For me personally, I’m already all aboard the walking sim
hype train, particularly when they feature themes and settings I can personally
relate to like in Firewatch. I live in
Idaho where I’m ten-minutes away in any direction from the great outdoors. I love nature and fishing and hiking and
exploring. And I’ve even been to a real
fire lookout on top of a mountain before.
It was basically coded into my DNA that I would enjoy Firewatch, but the
characters and story and incredible presentation are what really made me fall
in love with it. Firewatch isn’t just
good “for a walking sim” it is a great game overall and one of my favorite
experiences of 2016. See all of the
details in my full review.
Game Details
- Publisher: Campo Santo
- Developer: Campo Santo
- ESRB Rating: “M” for Mature
- Genre: First-Person-Adventure
- Pros: Looks great, awesome music, fantastic voice acting, incredible story; exploring nature is amazing
- Cons: A little more to actually do wouldn’t hurt; choppy performance
- MSRP: $20
Firewatch takes place in the Wyoming wilderness in the summer
of 1989. You play as a rookie fire
lookout volunteer named Henry who took the job to get away from his crappy
personal life back home on Boulder, Colorado.
After a brief tutorial where you learn about Henry’s past, and even make
a couple of role-playing decisions that help set the tone for your Henry’s
personality for that particular playthrough, you’re dumped on top of a mountain
to be alone with your thoughts.
You aren’t alone, however, as another lookout across the
valley by the name of Delilah, who also happens to be your supervisor for the
job, is in constant radio contact with Henry.
What starts out as being mildly annoying with Delilah constantly
radioing you to chit chat – kinda like Otis in Dead Rising – you soon start
actually looking forward to your conversations with her. After just a couple in-game days on the job,
you, both as the player as well as Henry the character, genuinely care about
what Delilah has to say. She’s clever
and fun to talk to and her reactions when you report seemingly simple things
are a real highlight of the experience.
You get to choose what to report to Delilah, as well as other things to
talk about – namely Henry’s past – and you really become attached to her.
Henry’s time on the mountain isn’t all just fun conversations
with a mystery woman across the valley, however, as there is work to be done as
well. The mundane task of checking on
some people setting off illegal fireworks sets the real plot into motion and a
mystery starts unraveling before you. I
don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll leave out the specific details, but
Firewatch takes some fascinating turns and features one of the most goosebump-y
moments I’ve felt in a game in years.
Some might complain the ending is a little anticlimactic and plain, but
I think you get a thoroughly reasonable and realistic conclusion that suits the
game fairly well. The game is fairly
grounded in realism, after all.
Gameplay-wise, Firewatch is a first-person game where you
can explore a decently sized chunk of mountain wilderness. You can’t jump or really interact with much,
but you can climb up and down rocky paths, look at lots of pretty scenery, and
eventually find equipment that lets you clear brush, take pictures, and rappel
down (and climb up) steep cliffs. My
favorite aspect of Firewatch is that it doesn’t really tell you how to get
anywhere. Instead you have a map and a
compass and have to figure out how to get around on the mountain on your own,
which is awesome.
Truth be told, there isn’t really much to do in
Firewatch. You basically go where
Delilah tells you investigate stuff and that’s it. There are some supply boxes you can open up and a handful of
things scattered around tied to achievements, but not much else. The focus here is on moving the story
forward, and I’m fine with that. If you
do want to wander around and explore you do have some free time during the
story, but you unlock a free roam mode once you beat the game so I suggest
waiting to do too much exploring until after you finish the story. I want to note that it isn’t as if you’re on
a time limit or have to rush through the story, so you can dink around and
explore if you choose, but I was so immersed in the story that I wanted to see
it through ASAP.
Not having much to do doesn’t make Firewatch boring,
though. Well, maybe it’s boring if you
don’t enjoy peace and quiet out in nature, but I felt right at home here. There are lakes and streams and waterfalls,
rocky canyons, pristine meadows, dense forests, and more just waiting for you
to explore and it is all beautiful and worth seeing. Firewatch does a fantastic job of putting you out in nature in
the middle of nowhere and I love it. Do
I wish there was more stuff to do?
Yeah, I’d be lying if I said otherwise.
But what you do get to do in Firewatch is still very compelling and very
fun.
The presentation plays a huge part in bringing everything in
Firewatch together. The visuals are
stylized and not realistic, but it still looks natural and beautiful and
wonderful. The lighting also deserves a
shout out as you play during multiple different times of day, as well as in the
middle of a huge cloud of smoke (because, yes, a forest fire does happen in
this game about looking out for forest fires), and the way the lighting changes
how the world looks is incredible.
The sound is also very well done in Firewatch with great ambient sound effects for wind, water, and animal sounds that really make you feel like you’re in the wilderness. Voice acting for Henry and Delilah is also masterfully done and you really feel the tension, joy, frustration, and relief in their voices. Rounding things out is a great soundtrack that where every piece of music perfectly suits the atmosphere of the moment you hear it.
The only negative about the presentation is that the game
has somewhat choppy performance where it will stutter and lag for a half-second
when it autosaves or loads. Or
something. It doesn’t affect the gameplay
whatsoever, but it is definitely a drag that the experience isn’t more smooth
and seamless.
Ultimately, your enjoyment of Firewatch is going to come
down to the two things I mentioned at the top of this review – how invested you
get in the story and characters, and how much you enjoy the wilderness
setting. And if you need a game to let
you kill stuff or be full of collectible junk for it to be fun, Firewatch
probably isn’t for you. Personally, I
found almost everything in Firewatch to be fun. Talking to Delilah is fun.
Exploring the wilderness is fun.
Adopting a turtle is fun.
Watching a fire burn off in the distance is fun. Playing through the story to figure out the
mystery is fun.
Firewatch costs $20, which may seem a little steep if
you’re one of those that don’t consider it a “real game”, but I’m pretty
comfortable with the price point. It
only takes around 4-hours to finish the story, but I think it is worth playing
at least twice to change up your conversations with Delilah a bit. There is also the free roam mode as well,
which will be fun to play around in for a while. Firewatch is such a great, highly polished overall experience,
though, that makes it easily worth the price of admission. I loved every second I spent with Firewatch
and highly recommend it for a purchase.
Disclosure: A review code was provided by the publisher.
