Into the Fire mixes fire and rescue, mysterious folklore, and a volcanic island in what might be yet another Divine Comedy adaptation

The strands are loose, but there nonetheless

When I first caught a very quick glimpse at Into the Fire, the kind of glimpse where you more just see a character design amidst a bunch of fire, I thought it was a new simulation game. A fireman sim, that kind of thing, the kind of game I'm sure exists already without needing to Google it. Into the Fire is not that at all. There is fire, and there is rescue, but there are also ancient mysteries amongst natural disasters, fiery, destructive jellyfish-esque spirits, and a tantalizing mix of science-fiction, folklore, and the supernatural.

Remember The Invincible? Well, Into the Fire is from the same devs, and while our newly anointed editorial director Julian had some misgivings about The Invincible in his review at the time, my curiosity with Starward Industries' next has still been piqued. Details are quite light on who you are in Into the Fire, apart from the fact that you're a "bold explorer struggling to survive during a volcanic eruption on Dante’s Archipelago." Hang on… have we got yet another Divine Comedy adaptation on our hands here? I suppose time will tell.

The core loop appears to be this: there is a hub, seemingly nearish to said volcano, where you can do bits of crafting and upgrading, rest a bit, find some lore, and choose your equipment before heading out on missions. Your equipment looks like quite standard firefighting stuff, like a big ole axe, and a fire extinguisher attached to your back that you spray across fires to put them out.

For the missions themselves, things look tricky, based on the game's latest trailer (as seen above). There's those aforementioned sort of jellyfish fire spirits you have to fend off, amongst others for one. But there's also the rescuing people. This isn't like, say, Death Stranding, where you can foist them on your backpack, you actually have to carry them, and that might mean across thin planks of wood above a burning pit. Amongst the action it looks like there is a borderline puzzley navigational element that'll put your quick mapping skills and reflexes to the test.

As it stands, there's no release date for this game other than sometime in 2026, but whenever it does launch it'll do so in early access. In the meantime, you can wishlist Into the Fire here if it takes your fancy.