911 Operator

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Title: 911 Operator
Developer: Jutsu Games
Publisher: SONKA
Website: http://jutsugames.com/911/
Genre: Simulation, Strategy
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Audience: 12
Release Date: 26/10/18
Price: £13.49 – Rapid Reviews UK was kindly provided with a review code for this title.

What the Developers say

In 911 Operator, you take on the role of an emergency dispatcher, who has to rapidly deal with the incoming reports. Your task is not just to pick up the calls, but also to react appropriately to the situation – sometimes giving first aid instructions is enough, at other times a police, fire department or paramedics’ intervention is a necessity. Keep in mind that the person on the other side of the line might turn out to be a dying daughter’s father, an unpredictable criminal, or just a prankster. Can you handle all of this?

Opportunity to play on over 900 cities in the world!

Expansive Career mode, featuring unique calls and events.

Nintendo Switch-exclusive World Map feature that allows you to pick any location you want to play!

More than 140 types of reports to encounter.

12 types of emergency vehicles (including helicopters, police cars or motorcycles).

Introduction

The ringtone of an incoming telephone call can be disturbing by itself in many various situations. Knowing beforehand that accepting this call will report an accident puts you under even more pressure. This is the daily job of a 911 dispatcher. The emergency service process brings high accountability with itself even if you are on site or “just” sitting in an office.

911 Operator will introduce you to the daily life of a lifesaver on a line. Reacting right and reacting fast is the key to save some strangers life. Sometimes you can help, sometimes you can’t save anyone. Taking on the various tasks and sending police, the fire department and the ambulance on their way the best way possible is the primary objective in this game. Let’s find out how I responded for rapidreviewsuk.com by asking “911 – what’s your emergency?”

Looks and Sounds

911 Operator is presented simply, no matter which mode you are in. You do not need high-end graphics here, and regarding some emergencies, I have dealt with, I pass on a detailed view on site. While on duty you see the grid of the city you are currently playing in. You start in smaller areas and work your way up to larger and much more busier towns in the US.

You are presented with a simple layout when assigning your team before duty. More on the details in the “Gameplay and replayability” section.

The first advice I want to give you is to play the game with headphones. The game recommends this to you, too, so I followed that. I have to say that the experience while playing with headphones is so much more intense than playing it without them. The Switch will vibrate if there is an incoming call and you hear the ringing in your ears before you pick up is more impactful “right in your ear”.

While keeping the emergency services at peak efficiency, music would only distract you. You get a tune after your shift and hear chatter when getting your team ready for duty, but that is it. I am glad it is that way because a 911 emergency staff won’t listen to the biggest hits of the century when answering your call either.

The voice of your character is very fitting. No matter what situation he is in, he reacts with a calm way. Very realistic and suits my liking.

Gameplay and Replayability

The dev Jutsu Games provide you with two game modes: Career Mode and Free Play.

The Career Mode has two different options for you. In the “Daily Routine”, a player tries to “survive” the daily life of a 911 dispatcher. You have six cities in the US to work in. Each of them provides you with a required number you need to reach, the so-called “Reputation”. If you fail to reach the number of points needed, you’re getting fired and have to retry this stage again.

The “Daily Routine” Mode in 911 Operator is the realistic way to go but is also a bit more time consuming than the next mode, the “Unique Stories” option. Here you get to enjoy the highest number of various situations. This mode takes less time and is highly suitable to practice how the game works. After finishing this mode, you are more equipped for “the real thing”. The player has also to finish the level with a positive reputation.

911 Operator has a “Free Game” mode as well. And here comes the cool part: The developer team created a lot of maps into the game and let you play in your hometown or the closest one nearby. It was unique and enjoyable to dispatch the police, the fire department and the ambulance services in a city where I used to work, Stuttgart and now live, Hamburg.

The emergencies you will face are rich in diversity. There will be a gang fight at one end of the city, the other end of town is facing a desperate cat owner keeping an eye on his beloved pet stuck in a tree until the firemen arrive. You also have to assist on the phone when someone has to perform CPR and give advice on what to do next. Beware, though, 911 Operator also has some prank calls for you as well!

Unfortunately, these calls can get repetitive. Sometimes I picked up a call, and within the first two sentences, I knew what happened. Especially if you cannot perform well on a level and have to replay the stage once or twice, you will almost be able to rephrase the spoken dialogue later on in another level. Even though this might be a con, repeating some cases might be a bit boring in the game, but you learn for real life at the same time, too.

A neat feature in 911 Operator would be an overview of your solved cases. The learning effect would be made more comfortable for you if the game would have told you what mistakes you made or if you closed the case with an A+. That is just something I would have wished for and thought of it being a neat side effect since you never can react to fast in a situation where a life is in danger. You will get a Duty Summary, but with no details besides points on how well and fast you have reacted to the various emergencies.

As I mentioned in “Looks and sounds”, the menu before starting your day has a simple structure. The player can see the staff with abilities and a picture. You also get an overview of your equipment and the shop. No high-end graphics, but it is suiting the situation, and you know what is going on. Although, the controls were sometimes somewhat confusing for me. Even though you can see the button on the top part of the screen, I ended up pressing other ones. It took me some time to get used to the controls in this preparation menu, and I missed a small tutorial for that.

Conclusion

911 Operator is overwhelming at first, but when you get over the confusion and find your strategy to make things work, the player will even pass the most stressful day with a good result. This game is realistic if you can see past the repetitive calls you get in later shifts. I got addicted to this game, and if you like simulation games, 911 Operator is for you. Too bad the game can be short and is repeating itself in some occasions, but it is an enjoyable game experience I can wholeheartedly recommend.

Rapid Reviews UK Rating

You can purchase 911 Operator at the Nintendo eShop at the following link, https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/911-Operator-1454145.html