Emergency Call - The Firefighting Simulation 3: the firefighter's job simulated up close, and rebuilt from scratch

The firefighter, in France, is not just a job, it is almost a sacred figure. Between summers that burn and the affection the country holds for its fire crews, it is hard not to take a special interest in a game that offers to slip into their uniform. So when the third entry in Emergency Call shows up, of course we prick up our ears.

And that is exactly where the game hits home for us. In France, right now, we all feel a little like firefighters. We follow their interventions, we measure what we owe them, and the urge to understand the job from the inside, to put on the gear for a single shift, is nothing trivial. That is the chord the game strikes. The series was born from the German simulation Notruf 112, developed this time with a real fire station, but never mind the flag on the truck: what we want is to live the daily life of the fire crew.

What this third entry wants to change

The headline argument is the complete rebuild in Unreal Engine 5. Not just a sequel, but a technical overhaul, delivering a reworked fire simulation and a new role system. The guiding idea looks clever: simulate the daily life of the station rather than a string of spectacular missions. You live 24-hour shifts, take qualifications, train to improve your endurance, strength and recovery, climb the ranks from plain crew member to vehicle engineer.

This station-life approach, if handled well, could lift this third entry above the run-of-the-mill sim. The risk, with this kind of ultra-realistic project launched in early access, is the early rigidity and lack of polish. We know what hardcore simulation early access is worth: often promising, sometimes austere, rarely complete on day one.

So we stay cautious, but curious. The urge to test what a 24-hour shift feels like, with skill progression and realistic intervention management, is very much there. We will go back once a few hours of duty are done, to tell you whether this overhaul keeps its promises or still needs to heat up.