Who wouldn’t want to be a real hero? You can be a dashing firefighter pitting your wits against a terrible relentless enemy in an alternative first-person shooter where you are armed with a hose instead of a gun. Admit it, you’re intrigued. Find out more in this review.
Real Heroes: Firefighter
Lots of us have daydreamed about being a fireman. Well now those childhood imaginings can be realised without the actual risk of burning and smoke inhalation. Real Heroes: Firefighter is undoubtedly a strange idea for a game and it can be most closely described as first-person shooter but this budget title is nothing like The Conduit. The concept is really good and the game casts you in the role of a rookie fireman and challenges you to battle some impressive blazing scenarios. As an alternative to combat based games this is a refreshing first-person experience.
Gameplay
Rating 
The control mechanics are inspired by FPS games that got it right and you’ll control your extinguisher, hose, axe and crowbar with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. You are pitched straight into the action in the middle of a big warehouse fire and each level assigns you with a series of mini-missions to carry out. You’ll rescue trapped people by hacking away fallen beams with your axe, you’ll smash windows to let in fresh air and you’ll pry elevator shafts open with the Jaws of Life. These are all achieved by holding B and performing the appropriate action. The controls mostly work well and feel fairly intuitive but there are a couple of irritating actions which are tough to line up.
Your portable extinguisher has limited effectiveness but the big fire hose is powerful. You can use the spread setting for close fires and the full stream for dousing flames that are further away. Despite the obvious overall aim of putting out fires the majority of your tasks are specific mini-missions and you’ll mainly need to use the hose in order to create routes that you can safely navigate. It is very easy to accidentally stumble into the blaze and if you overheat you die and it’s back to the last checkpoint.
The game is fairly unforgiving and it definitely commits the design crime of forcing you to die in order to learn how to complete the level. Thankfully it doesn’t do that too often and although the pace is slower than a typical FPS it is surprisingly fun and satisfying to play. The AI is another weak link in the overall package and sometimes rescued people seem to lack any survival instinct but these rough edges are to be expected with a budget title. The occasional puzzles don’t represent much of a challenge but they do provide a bit of welcome variety because spraying the fires can get repetitive.