Buy 911: First Responders

Lovely game! I recommend it to everyone Who Loves To Play As Firefighter, Cop Or Ems.

Oldie but Goldie, having the most channel on YouTube still featuring EM4/ 911 FR as a regular feature and being a Beta tester for numerous Modification you could argue I am Biased. And you might be right, i got the game on it's day when it was originally released on April 6 2006. Since then I propably put well beyond 3000 hours into this game.

And what I said back then is all the more true nowadays with all the mods that you can get. There is no game like EM4/911 FR

Maybe one day we will say the same about Emergency 5, but that day is far away yet, until that day arrives all hail the King of Emergecny RTS games, Emergency 4/911 First Responders

There are only two things that I could say that are negative,

- the graphics enigine is starting to show it's age
- the learning curve is steep and can be overwhelming for some by the sheer number of calls in a day.

Got LA mod and played co-op.
Did a few disasters well.
Got called out to a riot - 'aight, I'll send a patrol car.
Cops brutally murdered by a good 20 people.
Send out the SWAT team.
SWAT shoot back 10 rioters, but they keep coming, and get brutally murdered by 30 ganging up on each one. Every new civilian who walks in somehow being recruited to the cause and fighting armed soldiers.
Send out 2 SWAT vans and a truckful of national guard.
SWAT and National Guard fight well, killing about 30, but lack of organisation and attempt to avoid brutal murder means they're all eventually murdered by the onslaught.
Send out Blackhawk helicopter and army humvees loaded with marksmen.
Marksmen take position and shoot without regard, killing over hundreds.
Approximately 10 police cars called, to maintain order and restrain civilians from walking on the scene, they are overtaken - all murdered. The civilians keep coming. Shots keep firing. The bodies pile up. Nobody shall take down the marksmen.
Send in mass casualty unit, stretchers flee charging civilians, the national guard marksmen covering their asses by shooting down any pursuers. Mass casualty unit ends with more casualties than they brought back.
Eventually enough cops arrive, blocking every nook and cranny of every crook and nanny that could ever arrive. Still shooting down stragglers who get through or ignore the police.
20 cop vans and SUVs, 4 SWAT vans, 3 national guard trucks and Humvee, a US Army Blackhawk helicopter, FBI trucks, sheriff deputies, 2 mass casualties units, 3 coroner vans and one firetruck later, I've got over a hundred bodies waiting in the street, rotting, hearing their dying screams over and over I can't tell what is living and what is dead, they are all just the emergency. I do not have the money, I do not have the time, and I lack the mind, to clear this up, to move so many bodies.
We stick a bunch of police barricades and traffic cones around the entire block and everyone gathers outside, never relenting. We had to leave the carnage in the road, there was no choice. All witnesses were arrested or killed. Nobody shall know of this national tragedy. Save for the brave emergency staff who will have it burned into their very souls.

Holy ♥♥♥♥♥ 10/10.

I'm serious by the way, check my screenshots.

This is a great game, albeit with a few significant problems.

The Gameplay is the best part of it, where you have to simultaneously deploy and manage multiple response units including firemen/firetrucks, Ambulances/Paramedics, Police, Negotiators, Salvage vehicles etc.

You start in a suburban area where you respond to numerous events. The game quickly manages to scale up and has you managing multiple units at the same time, in different areas of the city, all earning you money to purchase new equipment. When you have the required equipment it unlocks a "mission" that takes you into a separate "mission map" and you get a more complex mission. When you complete the mission it takes you back to the suburban area again, to manage more random events until you have purchased the required hardware for the next mission.

This gameplay is quite fun, and even though it is the same incidents, the map is quite large and always has you thinking on "where is the nearest hydrant?", "what resources do i need for that?" or "where is that criminal running?" so each incident is still quite unique.

Now, the "significant problems" I mentioned earlier (from least significant to most significant)

Firstly: Audio is ok. It repeats a lot of things a lot of times and has some interesting things (like every vehicle you click on sounds the "ambulance sirens", even if you click on a car on the side of the road)

Secondly: Graphics are ok. It doesn't have any options above 1024x1280 and on a full HD display it is somewhat grainy, but I don't think this significantly detracts from the game

Thirdly: When doing the more complex "Mission scenario" I still haven't found a way to restart it without quitting to windows. So when you make a big stuff-up and all your firemen are dying with a wall of fire between them and the paramedics, you actually have to deal with the situation... or you quit to desktop and start the game again

Next: Each individual will not really do anything unless you have told them to. ie: A fireman will watch a fire burn, unless you have told him to equip an extinguishing device (hose or extinguisher) and is within range. If a fire moves out of range, he won't follow it. Same goes for Paramedics and Police. I'd love to see a little bit of automation, such as: tell the fire-truck to "CONTAIN" the fire and they setup automatically to stop the fire spreading, or tell the paramedics to "TREAT" the casualty, and when he is ready for transport they should automatically load him into the ambulance and take him away.

Oh, and firement shouldn't stand in one fire when trying to fight another fire... yeah this can happen.

Lastly: Traffic routing. If you order ten ambulances (yes, i made a few mistakes fighting a fire once) and tell them where to go, after the first two arrive, then the others keep driving around in circles because they can't get to the spot where the first two ambulances parked. Sometimes they'll drive around a building on fire and blow up because they are trying to get to that exact spot.

And sometimes they get "jammed" because they drove too close to a pedestrian and then you have to manually "unjam" them so they can drive again. (not too common)

But, all in all, a good, enjoyable game, just be warned that some things are frustrating

At first I was like: Damn Cops
Then I was like: OH ♥♥♥♥ FIRE!
Then I was like: oh it was arson
After that I was like: Cops go pew pew pew
Then it was like: FIRE STILL BURNING!!!!!
Now I'm like: Arsonist dead, so is half the city

Mission Accomplished

A small car fire, I neglected it and worried about a bigger fire across town in a small building, the next 5 minutes the fire turns into a 3 city block fire and burned down half the town. 10/10

Time Disclaimer -- I have played 911: First Responders / Emergency 4 for hundreds of hours prior to the Steam release.

Emergency 4 is a Real Time Strategy in which the user is tasked with controlling a number of German Emergency Services; Police, Ambulance, Fire, and Mechanics. Using these, it's up to the user to deal with a number of disasters in the main campaign ranging from simple fires to earthquakes, hostage situations, airline disasters and more! Alternatively, the user can play an endless mode in which they must deal with random emergencies which will grant them the finances to purchase more vehicles and deal with bigger disasters. One great aspect is you're not penalized for doing a bad job so if you get bored, you can use your police units to cause havoc.

The game is easy to get into but difficult to master as controlling a number of different emergency units can quickly become overwhelming. The assets have also aged well since release.

Emergency 4 is definitely a unique game and is an often looked over gem, it's a game that is both engaging and enjoyable, even if you're not a fan of Real Time Strategies.

Additionally, the game is VERY moddable. The 'LA Mod' is definitely recommended as it adds dozens of additional units and missions.

To put it simply, this game is a must play and for the price it's being offered at, it's definitely worth grabbing. There are rumors of emegency 5 being released next month (October 2014) and hopefully it's a better game than the poorly done Emergency 2012/2013/2014 games and hopefully, the release of Emergency 4 on Steam is a good sign of Emergency 5 being released on Steam sometime soon.

At first glance, this game might look like those abysmal simulator games that you find decorating the local GameStop's bargain bin and the Steam Greenlight page in equal measure. However, 911: First Responders couldn't be more different. What appears to be a mild-mannered and simple simulation is a surprisingly realistic and hair-pullingly tough game of skill and judgement that plays out more like an RTS than a traditional sim. Well-researched subject material, a lengthy and challenging campaign, and exquisite sound and music design go hand-in-hand to create this gem of a game that deserves far more recognition than first appearances might suggest.

In 911: First Responders, the player assumes the role of an emergency dispatcher in an unidentified, accident-prone urban sprawl somewhere in Europe - presumably the Netherlands, considering where developers Sixteen Tons Entertainment hail from. It's your sole duty to command and micro-manage emergency responders of all professions and roles, ranging from police marksmen to fire department marine divers to tow truck technicians. The mammoth campaign is comprised of twenty assignments that are broken up by short sessions of responding to low-level emergency calls inside the city, with each success granting the player some of the funds needed to buy vehicles and upgrades that are imperative for the next big assignment. Though they start out easy enough, these large-scale missions quickly become damningly hard and will push even experienced RTS players to their multi-tasking, micro-managing limits. A very wide range of emergency situations and responses are represented in loving detail, giving the game just enough complexity to be engaging without being overwhelming to people who aren't educated in emergency service operations - despite the plethora of vehicles and personnel on hand, most of the tools the player is given have an obvious and easily comprehensible application. The open-ended nature of each assignment is also something to be noted and applauded - though some missions may have clear solutions, others require creative use of the tools at your disposal in order to save as many lives as possible.

Of course, fun as it is, the game isn't flawless. The eight-year-old graphics can't help but show their age upon close examination (though they aren't 'bad' by any means), and the pathfinding of the game's larger vehicles can become problematic in enclosed areas - which feature heavily in some assignments, occasionally resulting in Tetris-like scenes in which the player must manually guide their confused emergency vehicles out of a tight spot in order to release an urgently-needed automotive at the bottom of the metaphorical heap. The game also has a nasty habit of giving the player new tools or personnel without giving much notification, which wouldn't be so bad if those new tools and personnel didn't tend to play very critical roles in the mission in which you're given them. One notable example is the fifth assignment, in which the player must clean up after a road bridge collapse - a task in which the fire brigade's marine divers are essential for locating sunken cars in the river below. The game, of course, doesn't tell you that it's given you these divers, so they're easy to miss when you're loading up a fire engine to send onto the map.

These flaws, however, pale greatly against the immense fun that I've been having with this game so far. The surprisingly steep challenges that it offers seriously surprised me as I progressed further into the campaign, and part of what motivates me to overcome every nail-bitingly tense challenge and assignment is my curiosity over what the next assignment will hold. At the asking price of £3.99, this game is an absolute steal for its quality and a must for strategy fans and anyone who's enthusiastic about the work of the emergency services. Definitely get this game.

911: First Responders is one of those little gems you pick up in the “dollar bin” not realizing what you’ve found, let it sit on your shelf for a few months, and when you finally get around to playing it you almost feel like you owe it an apology.

While this isn’t the best emergency response game I’ve ever played it is one of the most well rounded. In a 911 title you’d expect to have units from the Police, Fire, and Medical fields but this game goes further. It also brings in services like clean-up wreckers and specialty vehicles. In addition, all of your vehicles have their specific roles to play in combating the events that occur in your city.

If I had one thing to nitpick about this game it would be that it’s too busy, specifically in the “nonstop” mode. This mode is almost like a sandbox where you are given event after event to deal with. The problem here is that occasionally an event is so complicated, like a bush fire, that it takes you a while to deal with it. While combating that bush fire you may end up getting assigned another fire, or a police action. This leaves you either losing ground in your complicated task while you deal with the others, or ignoring the others and completing your complicated task. The limit on how many vehicles you can have active at once also hinders the ability to deal with multiple emergencies

Things get a little better in multiplayer mode, but not much. Yes, there is a multiplayer mode. In this mode you and a friend can tackle emergencies in the same city. The only downside here is that the ability to dispatch new vehicles is turn-based. Players have to have good communication and use excellent team work in “passing the torch” so their partner can help dispatch vehicles to emergencies without delay. Once the vehicles are on the map, however, you don’t need control of dispatch in order to maneuver them around. You do, however, need to return them to headquarters so vehicles are available for other emergencies.

Graphically this game is pretty good. The game plays out in a somewhat 3D map view of the entire city. You can easily use the mini-map to jump around the city, or scroll off the side with your mouse. The level of detail is pretty good, as you’ll find yourself needing to access everything from equipment in the vehicles to fire hydrants. Doors have to be broken down. Hostages have to be rescued. Fire victims have to be rescued from buildings. Injured have to be extricated from vehicles and treated by medics. It’s a fairly involved game for the graphics being so “zoomed out”. I never really found myself fighting the camera, it was fairly easy to control and rotate around structures.

Sound in the game got somewhat repetitive after a while. There is one announcement for each type of emergency, and it’s repeated every time the specific emergency happens. Music is fast paced but also gets a little repetitive at times. Still, it suits the theme of the game and brings in a little bit of excitement.

All in all… I have to refer to my opening statement. When I got this game I wasn’t expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The best of the Emergency series
LA mod makes it best of the best