I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a game so much while so strongly disliking the main character. Due to some choices during the prologue, I’m willing to admit, grudgingly, that his flaws may have been of my own creation. Also, to be clear, a flawed main character is not a strike against any game in and of itself. In this case, it mostly informs the player of Henry’s motivation for taking a remote position in the Wyoming wilderness as a volunteer fire lookout.
Going in, I knew almost nothing about the game (as is my fashion), though I had heard there was some dissatisfaction with the ending. I also knew the graphics were inspired by old National Park posters from the ’30s and I was in no way let down when we first enter the park. Very stylized but always gorgeous, from dawn to dusk to starry night, if this isn’t a love letter to hiking and the park system, I don’t know what is.
While the graphics could be construed as ‘cutesy’, the dialogue, choices, and story are anything but. It starts with heavy topics and keeps it going throughout the game, sprinkled through with some sass and snarky commentary, at least in the conversations I chose. It’s interesting and worthwhile, but it is not lighthearted. This is not a negative, though I do recommend being aware of that ahead of time.
Unexpectedly tense at times, and downright creepy at others, it highlights the best and worst parts of being relatively on ones own in the middle of nowhere. A stunning sunset gives way to uneven footing on a cliff-side; a trickling brook leads to an surprise meeting. Just when I thought I’d get a handle on what we were doing, something else would come up. The sound effects and music certainly fit each situation that arose, being both atmospheric and subtle.
I’m so glad this was recommended to me. I, in turn, recommend it on to others. It’s relatively short, around five hours, and manages to layer in quite a bit of story into that amount of time. I’ll probably go back to it to hunt for some achievements I missed and try different dialogue options, but it feels pretty complete with the one play-through.
Rating: 8.5/10
Synopsis: A man tries to clear his mind with a volunteer job as a fire lookout in the Wyoming wilderness. Armed with a radio and not much else, he follows prompts from his nearby colleague to get through the day to day life he’s expected to lead. As the summer goes by, things become less and less ordinary.
Book recommendation: An isolated person, connected only by radio, getting more and more stressed felt very much like a Luminous Dead, by Caitlin Starling, recommendation to me. Admittedly, that’s a sci-fi horror that’s more intense, but the vibe is similar enough that I’m sticking with it.
AO3 Tags: eye candy, no really the graphic design is very nice, voice kink except neither of their voices are exceptionally voice kinky, he can climb a cliff face but not over a bush
Content Warning: See Page 2
Firewatch
- Developed by: Campo Santo
- Published by: Panic, Campo Santo
- Available systems: PC, OS X, Linux, Switch, PS4, XBox One
- Original release date: February 9, 2016
- Gameplay: First person, exploration, adventure
Eva's Corner 