There are plenty of dangerous careers to choose from and whichever is selected, you’ll be considered a hero. However, the one that stands out for me is the life of a firefighter. Dealing with blazing infernos, falling buildings, and screaming humans is a recipe for disaster. Embr allows you to take this role and enjoy the dangers from the safety of your home.
Developed by Muse Games and published by Curve Digital, this is a first-person action-adventure title. The hectic gameplay can be tackled solo or with three friends and you’ll scream, shout, and laugh as you extinguish fires, rescue people, and steal goods.
Embr has a simple concept, but it’s challenging to play.
I adore it when a game has a simple concept. I don’t want to spend hours learning the finer details, as I simply want to get on with it. Luckily, Embr does just that and you’ll be knee-deep in flames and water in no time. The concept is straightforward, as you must complete tasks to earn money to buy bigger and better equipment. Your missions become more complex and the solutions aren’t always obvious, but this is half the fun.
You must rescue people, jump from burning buildings, tackle electricity, gas, explosions, and more. Armed with an array of equipment, you must be quick, proactive, and brave as you complete each task. As the jobs become more complex, the gameplay becomes more challenging. You’ll grind out missions to earn money to improve your apparatus. Though the best gear is essential, it doesn’t guarantee victory, and a heck of a lot of luck is also required.
An array of missions and loads of equipment.
I loved the range of missions that spanned each of the three locations. You’ll travel each area completing a selection of tasks to earn money, gold coins, and blue gems. These are used to buy equipment and to upgrade it (more on this shortly). The range of tasks asks you to save civilians, salvage goods, destroy properties quickly, rescue all the cash, save a specific item, and more. Each requires a different tactical approach and a unique loadout.
This excellent idea from Muse Games ensured the gameplay stayed fresh throughout. Each property you visited has many tasks to complete and has a maximum ‘Embr score’ to obtain. This challenges you to push yourself to the limit and will test your competitive side.
The difficulty of the missions is vastly reduced when new equipment is purchased and upgraded. You can buy extinguishers, hoses, attachments, trampolines, clothing, axes, vehicles, and more. These increased health, power, speed, the ability to carry more, and so on. Soon your firefighter becomes superhuman, and tackling each blaze is as simple as blowing out a match.
Multiplayer and unique challenges.
I was unable to experience the madness of multiplayer, but this hectic mode will enhance the already excellent gameplay. Working together will cause arguments, but it’ll also add tactical advantages not seen in the solo mode. If you have a great group of friends, this will be a game you’ll want to play together.
Daily and weekly tasks have been incorporated into the action to add further challenges, and to keep you playing. These missions aren’t for the faint of heart but are well rewarded if you succeed. I love it when developers keep you coming back for more and this was an excellent move by Muse Games.
Embr has basic graphics but interesting levels.
Combining the look of Rec Room and Secret Neighbor, Embr has basic visuals that use a simple but striking colour palette. I liked how the flames engulfed the buildings and the panic on each person’s face. Thanks to its first-person perspective, it was easy to navigate the array of interesting 3D levels. The action takes place over many floors and it was great to explore each burning maze while completing the objectives.
The audio enhances the drama. The crackling sound effects and the buzzing of electricity fill you with fear. Then there are the explosions of barrels and the cracking of wood as buildings tumble. It brilliantly represents the danger firefighters face, and I thoroughly enjoyed the horrifying nature of the audio.
Excellent UI and responsive controls.
With many tasks to focus on and lots of equipment to use, this could have been challenging to play. Fortunately, it’s excellent and well laid out UI makes selecting the correct tool an easy task. Also, the responsive controls ensure that every command is blindly followed. You’ll love jumping from buildings or throwing people onto trampolines as you dive deeper into each burning mess.
The aforementioned multiplayer mode and weekly tasks demand you keep playing. I adored the challenge of getting the maximum score and the difficulty of the later levels. You’ll invest hours to unlock all the equipment and to complete each mission. The achievement list is just as tough and completionists will struggle to finish this title.
Embr is a fantastic and hectic title that’ll push you to your limits.
Embr tests your planning, reactions, and patience. You must upgrade your equipment, alter your loadout, and hope for some luck. It’s excellent solo, but I’m sure it’ll excel as a multiplayer title. I enjoyed it and recommend you to buy it here! Become a firefighter, improve your tools, and tackle every blaze.
