FireStarter (video game)

FireStarter is a 2003 first-person shooter video game developed by Ukrainian GSC Game World and published by Hip Games for Microsoft Windows. Set in the year 2010, the player's consciousness has been trapped inside of a virtual reality game with a deadly computer virus hellbent on making sure you'll never be able to leave the game again.

FireStarter
Developer(s)	GSC Game World
Publisher(s)	Hip Games
Producer(s)	Sergey Grygorovych Anton Bolshakov
Designer(s)	Slava Klimov
Programmer(s)	Sergey Zabaryansky
Artist(s)	Andrew Prokhorov
Engine	FireStarter Engine
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release	November 28, 2003
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Plot

By the year 2010, video games have gotten so advanced that people are able to upload their consciousnesses into virtual reality machines to experience more realistic and lifelike simulations than ever before. You (the player) are the owner of one such gaming machine: called the FireStarter. However a malicious computer virus has infected the machine and it has trapped the player's consciousness inside with it. The game has been altered in a deadly manner and there's only one possible way for the player to escape the game with their life intact; they must complete the game within 48 hours or face certain death.

Gameplay

You can choose from six different types of characters to play as. A few examples of which include the Agent (a women with excellent acrobatic skills), the Cyborg (a heavily armored man with cybernetic implants who can regenerate armor) and the Mutant (a four armed mutant creature who has the ability to fire with all his four arms). The game has many RPG elements and the player can unlock different skills for their various characters as they level up throughout the game.

Reception

FireStarter received mixed to generally positive reviews upon release. GameSpot gave the game a review of 6.2/10.^[1] The game also received a score of 7.5 from IGN ^[2] as well as a score of 8 from Russian gaming magazine Igromania^[3]