Video Game / Fire Fight

"The Phantom Council is the judicial system of the future. After the council has handed down a guilty verdict on a planet, or its people, swift and brutal action is taken. The council does not rule on single people; only countries, their citizens and planets are judged. As the number one Phantom pilot, Jax, you provide the bulk of the verdicts, striking down cities and structures and rescuing P.O.W. personnel who are still captive long after the wars of the system have ended."

— Background of the game

Fire Fight is an Isometric Shoot 'Em Up developed by Chaos Works and Epic Games (when they were called Epic Megagames) and published by Electronic Arts (in the days when they went by their full title instead of just EA) in 1996 for Windows 95 PCs.

In the game, you control a white, U-shaped fighter craft with a variety of weapons, and fly missions on various Single Biome Planets destroying ground and air targets and accomplishing specific other objectives, such as rescuing hostages, among other missions.

The interesting inversion resides in the plot: you play as Jaxon, a starship captain working for the Phantom Council, attempting to suppress the forces of La Résistance. However, The Empire is closer to The Federation, and La Résistance are no heroic Ragtag Bunch of Misfits.

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Fire Fight provides examples of:

• 100% Completion: Each level of the game has a Kills-Secrets-Time counter. In addition, clearing an area out of enemies will also spawn a cyclic item that'll fill your ammo count for a specific weapon or give your ship full shields.
  On-board computer: Entire air and ground defense has been destroyed.
• Announcer Chatter: Your on-board computer announces whenever you find a secret place, pick up an (non-enemy-dropped) item or you manage to achieve 100% Completion enemy-wise. And, of course, if your Shield level is low or critical. And is key to faking the kidnapping in the fourteenth mission, "Mission X".
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • The briefing of the eleventh mission, "A.K.A. Future Strike", states that you only need to align satellite antennas by rescuing three officers. However, after you did so (and took care of a rogue scientist who was jamming the signals), you're tasked with taking out another insurgent group in order to gain access to the local Farcasters.
  • The thirteenth mission, "Meltdown", starts with the rescuing of several stranded Council officers. After landing in the pad after rescuing the last survivor, Riley orders you to wreak havoc across the area and put an end to Jarventia's rebellion once and for all.
• Bald of Authority: Riley, your Commanding Officer, is bald.
• BFG: The Cannon. It's so powerful that it blows your ship backwards when you fire it. Strangely enough, it's also the weapon with the least visual effects.
• Boring, but Practical: The Vulcan is your starting weapon and doesn't do the highest amount of damage, but it's still the most reliable weapon you get. Ammo for the Cannon is quite scarce, both the Missiles and the Swarmers have a tendency to hit structures rather than enemy ships, the Plasma Gun is quite inaccurate, and the Grenades' ammo is scarce, in addition to having the ability to destroy your ship should it get caught in a Grenade's blast radius. Plus, ammo for the Vulcan is quite common.
• Boss Fight: Not as many as your typical Shoot 'Em Up, but they're around. They not only qualify as King Mooks, but also fire giant-sized versions of the lesser ships' weapons too.
  On-board computer: Large ship in range.
  • The Giant Missile Ships fires, well, missiles.
  • The Giant Plasma Ships fires a barrage of dual plasma bolts.
  • The Giant Rammer Ships cannot attack but instead generate smaller Ramming ships.
• Boss Rush: The eighth mission, "Jump The Gun", ends with a battle against two giant Missile Ships as well as a giant Plasma Ship near your landing pad.
• Chase Scene: In the ninth mission, "No Escape", you must chase down a heavily-armored transport craft full of escaped prisoners through Techno Wreckage at high speed.
• Cool Shades: Jaxon carries a pair of shades, as seen on his communication portrait.
• Cool Starship: Your craft.
• The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Your Swarmer and Missile missiles will heat-seek both enemies and structures alike, sometimes giving structures a priority. However, the Missile Turrets and the Missile Ships's own missiles are focused on heat-seeking you.
• Critical Existence Failure: Even in "Shield Critical" status you can drive your ship as if you were at 100%. Get all your points down, however...
• Dark Is Not Evil: The Phantom Council may have an ominous name, and Commander Riley may be serious and no-nonsense. However, there's nothing in the game portraying them as evil.
• Deadpan Snarker: Jaxon loves to joke and snark during missions.
  (During the "Thin Air" mission)
  Jaxon: Do we have the location of the rest?
  Female Commander: Two agents to the east can give you that info.
  Jaxon: Did somebody paint "Taxi" on my 99?
  Female Commander: Funny. Just pick them up.

  (Later on the same mission)
  Jaxon: Nice gate.
  Shadow: Need some help? Come and get me.
  (After beaming Shadow up)
  Shadow: The gate's code is too easy. I didn't even have to blow it up.
  Jaxon: Poor guy.

  (During the second half of "A.K.A. Future Strike")
  Jaxon: I hope I've completed your vendetta.
  Commander Riley: You would be wise to watch your tone. Return to base.
• Detect Evil: Rather than a radar display, you have a faint circle drawn around your ship made up of segments. If enemies appear nearby your ship, one or more segments will light up.
• Difficult, but Awesome: Grenades. They're scarce for the most part. In the hands of an unskilled player, they are wasted like hell and the player's ship will get blown more often than not. In the hands of a skilled player, an useful tool for clearing mine fields, turrets, entire compounds and even those annoying large ships in one swoop.
• Escort Mission: The sixteenth mission, "Runaway", features Commander Riley being ambushed while on a boat headed downriver. However, you only need to destroy the mines in his way for success, the enemies aren't much of a threat to him and his ship moves fairly slowly, giving you plenty of time.
• Eternal Engine: Levels set in both Argus-High and Nihil are equal parts this and Space Station.
• Exploding Barrels: Some fuel dumps can be destroyed, and they'll hurt nearby ships.
• Gotta Catch 'Em All: The second mission, "Hot Cargo", requires you to collect 20 nuclear containers stored on a processing plant on Darius. Some of these containers are hidden in structures that must be shot in order to be opened. Also collecting them require your ship to be stationed on top of the cargo for some time.
• Homing Projectile: Both the Missiles from both your ship and the Missile turrets and ships, as well as the rockets from your Swarmer gun.
  On-board computer: Incoming Missile!
• It's Up to You: The seventeenth mission, "One Way Out", cuts you off from HQ, forcing you to discover how to reach the end of the level without any hint.
• Jungle Japes: The planet Jarventa.
• Macross Missile Massacre: Your Swarmer weapon launches a barrage of missiles.
• Mad Bomber: In some missions, you work in conjunction with Shadow, a demolitions specialist who loves his job. Luckily, he's on your side.
• Mook Maker: The Large Ramming Ship cannot attack you, but generates several ramming ships.
• No One Gets Left Behind:
  • Near the end of the third mission, "New Order", a council ship crashed on the area, and your mission is to retrieve the surviving personnel.
  Jaxon: I've got 'em. What about the others?
  Female Commander: I can't get a lock on the other crash site. You'll have to find them yourself, I can't let you leave them behind.
  • The seventh mission, "Fire and Ice", is based around rescuing a bunch of officers loyal to the Phantom Council.
• Not So Above It All: Riley is a serious, no-nonsense commander most of the time. From time to time, however, he lets some silly side get through:
  (On the eighth mission, "Jump The Gun", after clearing the first area)
  Female Commander: They're not standing down.
  Commander Riley: That is unfortunate.
  Jaxon: Didn't know you cared.
  Commander Riley: I meant for them.
• Oh, Crap!: Halfway through the tenth mission "Cool Surface", you need to beam up Shadow. The problem is... the bomb components you beamed up prior to that? They're already armed. You have a few seconds before the bombs explode and take out both you, Shadow, and your ship with them.
  Shadow: Oops...
  Jaxon: What?
  Shadow: This bomb is already armed.
• Ramming Always Works: The nastiest non-boss ship is a dark, wedge-shaped ship that doesn't fire anything - it just propels itself straight at you, counting on its very high armor (it's the only mook able to withstand a cannon shot) to deal a ton of damage.
• Remilitarized Zone: The planet Darius, with a decidedly alpine bent.
• Rewarding Vandalism: Structures can be destroyed in order to get items from them.
• Scenery Porn: considering the game's age, the small size of the developer studio and the intended market (nobody who made it is likely to have had illusions of Doom-scale fame), the scenarios are remarkably beautiful and the attention to detail in the artwork is amazing.
• Shout-Out:
  • The eleventh mission is named "A.K.A. Future Strike".
  • In the thirteenth mission, "Meltdown", after blowing up the cores into the designated area, Shadow proclaims "I love the smell of napalm in the morning".
• Space Friction: There are both in-atmosphere and space levels. Your ship can handle the same in both environments.
• Stuff Blowing Up: Lots of stuff explode in addition to the enemy ships, such as fuel dumps, mines, part of the scenery... Even your own ship.
• Tempting Fate: The beginning of the tenth mission, "Cool Surface":
  Commander Riley: Report.
  Jaxon: Seems quiet.
  (After the first ships appear)
  Jaxon: Spoke too soon.
• A Winner Is You: The game ends with a small series of paragraphs detailing how peace was brought to rogue worlds.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: Besides Riley, you've also got a Sassy Redheaded woman who alternates with the commander giving you mission objectives and advice.

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MISSION COMPLETE