Rapid Rescue “极速营救” is a professionally made action-thriller FMV that has an exceptional story, good action, and fantastic characters. If you’re here for the ‘dating sim’ component then know it is a lesser element. While Rapid Rescue is a good experience overall, the biggest issue is that it is not quite enough of a game, as it is quite linear without enough participation.
You play as ex-cop Detective Shao and wake up with a surgical scar on your stomach. You get a call from an encrypted phone by a person that kidnapped your daughter. The bomb they planted in your abdomen will explode if you don’t do what they say—the watch they put on your wrist will tell you how long you have. The first task is to feed a guy some rotten meat, as a trial run. Then you must recover a questionable video from a local punk. The tasks become more involved and more dangerous, and some open old wounds.
The story is amazingly well layered, up there with a high quality TV series, with lots of intrigue and plenty of drama as you cycle through the tasks. There are some amazing detective revelations and the fight scenes are decent. Try to play it blind, as you will get more out of it. The story pays off and it takes a healthy 6.5 hours to run through the first time.
Along the way you meet four women who come into the story one after the other. These are love interests, but the romance part makes up only 10-20% of the whole. The four women include a doctor, a mute kung-fu biker, a sultry hacker, and a femme fatale lawyer—they are all great and the same goes for most of the main characters. Choices increase affection and this will alter the concluding chapter slightly.
While this all sounds great, you’re going to be a viewer far more than a player. There are not enough dialogue choices and scenes are long without much player input. Only a few branching paths feel significant; most bad choices (or failed QTEs) lead to a premature ending ala Vanity Fair: The Pursuit. There are many situations where just one dialogue branch would have added so much, like when you’re with one love interest while on the run. Compared to other gems this year, like Detective, Guard My Secret, the choice-and-consequence is too minimal. So it is no surprise that it only takes 2 more hours to see everything.
English translation is fine, although there are both Chinese and English subtitles on the screen at once. Some text (e.g. letters) is not translated. Video quality and directing is excellent, and it does not seem like there is any face blurring. All the audio is live recorded and this helps to raise the overall quality. Just a bit more interaction would have gone a long way into making this good game a truly great one.
Rating: Good 
Length: 6.5 hrs
100%: 8.5 hrs
Positives +
Story, Characters, Film Quality
Negatives –
Linear, Passive experience
Steam Store Link
