# Police and Firefighters take The Squad to the fire and the flames - Game Pass or Play EP02

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdzBnNsnYAI
Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/KdzBnNsnYAI
Generated: 2025-07-22T00:06:58.018+00:00

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## Quick Overview

The games reviewed, Firefighting Simulator - The Squad, Police Simulator: Patrol Officers, and Retro Classics, are largely broken, tedious, or poorly implemented, making them not worth playing even with an existing Game Pass subscription.

**Key Points:**
- Firefighting Simulator - The Squad is a buggy and poorly designed co-op game with clunky controls and unrealistic fire mechanics, often leading to soft-locks and frustrating gameplay.
- Police Simulator: Patrol Officers offers a tedious and repetitive experience focused on minor infractions, lacking engaging gameplay and suffering from technical issues like poor frame rates and long load times.
- The game's 'bad cop' mechanic, where players are fired for excessive force but minor assaults are ignored by AI, is highlighted as an unrealistic and problematic design choice.
- Retro Classics is a collection of streaming-only retro games that suffers from severe input lag and poor streaming quality, making many titles unplayable and frustrating.
- The Retro Classics collection is primarily an upsell for the Antstream subscription service, with many advertised games removed and a confusing interface that makes it difficult to exit games.
- Despite some minor differences, all three games are criticized for their lack of polish, repetitive nature, or fundamental design flaws, making them generally not recommended.
- The reviewer concludes that while Game Pass can offer amazing titles, it often includes 'unsufferable' games like these that are not worth the time to download or play.

![Screenshot at 04:30: A police officer stands in a police department office, with a sign reading 'to protect and to serve', as a 'SHIFT OVER' message appears, indicating the player was fired for police brutality.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/KdzBnNsnYAI/00-04-30.png)

**Context:** ShotGaming.com's 'Game Pass or Play' series reviews the latest games released on Xbox Game Pass, a subscription service allowing access to a library of games on PC and Xbox. This episode evaluates three diverse titles: Firefighting Simulator - The Squad, Police Simulator: Patrol Officers, and Retro Classics, to determine if they are worth playing.

## Detailed Analysis

This episode of Game Pass or Play reviews three titles available on Game Pass: Firefighting Simulator - The Squad, Police Simulator: Patrol Officers, and Retro Classics. Firefighting Simulator is a mission-based online co-op game plagued by bugs, including a fire truck flipping over upon loading, soft-locking when placing victims out of bounds, and unrealistic fire mechanics where players can stand in flames unharmed. Interactions are simplified to holding a single button, and animations are often missing or clunky. Police Simulator: Patrol Officers, while less buggy, suffers from tedious and repetitive gameplay focused on minor infractions like parking tickets and jaywalking. The game features an unrealistic 'bad cop' mechanic where excessive force leads to being fired, but minor assaults are ignored by AI partners. Technical issues like poor frame rates, long load times, and graphical glitches are constant. Retro Classics, a collection of streaming-only retro titles, is criticized for its poor emulation, input lag, and streaming quality, making many reaction-based arcade games unplayable. The collection also acts as an upsell for another subscription service, Antstream, and has removed advertised games like Mortal Kombat, leading to negative user reviews. Overall, none of the reviewed games offer a compelling or polished experience.

### Firefighting Simulator

- Gameplay & Bugs: Interactions are limited to holding X
- Ladders lack proper animations
- Fire does not harm the player character
- Game soft-locked due to truck collision
- Victim rescue soft-locked by placing them out of bounds
- Multiplayer teammates often act erratically or aim poorly

### Police Simulator

- Patrol Officers: Gameplay & Mechanics: Missions involve low-level misdemeanors like parking tickets and jaywalking
- Police are required to act in accordance with the law, with consequences for 'bad cop' behavior
- Minor assaults on civilians are ignored by AI partners
- Advancing unlocks activities like accident scene interviews and DUI tests
- Game is tedious and repetitive with long missions

### Police Simulator

- Patrol Officers: Technical & Design Flaws: Poor frame rate even on high-end hardware
- Long load times and constant graphical issues
- Lack of 'fun' or 'weird' elements found in other simulator games
- Inability to get run over by cars or experience funny physics interactions
- Gun is provided but cannot be used without committing 'police brutality'

### Retro Classics

- Collection Overview: Streaming-only retro titles from Atari to arcade
- Includes homebrew titles and classic PC games
- Features customizable controller configurations and daily challenges
- Acts as an upsell for the Antstream subscription service

### Retro Classics

- Streaming & Optimization Issues: Games are poorly optimized for controller input, especially text-based adventure games
- Terrible streaming performance with significant input lag and visual artifacts
- Many advertised games have been removed due to lost licenses
- The collection is essentially an ad for another paid subscription service
- Exiting games requires using Alt+F4, indicating poor integration

![Screenshot at 0:28: Firefighter character standing on a roof, looking down at a ladder, with a prompt to use it.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/KdzBnNsnYAI/00-00-28.png)
![Screenshot at 0:35: Firefighters battling a house fire with hoses, showing large flames engulfing a building and a car.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/KdzBnNsnYAI/00-00-35.png)
![Screenshot at 0:46: Firefighter standing over a rescued victim lying on the floor in a bedroom, with a 'Door breached' success message.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/KdzBnNsnYAI/00-00-46.png)
![Screenshot at 1:00: Firefighter extending outriggers from a fire truck, stabilizing it for ladder use.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/KdzBnNsnYAI/00-01-00.png)
![Screenshot at 1:15: Firefighter dropping a rescued victim on a roof, causing the victim to fall out of bounds and soft-lock the game.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/KdzBnNsnYAI/00-01-15.png)
![Screenshot at 1:50: Firefighter carrying a victim to an ambulance stretcher, with a burning house in the background.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/KdzBnNsnYAI/00-01-50.png)
![Screenshot at 2:28: Firefighter character crouching and sneaking around a house, highlighting the unusual stealth mechanic in a firefighting game.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/KdzBnNsnYAI/00-02-28.png)
![Screenshot at 3:30: Firefighter aiming a hose at a large fire inside a building, showing intense flames and smoke.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/KdzBnNsnYAI/00-03-30.png)
![Screenshot at 4:55: Police officer interacting with a pedestrian, showing a radial menu with options like 'Asking for ID', 'Detain', and 'Issue Violation'.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/KdzBnNsnYAI/00-04-55.png)
![Screenshot at 5:42: Police officer inspecting a parked car, with a menu showing various parking violation options like 'Taxi Zone' and 'Fire Hydrant'.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/KdzBnNsnYAI/00-05-42.png)