Crash Dive vs Red Fire
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Crash Dive
Experience WWII submarine warfare on your iPad. Command a U-boat, hunt enemy convoys with torpedoes or deck guns, and evade escorts using stealth and decoys. Enjoy tactical combat with multiple play styles and replayability.
- Tactical submarine combat
- Stealth and offense options
- Day/night attack gameplay
- Location-based damage/repair
- Random encounter generator
- Global leaderboards
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WWII tactical submarine combat on your iPad! Take command of a U-boat prowling the Atlantic in search of enemy convoys to sink. Sneak past the escorts and torpedo the transports. Or surface and use your deck gun in a night attack. When the escorts come after you, drop decoys and sneak away before they can crush you with their depth charges. Features: * The first game of its kind designed for touch-screen devices. * Smoothly blends a submarine simulator with arcade action. * Provides the tools for both stealth and offense; you decide how aggressive you want to be. * Multiple times of day allow for different play styles. * Location-based damage/repair affects the performance of your sub. * Random encounter generator for deep replayability. * Three difficulty levels. * Tutorial mode helps you learn the ropes. * Global leaderboards.
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.
- Turn-based strategy
- East Asian Cold War setting
- Land, air, and naval forces
- Dozens of nations
- Realistic combat simulation
- Intelligent adaptive AI
- Hotseat multiplayer
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Red Fire at 4.8 against Crash Dive's 4.3. Red Fire also leads on review sentiment (92% vs 78%) and chart position (#163 vs unranked). Crash Dive's advantage is price ($3.99 vs $5.99) and iOS requirement (6.0 vs 15.6). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Crash Dive costs $3.99 and Red Fire $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Red Fire holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 104 and 90 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of Crash Dive's written reviews are positive against 92% of Red Fire's.
Crash Dive ships an update monthly, Red Fire every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Crash Dive | Red Fire |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 — better | $5.99 |
| Rating | 4.3 (104 ratings) | 4.8 (90 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 77.5% of reviews | 92.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 104 — better | 90 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #163 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 6.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 163 MB | 166 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Panic Ensues Software | Geoffrey Ayre |
Customer experience
Crash Dive
Red Fire
User reviews
Crash Dive
From 104 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great graphics
- 👍 Engaging gameplay
- 🕹️ Intuitive controls
- 🕰️ Addictive gameplay
- 💯 Best submarine game on iOS
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- ⚠️ Unrealistic gameplay mechanics
- 🤖 Overpowered enemy AI
- 💰 Expensive for the content
- 🚫 No campaign or progression system
Red Fire
From 90 App Store ratingsWhat 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
Reported bugs
4 issues- Steering issues after updates
- Leaderboard not working properly
- Crashes on certain devices
- Speed control bugs
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to choose different submarines
- More varied mission types and objectives
- Multiplayer or cooperative gameplay
- Improved damage modeling and realism
- Customization options for the submarine
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
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- 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
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- 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
Crash Dive
No in-app purchases
Red Fire
No in-app purchases
