Comparison

Crash Dive 2 vs Red Fire

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Crash Dive 2

Command a Gato-class submarine in the South Pacific, hunting enemy convoys and engaging in naval combat. Utilize stealth or direct offense, manage your crew, and upgrade your vessel through a lengthy campaign or random missions. Features dynamic weather and day/night cycles.

Highlights
  • Submarine simulation with arcade action
  • Stealth and offensive combat options
  • Day/night cycle and weather effects
  • Crew management and damage control
  • Submarine upgrade tech tree
  • Campaign mode and random missions
  • Modding editor
Features
Read full description

Hunt enemy convoys, battle destroyers, attack land bases, and shoot down aircraft in this long-awaited sequel to the best-selling "Crash Dive". Take command of a Gato-class submarine prowling the South Pacific in search of enemy shipping to sink. Sneak past the destroyers and torpedo the transports, or surface and engage the sub-chasers in a duel with your deck gun. When the enemy planes come in on a strafing run, man your AA guns to take them down! Evade the hunting escorts before they can crush you with their depth charges. Features: * Smoothly blends a submarine simulator with arcade action. * Provides the tools for both stealth and offense; you decide how aggressive you want to be. * Full day/night cycle and wide range of weather conditions affect visibility and weapons. * Crew health and location-based damage affects the performance of your sub. * Optional crew management and detailed damage control (or let the computer take care of that for you). * Optional upgrade tech tree for your sub (can also be left to the AI). * Lengthy campaign mode. * Random mission generator for deep replayability. * Both randomly-generated maps and real-world locales including the Solomon Islands, Philippines, Sea of Japan, and more! * Built-in modding editor lets you change every aspect of the game.

About

Red Fire

Engage in turn-based strategic warfare across East Asia from 1950-1975. Command diverse land, air, and naval forces of numerous nations in historical and fictional conflicts. Experience realistic Cold War combat with intelligent AI and hotseat multiplayer.

Highlights
  • Turn-based strategy
  • East Asian Cold War setting
  • Land, air, and naval forces
  • Dozens of nations
  • Realistic combat simulation
  • Intelligent adaptive AI
  • Hotseat multiplayer
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Red Fire is a turn-based strategic wargame set in East Asia between the years 1950-1975. Take command of land, air, and naval forces of dozens of nations including the US, USSR, China, Taiwan, North and South Korea, North and South Vietnam, France, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Experience Korean War, Vietnam War, and many other conflicts - both historical and fictional. Command squadrons of more than 500 types of aircraft, from biplanes to multirole fighter jets. Control the seas with more than 500 types of warships including submarines, battleships and aircraft carriers. Leverage new tools like surface-air missiles, air-air refueling tankers, attack helicopters, and missile cruisers to dominate the battlefield. Red Fire is powered by a detailed and realistic simulation of Cold War-era air, naval, and ground combat. Fight against an intelligent AI which constantly adapts its strategy to ensure every game is challenging and unique. Challenge a friend in hotseat multiplayer (pass-and-play). Red Fire contains no in-app purchases or ads of any kind, and an internet connection is not required to play. Buy the game once and get access to all current and future content.

Screenshots

Crash Dive 24 screens
Red Fire4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Red Fire at none against Crash Dive 2's 2. Red Fire also leads on price ($5.99 vs $9.99) and chart position (#195 vs unranked). Crash Dive 2's advantage is ratings volume (324 vs 93) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Crash Dive 2 costs $9.99 and Red Fire $5.99 up front. Crash Dive 2 sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Red Fire asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Crash Dive 2 against 4.8 for Red Fire. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 324 and 93 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 93% of Crash Dive 2's written reviews are positive against 92% of Red Fire's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Crash Dive 2 ships an update monthly, Red Fire every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on October 27, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Crash Dive 2 versus Red Fire: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCrash Dive 2Red Fire
Price$9.99$5.99 — better
Rating4.7 (324 ratings)4.8 (93 ratings) — better
Positive reviews93.2% of reviews — better92.2% of reviews
Number of ratings324 — better93
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#195 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size352 MB166 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperPanic Ensues SoftwareGeoffrey Ayre

Customer experience

Crash Dive 2

All ratings319 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral1.6%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews207 reviews
Positive93.2%
Neutral1.9%
Negative4.8%

Red Fire

All ratings90 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral2.2%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews77 reviews
Positive92.2%
Neutral3.9%
Negative3.9%

User reviews

Crash Dive 2

From 324 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Great game mechanics
  • 🔍 Detailed simulation
  • 👍 Intuitive interface
  • 🎨 Excellent graphics
  • 🕹️ Customizable difficulty levels

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or glitches
  • 🔢 Limited campaign or mission variety
  • 🔍 Lack of external camera view
  • 🔢 Unrealistic enemy behavior (e.g. torpedoes, depth charges)

Red Fire

From 93 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Engaging and addictive gameplay mechanics
  • ⚖️ Good balance between difficulty and accessibility
  • 📊 Detailed historical accuracy and unit variety
  • 🎯 Excellent replay value with multiple campaigns
  • 🎬 Action camera sequences for battle visualization

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and performance issues
  • ❄️ Game freezes during conflict resolution
  • 🎮 Aircraft auto-renew orders system glitched
  • 🏝️ Guam deployment units cannot leave island
  • ⚔️ Unrealistic AI combat balance (communist faction disadvantage)

Bugs and requests

Crash Dive 2

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Targeting reticle not appearing
  • Rudder commands causing uncontrolled circling
  • Game locking up unexpectedly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add German U-boat campaign
  • Implement more historical accuracy
  • Introduce submarine tenders and friendly ports
  • Provide crew management and customization options
  • Add time acceleration feature

Red Fire

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • Game crashes frequently
  • Freezes on resolving conflicts preventing turn progression
  • Aircraft auto-renew orders system malfunction
  • Naval and land forces stuck on Guam island
  • Ships unable to find routes from Guam
Show 6 more
  • AI captures areas behind player lines unrealistically
  • Carrier planes launch from destroyers instead of carriers
  • Notch display compatibility issue
  • Campaign Red Fire ends prematurely at March 26, 1969
  • Nuclear war notifications trigger without player action
  • Game lag with large unit concentrations (6.7M+ troops)

Requested features

20 requests
  • European theatre/Cold War Europe map
  • Middle East and North Africa campaigns
  • South America and Central America scenarios
  • Modern era (1970s-2020s) game version
  • Group land and air units like naval units
Show 15 more
  • Artillery units with ranged mechanics
  • Individual aircraft selection from squadrons
  • WWI and Gulf War scenarios
  • India and Pakistan as playable nations
  • Mission editor for campaign customization
  • Ability to disband units and ships
  • Force allied AI to move troops
  • More save slots
  • PC/desktop port
  • Star Wars version
  • American Civil War scenario
  • Cuban Missile Crisis campaign
  • Diplomacy complexity improvements
  • Vehicle variants expansion
  • Reduced AA missile quantities

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Crash Dive 2

One-time2
  • Aleutian Islands Expansion$4.99
  • East Indies Expansion$4.99
None

Red Fire

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Crash Dive 2 free?
Crash Dive 2 costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Red Fire free?
Red Fire costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Crash Dive 2 or Red Fire?
Red Fire is rated higher. Crash Dive 2 averages 4.7 out of 5 from 324 ratings, while Red Fire averages 4.8 from 93 ratings.
Do Crash Dive 2 or Red Fire have ads?
Neither Crash Dive 2 nor Red Fire shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Crash Dive 2 or Red Fire?
Crash Dive 2 ships an update monthly, and Red Fire every 6 weeks. Most recently, Crash Dive 2 was updated on October 27, 2026 and Red Fire on October 27, 2026.

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