Emergency Fire Response puts you in the action (or hovering just above it). The game offers 10 missions with several sub-missions within each level. The basic goal, obviously, is to put out the fire. The game does a nice job of encouraging other objectives in the process of preventing the Great Fire of 2003.

Each sub-mission gives the player a task in addition to fire-fighting. In an embassy fire, you must not only save the occupants of the building but also several pieces of (apparently priceless) art. While some of the missions seem stupid, the game explains each objective well, and each is obtainable without too much effort. Most involve using a special unit, such as a technical officer (who, for some reason, is the only person who can drive a car in the game – how'd the other guys get to work?) or an extrication specialist.

This game could have been a 10. (I guess every game on this site could have been a 10, but if they were, there'd be no point for a review!) What knocks down the score, though, is the game engine. Specifically, the firefighters are at times just plain dumb, and the interface to control them can be a hassle.

The AI needs help. I may not be a firefighting expert, but if a firefighter is standing next to flames, I think most would do something to extinguish them. Not so here. The player tells the troops where to spray the water. Sometimes the firefighters will then attack nearby flames, but more often than not, they stand right next to flames, seemingly sweating to death. It can also be very difficult to figure out which firefighter is which, as there is no way to distinguish them other than the name above their head, which often gets obscured by game graphics. I suppose that it makes sense that it's difficult to see your men in the midst of a fire, but I don't think it's what the designers had in mind.

Each firefighter can be controlled by clicking on their icon at the bottom of the screen. For some reason the game uses the left mouse button to select the unit but the right mouse button to do anything with them. This gets frustrating since clicking the left mouse button elsewhere can select something else, and drastically alter your best-laid plans.

Controlling the several vehicles also takes some effort. The fire trucks are cool; you have (at various times) a pumper, a fire engine, a rescue ladder, a water ladder, an ambulance, and a couple of other vehicles. Again you left click to select the unit, then right click and drag to move it. The trucks don't exactly roll down the street, and the graphics occasionally make the trucks transparent altogether. At times the trucks just seem tedious, and probably should have been incorporated more into the overall game play.

The game view is nice, but controlling it needs help. There is a scrollable and zoomable 3D camera, though getting it to scroll was a challenge. In order to make the innards of a building visible the game makes some walls transparent, though it is often not clear which level a certain room is on, and figuring out what connects to what in a burning building is a real challenge. Although the camera can be rotated, it is extremely slow when there's lots graphically (like a fire) going on. While the game is paused the screen can be rotated an zoomed, which turns out to be one of the keys to success. If only you could deploy men with the game paused (or at least give an order).

Overall, this game is a steal for $20, and is in part why I didn't give it a lower score. You get more than you pay for, but this will never be the next Vice City.