Firewatch Reviews
And of course, the phenomenal performances of both Rich Sommer and Cissy Jones contribute the lion's share of this personal resonance. They brilliantly demonstrate emotional nuance and sensitivity, and now I selfishly want them to voice all the things together. By the ending, my heart felt so heavy not just because of the events that unfolded, but because I believed in the myth of Henry and Delilah I created over a tumultuous summer in Shoshone. Although I loved the exploration, I felt the loneliness when no voice was on the other end, wanting to joke with or occasionally comfort me.
Firewatch goes for a walk in the woods and gets lost along the way.
The most bizarre narrative bait and switch in video game history, as a tense, emotional thriller sticks the worst landing since Eddie The Eagle.
You already know if you are going to be buying Firewatch, and if you loved Everybody's Gone to the Rapture or Life Is Strange then this is the game for you. It's small, short and almost perfectly formed, it's just the shame the game broke so many times when I was playing it. I'm hoping these problems can be found and fixed very quickly after launch and I would suggest holding off buying the game until a patch has been released, but until then we don't have much of a choice but to mark an otherwise lovely game down due to the problems encountered.
I enjoyed my short time in the world of Firewatch. The world is beautiful and the voice acting is excellent. But Henry and Delilah's story is far too short, and the resolution of the game's story relies far too much on a backstory that isn't given the breathing room it needs. It's an emotional rollercoaster that just teeters back down to a merry-go-round, leaving me with a detached feeling that everything I had spent the past few hours working towards has been all for nought.
Firewatch is a little, fascinating adventure, that fail to fully satisfy its potential.
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If you note the two main characters' penchant for irony and have been paying attention to the clues in the game, such as the cheap mass market paperbacks scattered about the area, you'll sense that the mystery isn't on the level of some global alien conspiracy, but rather, like "Firewatch" itself, it's something mundane and graspable. In the context of a medium that's normally obsessed with feeding on the outlandish, I mean that as a compliment.
Campo Santo's first game is a narrative-driven adventure about a man trying to escape his troubled life in the wilderness of Wyoming
Firewatch is not what many people may have wanted, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Fans of interactive drama will absolutely want to give this a try, as it shows how you can craft a "walking simulator" while keeping players involved and intrigued as opposed to ignored and bored.
Through the combination of a simplistic but phenomenally effective art style and some incredibly fluid dialogue sequences, Firewatch proves itself time and time again as one of the most memorable games we are likely to play in a long while. It's poignant and very special, albeit disappointingly choppy at times. It may feel a touch short, but its story will feel firmly finished upon reflection, remaining naturally entombed in the Wyoming woods. This is a rare game that tackles strong morals and emotions under the guise of a beautiful walk through the wilderness that always manages to keep you on your toes, a walk you'll be hard pressed to ever forget.
In a stark textual introduction, this is the first thing you see in Firewatch. It is unusual to see the video game condition laid out so plainly at the start of an adventure. You are Henry. You are someone else. Get ready to play your role. It is an effective gambit, with deft writing settling you into the mind of this character. It is notable because many video games rely on you being yourself, or make an effort to cast you as a controlling observer. A puppeteer. But Firewatch says this with such conviction: you are Henry. But are you really? This is a character that exists, that has already been created. The choices you have in this introduction are slight variations. Firewatch is a video game that extols both the virtues and drawbacks of being someone else , conjuring an illusion of choice within a pre-set story and bumping against the limitations that ensue.
Set amid the wilderness of Yellowstone National Park, this enigmatic adventure offers a compelling meditation on love, loss and loneliness
Firewatch left me both disappointed but also pleased. The system performance on PS4 is a bummer and I can overlook it, as this is a game about its story and choices in dialog, so performance never affected my input to the gameplay. It just simply feels rough around the edges and it shows. Meanwhile, as hyped as I was for this and I can't really explain this as doing so would spoil elements of the story, but things were not as I expected, and while it's refreshing, sometimes elements feel like a cop out or as I said earlier, a red herring and that doesn't always rub me personally the right way. I enjoyed my time with Firewatch and I really cared about both of these people… or characters I should say.
Firewatch really gets you thinking, plays on your emotions, and delivers a unique experience that stays with you long after the final credits roll.
Firewatch is a perfect example of a game that has something to say. You may not like the story it tells, and you may not feel totally satisfied with the outcome; but when the story is told in such a well crafted manner it doesn't really matter. Anyone who appreciates a good mystery will definitely get something out of Firewatch; just don't let your mind race to much, as you may end up feeling a little let down.
Go on; spend an afternoon with Firewatch. It has a few unsightly spots, but it's still a tremendous and thought provoking experience for anyone who loves a good adventure.
In fact, so impressive is the way everything looks and sounds that you'll kind of wish you could join Harry and leave civilisation behind. Just leave the matches at home, yeah.
Firewatch is a short, succinct, game that tells the story it wants to tell. It offers a real look at developing relationships, choice and consequence, all with the beautifully rendered backdrop of the Shoshone national forest. It's a game that will stick with you beyond the finish and one that you'll want to go back to.
Firewatch has the embers of a great narrative-driven game, but it fails to ever ignite into a furnace. Unforgivable performance issues detract from the otherwise outstanding art direction, but it's the abrupt story and unconvincing characters that really douse the hype here. Campo Santo's inaugural outing starts incredibly strongly, but your alarm bells will be ringing long before it burns out without ever really sparking into life.