Like many of us, I hadn’t heard of Into the Fire until recently. But after seeing the gameplay and speaking exclusively with the developers for FYNG, I’m hoping for a survival highlight.
Fire has always been both fascinating and frightening to us: on the one hand, it is a reliable source of light, heat, and energy; on the other, it is a destructive force that consumes everything in its path.
Perhaps it is this primal fascination that made the screenshots of Into the Fire immediately intrigue me: glowing red and yellow lava flows make everything else fade into the background and consume entire villages. We are right in the middle of it, fighting against the flames. But Into the Fire not only looks great, it also has ingenious and unique ideas!
What makes Into the Fire special?
The developers have created their own genre term for their game: cataclysmic extraction survival. Our task is to rescue people and animals from seemingly hopeless situations after a devastating volcanic eruption.
We free them from burning ruins, shoot our way out with water guns
or break down doors with our axe. We then extract
them to our vehicle to bring the rescued to our safe base.
Into the Fire doesn’t really fit into any genre, so the specially coined term makes sense: the game combines elements of extraction shooters and survival games into a formula all its own. The developers explained exactly how it works to us:
- Our base serves as a hub: This is where we store items and talk to the people we have met or rescued. We choose our equipment and set off on a selected rescue mission.
- Saving lives under time pressure: Once we start a mission, we can’t waste any time. That’s because we’re heading into disaster areas that are becoming increasingly deadly. The flames and lava flows are constantly spreading, and we can only contain them temporarily. Buildings collapse and new dangers arise. If we take too long, we will be trapped by the fire and lost forever.
- Equipment for every mission: Our playing style depends on the tools we choose, but we can always customize them on our vehicle. For example, we can equip a fire axe, a scanner, a water shotgun, foam grenades, or a fire extinguisher. With the resources we collect, we can craft new tools, better protective suits, or larger water tanks.
- Natural disaster and the supernatural: But fire isn’t the only danger. With the eruption of the volcano, fire spirits have also made their way to the surface, threatening our rescue missions. But they too are vulnerable to water.
- Story and endings: Into the Fire also tells a story about the people we rescue. The story can even end in different ways, depending on the decisions we make at key moments.
- Alternative mission types: In addition to the normal rescue mission, there are also less dangerous missions in which we can focus on searching for people and collectibles. In the temple, on the other hand, combat-based missions await us.
A firefighting simulation, constantly changing levels, and battles against fire spirits? Into the Fire looks set to be a truly unique mix. You’ll soon be able to find out for yourself how well it all plays out. Game tests are scheduled to take place soon, and you can sign up for them via the Discord server of the developers.
In spring 2026, the survival game is scheduled to be released on Steam in Early Access with around 20 hours of content. The developers plan to continue developing Into the Fire together with the community for about a year and add content such as new levels. The final version will then be released in 2027, which may also be ported to consoles.
Editor’s conclusion
I usually can’t stand time limits in games. But in Into the Fire, I actually like this mechanic because it fits so well and is cleverly integrated into the game. The fact that the maps are constantly sinking into fire and lava adds drama to the missions and also looks really cool in gameplay videos. There isn’t a constant timer ticking down, but I have to pay attention to my surroundings myself or I’ll be warned about it over the radio.
I already really like the whole idea behind Into the Fire: I haven’t seen this kind of genre mix in any other game. However, I haven’t played Into the Fire myself yet, so many questions remain unanswered at the moment: How do the controls work? Are the battles against ghosts fun? And do the missions offer enough variety to keep things from getting boring in the long run? Into the Fire still has to prove all that, but I’m hoping for the best.
