Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life
9-Won-Won
As I mentioned in my review of the predecessor Emergency: Fighters for Life, Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life was my introduction to this mixed bag of a series from Germany, whose subtitles in the subsequent parts with Global Fighters for Life and The Quest for Peace wouldn't get any better. Of course, I didn't care much about that, after all, it was about digital entertainment, about saving lives, about gaming!
I was 11 years old when my brother and I got Emergency 2 . Our decision was based 5% on the cool pictures on the packaging and 95% on the fact that the game came with a cheap headset that allowed you to give commands via voice control. Sounds incredibly advanced for the year 2003, and it was, which is why we didn't even have a microphone connection on the PC at first. When we eventually could try out this wonderful feature, we quickly found out that it worked about as well as the verbal commands my mother gave me at the same time.
But even without the "Central!" shouts in the kids' room and with conventional mouse control, the fiddly game was moderately playable. Did that bother me? Of course not - I think. The game was fun, and every successful mission was an indescribable feeling of happiness.
Yet Emergency 2 was not easy and didn't take you by the hand. An example that has burned itself into my brain so deeply that I could still do the moves in my sleep is the second mission. It takes place on the motor highway, and the tasks are simple:
- Free injured from the accident car
- Stabilize the injured and take them to the hospital
- Transport wrecked vehicles off the scene
Past-Mattis, who at that time only knew about highway accidents from the peripheral field of view, since in its center there were either books or a Gameboy, of course had no idea about accident securing. Therefore, during the first attempts, at least one more car always crashed into the scene, followed by a multiple car collision and a big "Mission failed" screen. So, I memorized the procedures and perfected the work steps until I had cleared the accident site before the inevitable collision. It was never explained anywhere that you could change the nearby speed indicator with a policeman so that the traffic only drives at 30 mph. With this brute-force tactic, I fought my way through most of the game until it eventually became too difficult - as I said before, there were no tips or guides.
This is why the soundtrack of Emergency 2 has burned itself so deeply into my memories and makes me look back with nostalgic fondness on a game that was probably much easier than I thought and not even that good. Probably still better than its predecessor Emergency: Fighters for Life, both gameplay-wise and musically. Simply put, Uwe Rasch's score is just so much more gripping than Joachim Schäfer's. While the latter's composition with its synths and recurring rhythms falls into the category of accompanying sound, Rasch takes a different route and shines with (hard) rock.
The screaming electric guitar that dominates almost every track is accompanied by drums and 80s riffs, creating a feeling of A-Team meets Miami Vice. This not only sounds more thrilling on paper but also acoustically. In terms of other video games, the comparison with the Command & Conquer-series would probably be most accurate (Track 2, Track 3, Track 5), which, after all, does invite you to nod your head with similarly hard rock sounds.
At the same time, the soundtrack also brings its own nuances, such as the recurring alarm signal in Track 2, which underscores the emergency character of the game. Or the anticyclical string triad of Track 4, which runs contrary to the rhythm of the melody, creating an imbalance that makes us sway while listening. This is not a perfect world, as in the first Emergency; this sounds like a real emergency. In contrast, Track 6, feel like a real-time tactical game akin to Emergency 2 feel like a real-time tactical game akin to Commandos . Unexpected but not unwelcome. I do enjoy the result, although I have to issue a huge nostalgia warning here. If that doesn't deter you from listening, you'll get an interesting mix of badass feelings and cool strategizing.
Nostalgia warning
The rating of the individual tracks is purely subjective and clearly colored by my own experience with the game. You can find out more in the article About Nostalgia.
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life 1 | Uwe Rasch |  |
| 2 | Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life 2 | Uwe Rasch |  |
| 3 | Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life 3 | Uwe Rasch |  |
| 4 | Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life 4 | Uwe Rasch | |
| 5 | Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life 5 | Uwe Rasch | |
| 6 | Emergency 2: The Ultimate Fight for Life 6 | Uwe Rasch | |
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