Fire Fight
Windows - 1996
Description of Fire Fight
One of the most underrated shareware releases from Epic Megagames, Fire Fight is an excellent, very addictive isometric shoot em-up from Polish developer Chaos Works.
Although the game did well enough to warrant a later retail release by Electronic Arts, it unfortunately did not do well in the market and disappeared in the matter of months. Fans of EA’s own Desert Strike will be right at home with Fire Fight -- in fact, the designers aren’t ashamed at admitting their influence: there is one mission in the game called "AKA Future Strike" to dispel any doubt.
You play a futuristic skimmer pilot working for the autocratic "Phantom Council" which reminds me of the Empire for good reason ;) Your job, naturally, is to bring subversive planets back under the Council’s control by flying strike missions against air and ground targets.
As Epic’s own Zone 66 took the shooter genre to new heights with 360-degree freedom of movement, Fire Fight takes the innovation one step further by placing the 360-degree view within a smooth-scrolling isometric environment, brought to life by sharp SVGA graphics. The game also requires some tactical planning to succeed: in addition to shooting everything in sight, you need to collect weapons and equipment upgrades, beam up important items, drop off and pick up strike teams, and so on.
Similar to Tie Fighter, you are given next objectives in the mission by radio as you complete each phase. Although bare, the HUD provides all important information, including an excellent situational radar that tells you where to go next (as well as warn you incoming air-to-air threats). As usual, the missions (18 in total) get bigger and tougher as you progress, and there are secret bonuses for the perfectionists to find.
Six dedicated multiplayer maps are available for fragfest fun, where as many as four ships can fight to the death under numerous customizable rules. Although the controls take some time to get used to, they are remarkably versatile once mastered, and allows for some impressive maneuvers. (the designers even make them similar to DOOM keys to help you along). There are tons of cool power-ups, including homing missiles, space mines, cloaking devices, grenades, and electric shockwaves.
The single-player missions may not last that long, but with the replayability of the multi-player mode, Fire Fight is undoubtedly one of the best 2D shoot em-ups you will ever play, bar none. Two thumbs up, way up!
Review By HOTUD
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
Eaemcw 2022-11-06 3 points
@MUSTAFA, that worked perfectly in my Windows 10 machine, thank you! The second step is not even necessary, by the way.
Could someone please upload the original MIDI files? I found the soundtrack on YouTube, but it's a single m4a file. I couldn't get the game to play regular audio files or even CD audio files, and even if that were possible, I still would need to extract the eight tracks from the YouTube file.
Mustafa 2022-02-12 2 points
Got it to work on my windows xp machine.
1. Modify cwe.ini and add the lines "use_640x400 = yes" and "use_320x200 = no" under SPR.
2. Using PowerIso create a new readable disk image since the game is not cracked. I used the .bin .cue format. Mount this new image with modified .ini using Daemontools or whatever.
3. Download a program called DXWND from sourceforge. Select FIREFIGHT.exe and make sure "hook enabled" is selected. From the Mouse tab select "correct MOUSEHOOK callback and press Ok.
Ultramegamighty 2021-08-13 3 points
This one is giving me an absolute barrage of problems, and I can't get it to run. First it hits me with
'cwe.ini:/spr/use_640x400' no such label [Text]
engine initialization failed
So I added 'use_640x400 = yes' in the [spr] section of cwe.ini. Then it hits me with
'cwe.ini:/spr/use_320x200' no such label [Text]
engine initialization failed
So I added the appropriate use line there, but instead of yes, I put no. Then it hits me with
unable to hook keyboard [Kbd::init]
eem initialization failure
engine initialization failed
I tried adding 'Kbd::init = yes', but that's likely the wrong code because then it threw a joystick error at me. I know I'm missing something, but I have no idea what.
0570 2020-04-28 3 points
@FORBIDDEN64
I still have the original .MIDI files back from when I had the game on CD. Hit me up on Reddit (u/0570) if you're interested.
Giuseppe81 2020-01-05 2 points
Hi! the game works, but i can't save the missions. once I get out of the game I always have to start from mission 1 again
forbidden64 2019-10-22 0 point
Hi, I found this game after many years of looking for it again. I guess I have found most of my white whale games! The other one was Aethra Chronicles. This game is AWESOME!!!! It hasn't aged a day since I played it all the way back in 1998. The music is missing as the other user pointed out... because the music really added ambiance to the game. My sound works fine though! If I can, I'd like to buy an original copy of the game to get the music back. The iso doesn't appear to have preserved the audio tracks in spite of its large size. When I write it back to the disc, it is only 48 megs. The installer doesn't work. However, you can just copy the game into a folder and play it.
That said! MAN is this game fun!!!! Your bosses are jerks too. I never noticed as a kid but they are brutal! Anyway, as HOTUD pointed out this is a two thumbs way up game. It stuck with me for 20+ years in my memories so it has to be good! I hope you give this one a try because it is probably the best shmup for windows ever made. The multi-dimensional parallax scrolling and satisfying weaponry leave nothing to be desired. Even switching weapons feels good. As the reviewer pointed out too, all the controls are borrowed straight out of doom, which for a die hard 90s gamer like me, means I feel right at home with the cursor, ctrl, alt for strafing key combo. numbers select your weapons as well.
You will enjoy blowing up structures and dancing around guided missiles while you shred and bring hell to the bad guys!
Thiago Costa 2019-07-14 0 point
This game was awesome !! I remember when I first played a shareware. I would just like a little help if possible. The Game runs perfectly, but in execution, I had to uninstall the antivirus. The game runs, but without the songs of the levels. How to reslove? Thank you very much!!
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