$17.99The concept of a firefighting game with a woman as the lead is immediately attention grabbing. Developer Dejima does well at making a great looking, playing, and feeling game centered around Firegirl. However, Firegirl: Hack ’n Splash Rescue fails to spark any long-term interest despite having a metagame for improving yourself and the firehouse you work for, the more you play. There’s some interesting story beats, but they’re predictable. Firegirl: Hack ’n Splash Rescue has the embers to start something big, but never fully catches fire.
You play as the daughter of a famed firefighter, now of age to become a firefighter herself. Only referred to as Firegirl, she is immediately embraced by the Mayor, City Hall and the people of this fictional town. However, there’s a rampant rise of fires that immediately demands her attention. There’s definitely suspicions rising about the explosion of fire-related incidents around the city. So it’s up to Firegirl to help save the day, and the town, all while solving the mystery at-hand.
You’ll see there being mentions of this game being called a roguelite. This is only partially true, this is the lightest of roguelites I’ve ever played. Everything has permanence such as the things you upgrade, and the money you earn. The thing that changes is the levels, whether you’re in a burning building or a train that’s on fire (somehow), these are randomized in their layouts. Variety is not the game’s strong suit, nor does it attempt it, sadly These rescues could be considered runs for the genre. That said, this is the extent that the game goes anywhere near the term of roguelite – which isn’t much.
When you arrive on the scene, you’ll hack doors open with your axe, and splash water by spraying your hose to put out raging flames. You aren’t attached to a hose because of the platforming and tough navigating that you have to do. So you’ll be armed with a water pack instead, which can double as a jetpack to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. Your water pack has a limited amount of water, and while you can’t run out, at its bare minimum you’ll have a weak spray to use. This’ll last you to the end of the level, or until you find a broken water main or jug that can fill your tank back up. Since you’re putting out fires, taking damage will take one point of health off. Lose all your hearts, and the run is done. Sometimes, med packs can be found to replenish one heart. Going a bit fantastical with its approach, there’s a larger mystery around what’s starting the fires. So as you’re putting out regular fires, you’ll be taking out fire bats, fire gremlins, and other types. Putting out fires of any kind will restore seconds back onto the constantly ticking clock. As this is a firefighting game, you only have a three minutes to get in and rescue the remaining civilians trapped in the building, and get out. It’s always a race against time, and every second is precious, often with a harrowing to escape a level just as a building is coming down.
The aforementioned permanence comes in multiple forms. Completing a level will receives funds from City Hall, donations from fans, and any fees from the hospital (only incurred if you run out of hearts during a rescue). The money you earn will start to roll in, and you’ll have options to spend in limited upgrades at first. As you rescue more civilians, some of them will want to work at the firehouse, and in doing so, these seven individuals will offer different types of improvements. Once you hire them, they will offer ways to decrease costs and/or increase earnings for the firehouse. It isn’t long before you unlock a shop that offers firefighter upgrades that boost armor and health. All of this is a real grind, as even some of the entry level items are tens of thousands of dollars.
Since you are a firefighter, the game has a mechanic around earning medals for the things you do. These will range from saving civilians, finding a specific cat, using your water pack in clever ways, and more. It’s a neat system that I wish was expanded on a little more, as there’s no achievements currently in the game. But for what it is, will certainly have me trying to attain them all in my career at this firehouse.
Firegirl has issues I couldn’t ignore. First, any given level offers erratic difficulty. One time through a level could be a breeze, only to be burned alive through being too close to multiple blazes. Another could be lots of fire sprites throwing fireballs or exploding, causing an early death. I inexplicably fell to my death when jumping between buildings, this is when the game has told me countless times I could jump blindly and be fine. Now, there is a peek up and down button, but it was too far to give any indication this jump would meet certain death. Sometimes the physics of broken objects get in the way of water or angles where you take unnecessary damage. The menus and interface are really awkward, and could really be improved. And weirdly, there’s no penalty for casualties of civilians you don’t save – it’s just somehow accepted.
Firegirl: Hack ’n Splash Rescue is a gorgeous game, as the 2D sprites against 3D backdrops go really well together. The core gameplay of putting out fires and combating the various monsters is really fun, as is engaging with the metagame that drives the upgrades. But the repetition and lack of variety in the levels is very draining and tiresome. Future content patches could address these concerns, but until then I advise caution. Firegirl: Hack ’n Splash Rescue has a solid foundation, but the over-reliance on repetition and grinding is not as enjoyable as it should be.
A Steam code was provided in advance by the publisher for review purposes
