Flame Over

I have to admit, it's kind of a simplistic genius to make firefighting into a top-down shooter. It's not the most fun top-down shooter out there, but it's the most fun firefighting game I've played. There's nothing complex, just run around and shoot fire with water instead of bad guys with bullets, and it's pretty damn fun.

Flame Over seems to be built on a simple concept that does a fairly good job on. Play as a firefighter who must enter buildings that are engulfed with flames and rescue people and cats. However, as a twist, the game features dynamic material in which different types of fire can spread unpredictably and require quick thinking due to a timer. Moreover, the maps/levels change thus increasing replay value and increasing the difficulty. Gameplay is challenging as the fire(s) can spread very fast and can reach areas even if they were already extinguished. The fires are relentless and any loss to health and time cannot be remedied until rescuing cats to regain lost health and people to add time. This may prove frustrating as players cannot carry any equipment for healing for better preparation and recovery. The usable water hose has a limited supply of water/foam thus one must conserve or otherwise backtrack and the fire may spread again/more, making matters worse. There is an upgrade system in which coins and possibly upgrade tokens scattered around a level can be collected for such use. This is supposed to assist with the difficulty that the game imposes but due to the random nature, stores are hard to come buy. Even worse are the fact that the items are also randomized thus upgrading to a desirable level is almost impossible. Eventually, the fun will stop when progressing much further to the point which plain irritation will replace it. The people and cats are often too dumb to be able to rescue and may be a hindrance. There have been complains that the final level was too hard to beat. The Verdict: Amongst average first person shooter, horror, and survival games, it's a novelty to encounter a family friendly game and still have fun to a certain extent. Heck, this is a good Indie game which may surprise some as most other Indie games were hastily made to grab quick cash in vain. However, Flame Over is far from being good and barely above acceptable due to its unfair challenges thus a B- should be given.