 2. For starters, it can get extremely difficult and confusing to figure out exactly what it is that you are really supposed to do. Most of the missions consist of a pure “trial and error” basis, so you just seem to screw up a lot until you get it right … especially in the more difficult missions. This does add the length of the game, but not really in a great way. You just sort of try, mess up, try again, mess up, then figure something out, then mess up, and so on until you get just the right combination.

Another issue with Emergency 2 that got in the way of really enjoying this game is the lack of markings on the main map or in the game to show you exactly where things are or where your vehicles are. The very first time I played, I kept calling out vehicles until I ran out of cash since I didn’t think that the game was actually sending them where they needed to go. I finally wound up panning the screen all the way out and moving around until I finally found where they were … and it looked like I had sent out the entire force from New York. In addition, I also had a lot of problems with some of the missions where people were in houses, since the environments are a good size and finding that one apartment in the city where the problem is can be difficult. I’m sure that if people call 911 in a real emergency … they at least give the right address and you would think it might be marked off on the screen.

Lastly, the game really tries to emulate the real life excitement of the real life dramas, and while the developers really gave it a good shot, it just doesn’t quite get there. The mission movies that play prior to the incident are kind of neat, and some make a cool looking dramatic story, but they just really don’t have the edge of the seat excitement that you might expect. They are also kind of short, and then the game itself seems to move along kind of slow since it’s one accident per mission rather than maybe two or three at once which would have made it a little more exciting.

Graphically, the game looks pretty good from a distance shot and contains a big and well-done environment, but an up close zoom in shows a lot of pixilation and jagged edges. There are also repetitive textures and character models that are being used, which adds to some of the confusion when looking for one person in particular at times. The aerial vehicles looked pretty good, and the ground vehicles, while nifty and complete with flashing lights and such, look sort of like a still model moving around the screen and turning at 45 degree angles.

The sound in Emergency 2 was perhaps the biggest disappointment, since you would expect to hear a lot of crowd noise, some exciting music, and a lot of sirens and bullhorns and such. Unfortunately, the sirens turn off when the vehicle has stopped moving, and if there’s really no traffic or anything in the area, the game is completely silent.

Overall, Emergency 2 wasn’t a bad game, and it’s a good twist to the RTS market with a good portrayal of various emergency crews that you might see on TV. Ultimately, there’s a couple of things here which just could have been done better to avoid confusion and make it more exciting, but it will still provide some $20.00 enjoyment for you RTS buffs who are burnt out on the same old thing or pre-teen gamers who enjoy rescue vehicles and such.      

Gameplay: 6.9
The overall gameplay will be very familiar to you RTS fans, and it was an interesting mix between real life drama and rescue workers with a strategy element. Unfortunately, the missions can get a little confusing due to not pinpointing specific locations you need to go to or where your vehicles are, and all of the missions just have you try them over and over again until you get the exact combination of what you should do. Making it a little more open gameplay or having a couple of things going on at once would have made it more exciting.

Graphics: 7.0
From a distance, things look really good. The environments, vehicles, and people are well colored and the people and civilians in the cities and other locales will move around to add to the background. When you zoom in close, things get really jagged and a little more blurred out, and vehicles look more like still shots that move at angles rather than smooth turns.

Sound: 6.1
The sound that is there isn’t too bad, which consists of sirens and chopper noises. The voices when you use a bullhorn from the air to tell someone to pull over or target someone sounded pretty good also. The biggest issue is that there’s just not that much of it … no crowd noises, music, or anything at times so it’s pretty much silent.

Difficulty: Medium
Many times, the missions themselves can be pretty tough, but it’s not too bad since you get unlimited opportunities to go back and try again until you get it right. The controls are easy to get into, especially if you’ve played an RTS before, but the tutorial mode could have done a little more explaining on some of the vehicles or equipment since some things were still a mystery.

Concept: 7.5
This was definitely a unique title and a good attempt at doing something a little different in a market that is pretty flooded with games in a similar genre. If some of the issue areas were addressed, this could have been a really fun game and probably would have stood out.

Overall: 6.9
While this game isn’t terrible, there were just too many little things that will keep it from being a must buy. The $20.00 price tag helps out a lot though, and you RTS folks who need a little change of pace may get some fun out of this one. You won’t be beating it over the course of a weekend and it does bring something new to the table for you or your pre teen younger gamers who are into emergency and rescue shows or events.