I like a good game where I can just wander around, explore and get lost in the story. That is honestly exactly what Firewatch is.
The Basics
You are a guy escaping your life working for a summer in a firewatch tower. While on duty you encounter two teens launching fireworks (not a good thing for the dry woods in the summer time) and your adventure goes from there. Most of your time is spent exploring while you communicate with your supervisor Delilah. You choose how often to talk to her, and how much you want to say, and what to say to her. It’s a kind of choose your own adventure book brought to life in a first person exploration.
You can blow through this one pretty quick if you choose to. Stay off the radio, go straight for the objectives and you can be done in four to five hours. However if you want more out of it, there is plenty more to be had. There is stuff off the beaten path to be seen, items to collect, and places to go that you don’t have to but are cool to see.
The biggest thing to keep in mind though is that this is mainly about story. You will not be dying and respawning again and again. There are no big boss battles to challenge you. There are some intense moments, but if you are looking for FPS kind of intensity, you have come to the wrong place.
The great thing is that the story is done so well you won’t want to put your controller down. Firewatch is like that book where you say to yourself, just one more page, or I’ll just finish this chapter before I go to bed. Then you wind up staying up till four in the morning and finishing the book. This game is exactly the same thing; a great story.
On the Plus Side
- Great dialogue
- Fantastic story
The Negatives
- Too Short
- Little to no replay
- The ending left something to be desired
This is a game I very much enjoyed and I spread out for as long as I could. The only truly bad thing is, I don't think I will ever play it again.