Ultimately, Firewatch sets out to tell a story, and it tells it wonderfully. The narrative is well written, and the voice actors are perfect for it. It would be difficult to be stuck for any prolonged period of time, however – and if anything, it only adds to the feeling of wilderness and isolation. Henry carries a map that handily marks your current position, although at times it can be a little tricky to correlate what’s in front of you to what’s on the map (please, no jokes about women and map reading…). Navigating Henry through the park is not a taxing experience for the most part, although without proper care and attention it would be quite easy to lose yourself during some parts of the game. It’s clearly been done by design and it’s been done well, too. Even playing as Henry, controlling him as he grapples rock faces, climbs rocks and threads his way through trees, you’ll only ever catch glimpses of parts of him – an arm here, a leg there. The solitary feeling is escalated by the fact that you don’t actually see a person throughout the game. It just wouldn’t do to give away too much of the underlying story, but suffice to say it’s just present enough to give the game a proper sense of purpose without either element overpowering the other. Although the area you can actually explore is not that large, the projection of open space in Firewatch and the way it has been so beautifully stylised means it doesn't really matter at all.įirewatch sort of sells itself as a mystery game, and there are certainly elements of that here – although Henry’s main job is to watch for fires, there’s a slowly unravelling story amidst the personal intrigue, and the developing relationship between Henry and Delilah. She’ll offer support, advice and general chit-chat about most things as you traverse the stunning terrain.Īnd stunning it certainly is. You can call on Delilah for pretty much anything throughout the game, and will probably find yourself doing so on numerous occasions even if it’s just to feel like you’re not entirely alone out there in the forest. It’s something you can’t quite put your finger on, which makes it all the more intriguing and baffling.
She’s a comforting, warm and funny presence in Henry’s otherwise solitary life – yet there’s always the underlying feeling that something isn’t quite as it should be. As a result, Firewatch is very much a character-driven game, with the exploration quite quickly taking a secondary position to Henry’s personal life and his interactions with Delilah.ĭelilah is Henry’s boss, and although you never see her (just her tower, far off in the distance), you’re in almost constant communication with her via your faithful radio. The opening minutes of the game offer text-based choices, reminiscent of choose-your-own adventure books, giving Henry his own heart-breaking and emotionally devastating backstory which culminates in him ending up here – a beautiful forest in Wyoming – as an escape. A first-person adventure game, Firewatch is not just about discovery in the beautiful setting, but about your character, Henry, as a person as he finds himself along the way.
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