Emergency Mayhem
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| Emergency Mayhem

Working for the emergency services certainly isn't for everyone. Dealing with blood, guts and even death on a daily basis, it can be a gruelling and traumatic career that requires a special type of person. Going faint at the sight of a splinter is hardly what you'd want from a rapid-response paramedic.

Luckily for us (and all you other squeamish people out there), Emergency Mayhem provides a much more light-hearted look at the world of emergency services, and in doing so, makes itself a heck of a lot of fun to play.

Putting you in the shoes of an emergency services worker in a town that's going to the dogs, it's up to you to patrol the streets and help out any citizens that get into trouble. The game begins with your troupe of workers (a fireman, policeman, and a nurse) getting moaned at by the mayor of the city because you're not making him enough money. Because he's not happy with losing cash on petty things like people's safety, he sets you an ultimatum: make $5,000 dollars, or you'll all get fired. Talk about priorities.

The subsequent game is divided into two sections. Before you can rescue stranded cats from trees or catch people leaping from burning buildings, you must choose an emergency service to play as, and get to work patrolling the streets.

As you're driving around Crisis City, you'll be notified of emergencies that are happening across the city and a dot will appear at the edge of your screen to show you where they are. When you arrive on the scene, Emergency Mayhem switches to one of six mini-games, and it's here that you earn your money. Perform well, and you'll be rewarded handsomely; don't do so well and you'll make nothing.

These mini-games range from a shoot out with some criminals who've taken over a block of flats to helping zoo animals cross the road (no, really). Each game is easy to play, and surprisingly addictive; the only problem we have is that there's only two games per emergency service. Thankfully, the game usually does a good job of alternating between the games, or forcing you to change emergency service mid-mission, and this helps to keep the gameplay from getting stale.

Racing through the streets to reach your destination, the game feels a lot like Grand Theft Auto. Played from a top down 2D perspective, Emergency Mayhem looks gorgeous, providing some pretty pseudo-3D visuals to accompany the wail of your siren.

Even better is the fact that the metropolis is entirely free-roaming. You can drive down any road, any passage, or through any objects you want to get to the emergency, and this makes it a whole lot of fun.

However, it's not quite as easy as it sounds. To provide a bit of a challenge and to stop you just mowing down pedestrians willy-nilly, most objects in the city are fully destructible. From traffic lights to shrubbery, if there's anything that a fire engine could squish in real life, you can squish it on this game. The only problem is, if you destroy it, it comes out of your wages, and this could stop you from making the amount you need.

This delicate balance between racing to an emergency at whatever cost while still trying to make the most profit is what really makes the gameplay interesting, and it has been capitalised on by the design of the city.

Emergency Mayhem is one of the most original and enjoyable mobile games we've played in ages. It's smooth, it's polished, it's a lot of fun, and it'll keep you playing long into the nightshift.

Emergency Mayhem

The free-roaming gameplay and addictive mini-games make this a game that's hard to put down
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