FireStarter Critic Reviews

Expands its simple 'run and gun' action through a satisfying skill system, yummy graphics, and a handful of playable personas. Firestarter delivers rich action without raping the wallet.

For the $20 price tag it may provide a few hours of gaming fun to you FPS fans out there, but there may not be much more to it than that so buy with caution.

There is baggage here that is weighing it down, such as the camera with a mind of its own, the repeated textures, and most notably the lack of full online support. Still, for the price of $19.99 it is hard to argue the merits of a title that, despite its flaws, is still a heck of a lot of fun.

If what you’re hoping for is an intense and challenging shooter that harkens back to the classics, with lots of interesting monsters and a few wrinkles added in the form of special abilities, then you’ll be largely satisfied by what you find.

All the elements of a good shooter are here. Good graphics, good sound, good depth, bloody gameplay...it just doesn't add up. There's a stubborn sloppiness to the game that makes it tough to recommend.

Rough around the edges, it's thematically incoherent, and it's a victim of feature creep, but along with fast-paced action, it has some interesting twists that give it a little depth.

The thing is we were disappointed with character modeling and animation which clearly don't come off well in the game. Other effects, however, improve the overall visual appeal; like particle effects, colorful explosions, bullet shells and blood flying everywhere, effective use of lighting and reflections, and so forth.

There is a good premise to this game, and for the most part it has a solid core that could have been built on and polished with time. Overall it left me with the feeling of a game rushed out a little too soon.

If you feel like a little frenetic shooting and don't really care if it makes any sort of cohesive sense, then you won't feel bad about picking up this title.

It's just a good-old fashioned shooter that's heavy on the action and light on story or depth.

It's too bad Firestarter is executed so poorly because the graphics engine is fantastic, packed with reflections, great textures, and all manner of flashy high-tech visual doo-dads.

It’s lost in its own story line. While there is a great story line, the gameplay revolves nothing around it. The only thing Firestarter has running for it is the graphics.

Since only LAN play is supported, it's doubtful you'll ever experience multiplayer.

A terrible FPS clone, with no imagination or ingenuity...In the Ukraine, video games are used to torture people - or so it would seem.