Firewatch

If you liked Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Gone Home,The Vanishing of Ethan Carter you will probably like this not my cup of tea though.

This is by far the most engaging and immersive gaming experience I have had since the days of Infocom. The first person perspective had me forgetting that I was at home in front of a computer and put me smack in the middle of the Wyoming wilderness, sometimes feeling breathless from all the hiking, and at other times haunted by the solitude and isolation. I hardly even remember the ending. What will stay with me forever is the pure feeling of really being there.

I really enjoyed the game. The visuals and sound design is fantastic, the story was good enough. For ~4$ I paid, I had great fun for 4-5 hours.

My real rating is 3.5 stars (7/10). This is one of the first story-driven, “walking simulator” type games I’ve played. I originally wrote off this game based on early reviews but decided to give it a chance when it was included on top 10 games of 2017 on Talking Games podcast. I was glad I played it. Some early game events were great and exciting, as well as events toward the end had me walking around anxiously. Those were great and well done. However, it lagged a bit in the middle/majority of the game where most of the walking simulation takes place. I thought the 2 story lines conflicted trying to be the main story and neither really stood out or impressed me at their conclusion. I wish they would have gone with mainly one story or the other. Gameplay seemed to be linear, as I didn’t feel like my decisions or radio responses really mattered in the end. I wish they would have. At first, I was happy with the “walking simulation” aspect of the game, as the world is interesting and well made. However, I spent a lot of time exploring all the nooks and crannies of where I was allowed to go and was disappointed I was rarely rewarded for the effort, and nothing that affected gameplay. I was also disappointed with all the objects you could pick up and examine, but never do anything with. I was expecting more “gameplay” mechanics. The interface, controls, and graphics are great. I like that the in-game map can toggle your location on/off if you want, as well as subtitles. Music could be improved to enhance the mood. Ran great on W7 and cloud saves was a bonus. Not much replay value though.

Firewatch is a very atmospheric and beautiful game that could be a masterpiece if only the conclusion of the story was not so uninspiring.