Firewatch

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. The main component of the game has you communicating with your fellow lookout named Delilah. She pretty much shows Henry the ropes of being a lookout. One day while patrolling the forest, Henry encounters a strange figure at the top of a cliff seemingly watching him. Needless to say, after that event happens, strange stuff starts to go down and it's up to Henry and Delilah to figure out what is going on.

All of the story is told through the banter that goes on between Henry and Delilah. As Henry, you get to choose what you say through various dialogue options, or you can choose to say nothing and see what happens that way. The first to parts of this game are very very good. Even though not a lot of exciting things happen right away, I was still having so much fun just listening to the banter between Henry and Delilah. The chemistry between the characters is just so good! During the second act is when all the crazy events go down. There is this ominous feeling while you explore the forest, looking for answers to what is happening. I was on the edge of my seat pretty much the whole second act. It was great. I couldn't wait to find out what was happening. However, the third act pretty much falls flat on it's face.

This is where I get into spoilers

See, the first two acts were so interesting. All of the things you find in the forest that advance the story, like all of the journals and notes, the random hiking gear suggest that maybe something very dark and erie happened in the forest and your discovering the remains. Then the story takes a very interesting turn when you come across a random fence that you can't get through. After that you get hit on the head and your radio gets bugged right before finding a book containing the conversations that you had with Delilah. This then has you thinking "oh no, we are being watched!" You don't know if Delilah is in on it. A part of you thinks so, while another part of you doesn't. You then get over the fence and find a tent with a bunch of radios, proving that yes, you were being watched. It's so interesting and creepy. Then the third act happens. Delilah gives information about her past. How this one little boy who she really liked went missing while hiking with his dad. Go through some more dialogue options and then you're at the end of the game. You find out that nobody was watching you, except for the Dad of the little boy. See, the little boy died in a hiking accident and the dad stayed in the woods so he wouldn't get blamed and in trouble. He was the one messing with you the whole time. After that you go to Delilah's tower hoping to meet her and when you get there she's gone. Then the game ends.

The game leaves you with an empty feeling. At first I liked that. You get an empty ending, just like Henry. It was neat. But the more I though about it, the less accepting of that I became. In the end, nothing really happened! Sure, you get a little creeped out by what might have been going on, but nothing WAS going on. It felt like a huge middle finger. It built up to this awesome, interesting ending only to have it fall flat. I would've rather had something actually going down. I wanted something weird to happen. Henry and Delilah actually being watch by people. Maybe have Delilah turn on you. You have this underlying feeling that she isn't trustworthy anyway, or at least that's how I felt. Even Bigfoot would've been a better ending.

Regardless, I did enjoy most of the game. It was a very unique experience. It was cool walking around the forest and talking to Delilah about pretty much every little thing you see. Even though the story fell flat, It still hooked me from the very beginning. It's really a shame that the ending was very underwhelming because Firewatch is otherwise a great game. Short and sweet.