Wildfire Reviews
There are levels where everything works together to create some interesting challenges, though these are not frequent enough to make Wildfire stand out from the crowd.
Wildfire has a huge amount of potential, but it's let down by frustrating trial-and-error gameplay, clunky controls and poor level design.
The frequent slow down significantly hurts my ability to recommend Wildfire on Switch. The back half of the game features a near constant lag that had me hoping for the experience to end. There is fun to be had still; I liked going back through early levels trying to puzzle out how to make it through while completing the optional challenges. However, the amount of joy I gained from those experiences doesn't negate the fact that Wildfire just runs poorly on Switch. If you're interested, it's probably better to play this on PC.
There are some great ideas in Wildfire, such as the way you can handle the elements to interact with the environment around you, but what we ended up getting instead was a shallow cinematic platformer with some janky controls, repetitive level design, and lots of framerate issues.
Here's the thing about WILDFIRE: This game is fun. The art is excellent. The music is solidly okay. The charm and memorability is fleeting and lacks the kind of variety of gameplay experiences you might have playing other games. This game will force you to think outside of the box. However, I am unsure if most will want to complete the game twice to fully unlock everything. Playing on the Switch brings its own unique challenges, like the issues with lag and aiming with the Joy-Con joysticks. If you and your friend played this game separately, you most likely will have had the same type of experience.
Wildfire is incredibly kind to stealth newcomers, with a carefully designed series of tutorial levels that don’t even really feel like tutorials, eventually leading to massive and intricate areas that are a joy to devour, and work really well as bite-sized breaks on the Switch. Wildfire still fulfills its pedigree: an immersive stealth sim made by ardent fans who just want to share their love with the world.
Much like its namesake, Wildfire takes a while to kick off, but once the perfect conditions are met, it can be chaos. The unique abilities make for interesting moments, which is needed thanks to the often monotonous stealth systems that plague the game. For those looking for a neat game to play co-op, you’ll find it in Wildfire.
Wildfire’s clever use of elemental powers and intuitive level design come together nicely to make for a satisfying stealth-escapade that emphasises player creativity. I loved tinkering around with my abilities and seeing how they could be best utilised to evade my foes, whilst the fact that you genuinely have to think your actions through carefully and strategize adds a satisfying sense of tension to each scenario you face. It’s just a whole lot of fun. It is guilty of seeing the frame rate stutter in busier sections which could be annoying, whilst fans of the genre might argue that the stealth mechanics could be a little bit simple in places too. If you can look past those flaws though, you’ll quickly find that Wildfire offers a genuinely enthralling adventure that certainly adds a unique (and often destructive) sense of flair to sneaking around.
Wildfire is a great puzzle, built with genius through intelligent techniques that influence the player's creativity in countless ways. Attention is necessary to explore this vibrant pixel art world, and the responsive controls integrated with excellent stealth gameplay provide that, and accessibility options makes it accessible for all audiences. Although eventual fps drops may slow the experience a little, the game from Sneaky Bastards is a 2D side-scrolling that values pacifism and will leave you ecstatic while playing with fire.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Wildfire is a very interesting stealth and platform puzzle title. The game requires agility, planning and cunning in the right dose, and its rich mechanics in the use of the elements encourages the player to be creative and try out new solutions, which adds a great factor of replayability. Yes, there are some problems, such as very small graphics and some FPS drops; however, considering also the fun local multiplayer and the wide accessibility options, it is a more than recommended experience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Sneaky Bastards understands that stealth doesn’t have to be boring, and encourages creativity in Wildfire. With each upgrade or new passive meteor shard, I was drawn back to older levels to see if it was easier to complete a task I had to skip out on prior. The game has a great flow of risk and reward amid its stealth. Add in the emergent layer of manipulating your environment and the enemies around you, and you have a game teeming with unpredictability. Wildfire is chaotic and wonderful, all enacted by the spark of a flame.
The many distinct scenarios within Wildfire are great fun to master no matter how you approach them and it's impressively funny, too.
In the end, Wildfire is a solid stealth title that plays well on the idea of restricted power. The various uses of your three elemental powers works well in adding a puzzle element to the stages and makes each stage feel chaotically fun, while the stealth emphasis and lack of focus on killing makes the endeavor feel fresh. The journey is a long one, but it doesn't feel like it drags on, thanks to the various objectives thrown your way. Wildfire is a wildly enjoyable romp that genre fans will absolutely enjoy.
Thanks to impressive level design, a nice range of cool abilities to try out and a spark of something truly unique (pun semi-intended), Wildfire succeeds at delivering a great stealth experience, even if it can be demanding at times.
Taken at its intended pace, Wildfire is a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting game with a multitude of interlocking systems that caters to players who don't mind thinking on their feet if their best-laid plans go scorchingly awry. The slow pace and frustration of failure won't appeal to all (though checkpoints are generously placed) but for gamers who don't mind a bit of a slow burn (tee hee), Wildfire is an expansive and inexpensive title that's a healthy mix of tropes and ideas familiar enough to feel cosy, and unpredictable elemental action that rewards creative thinking. And the further through the game you play, the more interesting it becomes. An impressive debut.
There's considerable joy to poking at the edges of its ingenious interlocking systems to see what happens.
Fire is your friend as you leap through this exhilarating game rescuing prisoners tied to stakes
A 2D stealth platformer that lets you glimpse, between some limits and many beautiful ideas, the charm of the indies.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Stealth games and me really don't usually go well together, but I loved Wildfire. This is an addictive, immaculately designed stealth platformer puzzler hybrid, one whose inclusion of local co-op makes it near essential.
Stealth-oriented games have never typically made for my favorite experiences but there are times when the mechanic is either used wisely or it’s merely an option you have in approach...