Firewatch
Game » consists of 8 releases. Released Feb 09, 2016
A first-person mystery set in the Wyoming wilderness developed by Campo Santo, where the protagonist's only lifeline, emotionally and physically speaking, is the person on the other end of a handheld radio.
Short summary describing this game.
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5 (2) 4 (15) 3 (6) 2 (4) 1 (0) 3.6 starsAverage score of 27 user reviews
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I Kind of Want to Be a Fire Watch Volunteer Now 0
Firewatch manages to be both fundamentally derivative and wholly original in the same breath. While it clearly takes notes from the derisively dubbed "walking simulators" like Gone Home or Dear Esther, it does so by taking the best of both and transforming that into its own beast, one predicated on totally isolating you, the player, and leaving you to your own devices.You may be controlling an over-the-hill, heavily bearded, and possibly unhinged man named Henry whose decisions have led him to t...
4 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
A Compelling Narrative Not About Scaring You, But About Being Scared. 0
Firewatch is not a horror game. This is something I knew – or at least thought I knew – going in, and it’s something I can confirm coming out of it. However, I wouldn’t be surprised by anyone who were to see portions of it, or even someone who was halfway through it’s four to five hour narrative, reaching the conclusion that this was a game instead to scare or frighten. Instead, it’s a game more about being scared than it is scaring the player. This may seem l...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Let's get out of this town, drive out of the city, away from the crowds... 0
Firewatch is a game which sets out to do just a very few relatively simple things. On a conceptual level, it sounds fairly unambitious and even limited. This is a game where the story is the draw and, while it is far more interactive than other games where that is the case, it is entirely devoid of what you might call "challenge" or "achievement", at least in the mechanical senses.There is no explicit fail state in Firewatch. Failing is a temporary condition which lasts only as long as it takes ...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Fire Walk With Me 0
The Walking Simulator, a somewhat derogatory term used to label a new kind of game that has emerged over the past couple years, has given the genre known as "quick time event" a bit of a reprieve. Together, these two genres have polarized fans of the medium, and has made myself question just what these experiences exactly are. And that is precisely what they are: an experience. Same as Contra, Doom, Final Fantasy VII...games that fall under this nebulous category of "minimal gameplay" have earne...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
A beautiful world hides troubled people 0
What is Firewatch? Beautiful.Firewatch in set in the late 1980s, and the main character Henry has taken a summer job in Wyoming. The job description is simple: watch the forest in near total isolation (save for radio contact with Delilah, a more senior member of the service), and report signs of fire to the park service. It should be the perfect place to escape, and hide, from one's problems, but mysterious events start to occur almost as soon as Henry arrives his lookout tower.From the first mo...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
A tale of two story angles turns into a tale of missed opportunity and incredible disappointment. 0
Stories in gaming vary from light-hearted, to dark in tone, and anywhere in between, and many take twists and turns in order to surprise the audience, subvert expectations, or to keep things fresh and intriguing as the player progresses. Firewatch certainly changes its story arc and expectations partway through, but it ends up doing so in a confusing and flaccid manner that acts as a betrayal of its original intentions rather than a heightening of interest. This ‘hiking simulator’ co...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Safer in the Forest 0
Firewatch is the first game from Campo SantoA beautiful game with nostalgic art design, fantastic sound, and very good voice acting performances from Henry and Delilah.Getting around the map proved to be a bit of a chore sometimes, simply because of the vastness of the environment. Getting lost is tedious, but lets be honest, hiking feels exactly like this feels. You get desperate to find the path to where you want go, and albeit to my annoyance, it makes total sense in creating drama. The FOV w...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
An adventure which grips for a short time 0
I really like Firewatch. It's a different sort of game, closer to an 'experience'. There is not a huge amount which can be said without spoiling it, but essentially it is set in a national park in the US, and follows the story of someone taking up a 'firewatch' position, in a tower. There is a lot more to the game than this and safe to say that watching fires is not what the game is about. A large portion of gameplay focusses on environment exploration, and the art style is thankfully beautiful...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Firewatch is an emotional and thrilling game that's ending leaves a sour taste to a wonderful story 0
By Dylan GrissomFirewatch is a suspenseful and tense tale of a troubled husband looking for peace and a way out of the problems of his marriage and family. It’s a three hour, emotion and character fueled hike through the woods that’s ending lets down what is a truly great game.After a gripping intro sequence that sees you guided through the love story of Henry, our protagonist, and his now dementia sickened wife, Julia, we find Henry looking for a place far away from his broken home...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Firewatch Review 0
The most beautiful, artifully done game that makes me never want to camp in the woods.There has been interesting trend in the adventure game genre that’s been evolving the last few years, games have been focusing less on traditional gameplay and more trying to be an interactive story experience; You may know them, and probably have played them, and may have even heard them been called by the slightly pejorative term “walking simulator”.Games like these have varied in success. W...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
While it seems like an engrossing game on the outside, Firewatch gives you a hollow experience once the facade is gone. 0
Have you ever played a game where you tried to look into a game to find something more only to find that nothing is there? I'm not talking about the story or characters as these factors can have multiple interpretations. I'm talking about trying to find more function to what's presented to you initially. This is the core problem with Firewatch. A game that's presents you with mechanics and new ways to interact with it's world that will ultimately lead to nothing.This core problem is brought up a...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Wyoming: The Game 0
What is Firewatch? You could say it’s an experimental approach to the story driven experiences in games that we’re used to. You could say that it’s a relatable tale that manages to encapsulate the humanity of our lives better than most virtual worlds have in the past. However, you could also say that it fits the definition of “tripping at the finish line.” That the game had all the parts in place to produce an unforgettable experience, but that it unfortunately fell...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Closer to watching paint dry than watching a fire. 0
I have nothing against whatever is the actual name for the genre often (un)affectionately called the "walking simulator". I like stories, I like short and even linear game experiences. Firewatch is an excellent story, told poorly, wrapped inside of an incredibly boring game. Without giving anything away, Firewatch's story deals with heavy themes and tries to do so in a unique way, with an excellent narrative concept of futility tieing the whole thing together towards the end. But it all falls so...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Sadly Not a Smokey Bear Simulator, But Still Good 0
Telltale’s “The Walking Dead” might be the game most credited with starting the recent Renaissance in story-driven video games. Since then, Gone Home, Life is Strange, Cibele, That Dragon, Cancer, and a slew of other games have continued to advance both the complexity of stories told in more mainstream video games and the emotions and topics a mainstream video game can be okay to invoke. It is unsurprising then that several of the folks behind The Walking Dead, now with their o...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A moving tale of one raccoon trying to escape a stove in a remote cabin for several years 0
Lonely, hopeless and a sense of space: no medium can convey these feelings stronger than games. And yet, it seems games rarely focus on these elements. In Silent Hill and Super Metroid, they play a key part in world-building but are never the focus of the experience. Whether it's due to its minimalism or focus on narrative, Firewatch lives in these traits. I can almost imagine my own loneliness and hopelessness bars filling, as I explored the game's foreboding landscapes, anticipating the next w...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
More mundane than meets the eye 0
Firewatch is a surprisingly grounded semi-linear exploration game with a fairly mature story (at least in the context of video games). It tells a story about a set of fire lookouts in a national park in Wyoming who have fled from their responsibilities in different ways, and how their lives sort of intersect through their common summer jobs. The player character, Henry (voiced by RIch Sommer (who honestly sounds too much like his character from Mad Men in this game)), is to spend the summer work...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Video Review - Firewatch 0
Firewatch is the first foray from the indie game all-stars at Campo Santo. The game follows Henry, the newest employee of the Wyoming National Park's firewatch, as he learns his job and develops a friendship with his boss Delilah. For more information, check out the VIDEO REVIEW....
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A short but excellent adventure through the wilderness 0
OverviewFirewatch is a fairly short, story-driven adventure game by Campo Santo.Playing as Henry, you head to Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming, having taken a summer job as a lookout. Your job is to spot fires and report them, but of course, you wind up doing more, thanks to your ever present companion Delilah, your boss. As soon as you begin your day, you’re tasked with finding people setting off some fireworks, and after that, your journey begins.Let’s get it out of the way: Fi...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Walkietalkie simulator 2016 0
I went into this game not really knowing what to expect and not expecting much more than something a little different.Good surprises included a fairly decent story in a fairly interesting world; the conversational dialog was in my experience the most unique and interesting part of this game. Everything felt like a fairly real conversation surrounding a series of bizarre circumstances.The bad; the controls were a little awkward, using shift key for the main action button was maybe not a good choi...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A Masterpiece of Solitude and Mystery 0
In video games, there exists a vast array of experiences, ranging from epic adventures to heart-pounding action. Yet, every once in a while, a game emerges that defies conventions, eschewing flashy graphics and explosive gameplay in favour of a more introspective and contemplative journey. Firewatch, developed by Campo Santo and released for the PlayStation 4, is one such game. With its stunning visual design, hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, and compelling narrative, Firewatch stands as a true ...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Firewatch - The Forest for the Trees 0
With Firewatch, Campo Santo tries to solve the issues of "walking simulators" where players arrive in an empty space, way after the game's story took place. Here, the player is interacting in real-time with another non-playable character far away, through his walkie-talkie and multiple dialog options. Problems:1. We still have the impression that the game's action happens disconnected from us, and that the systems put in place to advance and interact with the world are poor. Maybe the story hasn...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Firewatch review - quite the debut 0
For years, playing from a first-person perspective meant you were shooting. Whether it be monsters from hell, alien lifeforms or modern day terrorists; gaming through the eyes of another meant you were probably going to war.Things have changed in recent years thanks to the emergence of first-person exploration games like Gone Home and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, which forego action and spectacle in favour of quieter, more personal experiences. Next up to bat for this new genre is deve...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Gone Fire Watchin' 0
A beautiful, well written "walking simulator" that skews a little too close too the rhythm and outline laid down by Gone Home. The location and pace and style and themes are different from 95% of other games out there, and that's hugely appreciated. But the back half of the story and it's resolution borrows a little too much from a game that most players have probably already played if they have an interest in this one....
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Firewatch Review 0
I've beaten this game a while ago. Like, when it first came out. I'm really bored so I am now going to give a review on Firewatch. A first person story telling/walking simulator type game, kind of similar to The Vanishing of Ethan Carter or Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, and it's developed by Campo Santo. You play as a guy named Henry, who after going through some pretty tragic stuff in his past, decides that being a fire lookout is a good way to escape the troubles that wait for him back home...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Running from The Fire 0
I played a game a few days ago, one that I just expected would be another weird ‘indie’ game about a specific idea or thought that bubbles in our head at random times, that we quickly scribble on a sticky note to collect dust until a revelation, but is near impossible to convey in any essay or book. When going into these kinds of games there’s an assumption unintentionally made by the player, that we are meant to feel ‘something’. It’s odd, and weirdly self-re...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Firewatch is a bold vision for interactive storytelling and worldbuilding that never truly ignites. 0
It has been roughly 4 years since the first season of Telltale’s game-changing adventure series, The Walking Dead. This licensed video game wasn’t only important because it was definitely the best of its kind at that point in time, but also how it served at updating the adventure game genre for a modern audience and how it drastically levelled-up the standard of storytelling for the game industry as a whole. Since that point, game stories year-after-year have generally gotten a lot ...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A short mystery 0
Firewatch has a very smooth and colorful art style that stands out from most games out there today. I enjoyed the story a great deal. It was paced very well and the mystery that they start and add on to little by little was awesome, even if the conclusion wasn't that satisfying. The game gives you a few options in terms of setting up relationship and decisions on how to go about things. The PS4 version has a few minor issues such as frequent stuttering and textures not full completed as well as ...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful.
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