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My first encounter with Firewatch was while I was in bed with the flu, suffering from a massive headache. Because I am a person that never can do nothing, I was looking for something to watch. Firewatch seemed to be the perfect game. Not too bright, wonderful nice colours and no loud noises. What I got while watching a Let’s Play, was an experience that hooked me all day long. And although I already knew the story then, I chose to play it for myself afterwards.

Narrative:

Characters

You play Henry, who, for the first time in his life is a lookout inside the National Park in Wyoming. Not really because his heart burns for Mother Nature, but because he suffered a personal tragedy. To flee from it, he took a job, in which he only has to sit on top of a tower, watch the vast forest beneath him and do nothing. At least that was his perception of the job. The reality is quite different.

With Henry, the (at some points) quite naive, trustful, but also impulsive man, you get a main character who is just as likeable as Ezio from Assassin’s Creed II. Not because you are playing him while major things are happening in his life, nor because you condone his decision to become a fire lookout, but because you feel his helplessness. You sympathise with him and you both grow during your stay in the Shoshone National Forest.

Next to Henry, the only “main” character is not even physically present. Delilah, his lookout boss/colleague, is only contacting him via walkie-talkie. These contacts, these witty jokes and these serious conversations make a larger portion of why you like Henry. Delilah acts as a moral compass, guiding Henry (and you; as the player can determine the answers Henry gives) through Henry’s feelings of guilt and slowly opening up to Delilah.

The chemistry between Delilah and Henry is instantly there, hooking you as a player, leaving you longing for the next transmission of Delilah! The link between Henry and Delilah is astonishing. These conversations are so much fun to listen, for instance when you find the underwear of two teens near Jonsey Lake and report that to her, she playfully tells Henry to pick up his tongue of the ground and get his job done. Wonderful! The whole game continues through with these beautiful conversations!

Environmental Story Telling

As because the only source of information is Deliah, the game relies heavily on environmental storytelling. You go to explore the wilderness and stumble upon stuff. A fence, a locked gate in a cave, stuff like that. Everything you see will come back at a later point. Two teenagers drink beer, you’ll find the beercans everywhere at the site of the *SPOILERS AHEAD* cut telephone wire. Or your bedsheets were stolen and you’ll find them in the destroyed camp of the teenagers. Everything that happens is not explained by the game, but you as a player are motivated to explain it to yourself, getting creative in terms of what could be going on.

Gameplay:

Dialogue

As explained above, the only dialogue is between Henry and Delilah, taking place while on the walkie-talkie. You, as the player, are given three options of what to answer, having only a limited amount of time to decide. The dialogue is one of the best features in the game!

Exploration

As this is a walking simulator, you’ll walk a lot. And surprisingly, the game is not an open world that has 5000 ways to one objective. Somehow there is only a straight way to your next objective, although the straight way is, in fact, a twisted, beautiful path.

And as a walking simulator, it doesn’t really give you the freedom of Skyrim or the combat system of the Arkham Series but instead gives you a map, that compares to a level of Call of Duty, with many areas being locked off or inaccessible until you get the right tool to do it and a story comparable to the likes of an Assassin’s Creed. And it works. It is no bad thing that a lot of areas are not accessible until you find, for instance, an axe. Because the story allows it. It grips you, you want to know what is going on, and that, compared with the environmental storytelling, really hits the nail on the head. Yes, you want to explore, but the game manages it to give you so much and so little to explore at the same time that you, as a player, are not even bothered by the fact that you cannot go into that cave right now, or possibly ever. (Losing the keys, honestly…)

Technical Aspects:

Graphics

The games’ graphics are not realistic, but so beautiful! As you are a ranger, you’ll walk a lot outside and see a lot of sunrises and sunsets. And boy, they are beautiful.

A bright yellow afternoon, going into a nice orange-red sunset. That describes a lot of this game’s scenic moments. As for I am colourblind, I am not the one to tell you about colours and stuff, just that it is very, very beautiful. For me, this game looks a lot like Borderlands, just toned down a lot, but with the beauty of a Witcher 3. 

Sound/Music

The music is so beautiful, I do not even have words for it. It is very relaxing and surprisingly turned down to a minimum. It only starts at certain points, for instance when *SPOILER* your tower is broken into. Or when nobody talks and you can just enjoy a hike through the forest, listening to a gloomy guitar playing in the background, catching yourself humming along and having such a good time, in this beautiful game.

Controls

The controls are pretty straight forward, there is literally nothing fancy to it, no double bindings. It is, at the end of the day, a walking simulator.

The only thing I have to criticize is the weird animation when, for instance, climbing rocks. Henry doesn’t touch the rock, but his hands float a centimetre above said rock.

Recommendation:

Completionist

Obtaining all achievements is fairly easy, as long as you explore everything you’ll see. Seeing as the game only contains 10 achievements and 5 are definitely unmissable, you’ll have not really the need of a second playthrough to get all achievements.

Expectations

As explained at the beginning, my first encounter with Firewatch was while suffering from the flu, not wanting to watch anything with bright, flashing lights. Judging by the thumbnails of my favourite YouTube-channels, Firewatch was the game for me. And it was really a gem! I already knew the story when I began playing, but that did not diminish my experience at all. Seeing something is one thing, but experiencing that same thing, feeling immersed as Henry, seeing his story and the story of the game through his eyes, is just great and I can fully recommend it!

Rating: 73/100