Thrilling and enjoyable disaster sim
The Emergency series, which also includes Emergency and Emergency 3, is an interesting set of games which gives players the chance to experience the hi-paced and chaotic lifestyle of an emergency response team. The games are not without their flaws but their sheer distinctiveness makes them well worth seeking out. This first sequel is pretty much of the same standard as the original and the third game and presents players with a series of 25 real-life disaster scenarios to deal with, ranging from a fairly straightforward traffic accident to more complex situations like wrecked oil tankers and erupting volcanoes. The game plays out like a real-time strategy game, where you take control of matters from the operations centre, issuing relevant units, like medical personnel, search operatives or police, and generally co-ordinating things. Once the site is reached, you jump into the thick of the action, running things from the street (or heavily polluted beach) where things become even more intense. You have to worry about things like budgets, so be careful not to send out too many units, while time is obviously a key factor as well and which really adds to the pressure. While not massively impressive in terms of visuals (the third game was the first to introduce 3D to the series), this isn't a huge problem as the gameplay is so compelling. It's undeniably thrilling finding yourself in control of such realistic scenarios, knowing that your actions can mean the difference between life and death (albeit on a digital scale) and although there are issues such as the unhelpful interface which can cause frustration and a certain lack of depth to the gameplay, on the whole this is fun and enjoyable disaster sim.
