Emergency (series)

Emergency is a German series of four computer games by Sixteen Tons Entertainment. All games revolve around micromanaging emergency services on a variety of accident and/or accident scenes.

The main unit types are firefighters, police and EMS, with various auxiliaries such as search and rescue and technical units (namely THW). According to German practices, emergency physicians are dispatched to accident scenes

Emergency: Fighters for Life
Emergency: Fighters for Life is the first game in the Emergency series. It was released on July 31, 1998. It contains 30 missions, some of which are based on true events such as the Ramstein airshow disaster.

The game is extremely cumbersome by modern standards, lacking such features as a minimap or an indicator of where units enter the scene. Some of this is intentional due to realistic but unwieldy elements, such as command units and long travel times that make fly-cars relatively useful, that were later streamlined away.

Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life
Emergency 2 was released in 2002 by Arush Entertainment. It contains 25 missions.

Emergency 3: Mission Life
Known as Emergency 3 in North America, this installment is the first to use a 3D engine and a movable camera angle instead of a 2D engine. It contains 20 missions together with two free play modes, Endless and Challenge, for watching over a single city. The game is also the first to feature a mission editor and supports modding.

International versions of Emergency 3 are set in a generic Western location. Some Germanisms remain, in particular the fifth mission, the first multiple-vehicle collision: without instruction, traffic must be stopped by using traffic signs peculiar to the autobahn, using a hand-held stop sign that worked in previous missions will get its wielder run over and cause mission failure.

Emergency 4: Global Fighters for Life
Known as 911: First Responders in North America, Emergency 4 boasts several improvements in user-friendliness. For instance, it's possible to dispatch several vehicles at the same time, order them to arrive at a specific location, there's a simple counter for the number of casualties in the area of operations, and idle emergency physicians seek out nearby untended casualties.

The game contains 20 missions, with mandatory free play intermissions at every interim, and the Endless and Challenge free play modes. It is also the first in the series to support multiplayer gameplay and supports modding.

A deluxe release includes three extra missions, support for voice commands, etc.

Emergency 2012: The Quest for Peace
Also known as Emergency 2012, this will be the fifth installment of the Emergency series which currently being developed by Quadriga Games and published by Deep Silver. The current set European release date is October 22, 2010, with a North American version planned for release on January 5, 2011.