It is a very linear game made to feel like your choices matter. The atmosphere is nice, the visuals are great, the music and dialogue are immersive, but it is very short and the ending is a bit underwhelming. On a sale you'll have a great experience for like 4 hours as there is not much replay value. It's a great intoduction to newer gamers and it is especially fun to play with kids, tho there is strong language. Also a pet turtle, what else could u want?
I enjoyed this. It's not a long game, I've played the whole thing beginning to end in an evening, but I had fun with it. Maybe at the full £15 it would have been disappointing, but the £3 I paid for it on sale? Absolutely.
The game is a story-driven game. Walking simulator would be a good description, so if you don't like those, you won't like this. I've seen people say it would be a better movie, and maybe, but I do love having something interactive, even if your influence on events is minimal.
Some minor spoilers in this review, be aware:
First of all, I think Firewatch suffered from being too linear. It was way too obvious where you could and couldn't go, and when you should or should not go there. This made the experience lack in immersion.
But I think the biggest problem with Firewatch; for me, is that nearing the end, it all gets quite unimaginative and, all in all, unbelievable in the way its protagonists act.
We've built up two very distinct personalities, with their traits and their problems, and for some reason the events happening near the end totally ignore this. Suddenly they act as if they did not build up this world during their summer. Suddenly they are two strangers. Suddenly the past and nostalgia is all they have left. And I refuse to believe that. I was willing to believe that events like these change people, but they help them see to the future and evolve. Not turn back on all their decisions with their tail between their legs.
Apart from that Firewatch has many, many positive points that still make this a standout game. Art direction, sound engineering, voice-work, atmosphere, ... Too bad they didn't make it a classic. It could have really been one with a few more tweaks.
I love a game with a good narrative. Not having much time these days to really get involved in games, I found myself, oddly, liking games like the Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide. Before that, I really got involved and drawn into ALIEN: Isolation and of course Portal and Half-Life. But there is something to be said about a simpler yet challenging and dramatic game. Firewatch almost succeeds on all levels.
The first thing Firewatch does is take you back to the days of text adventures, mostly point and click adventures, where you choose an outcome. All of this is involved in your marriage with some flashes of walking through the woods before the same settles on the main story. I was drawn in by the majestic and mysterious nature of the game. It was very atmospheric and I truly couldn't stop playing. I wanted to see how the game was going to unfold. Without giving too much away, the game just gives you a hint of each mystery, just enough to keep you pressing on with clue after clue after clue. All the while, you can truly feel the situation that Henry is going through and the healing he is attempting to achieve through the game.
The graphics are good but not on the level of other games but that may be the point. It is presented in a dreamy sort of way, so the way they designed them really worked for the game. I did encounter a few glitches but nothing that was a game stopper.
I do have to comment on the "adult language." I am not approaching this from a legalistic or offended point of view, but the use of certain words (even sometimes as your ONLY selection to respond) was very excessive and forced. There are a few moments in the game where I would say, yes, that was appropriate considering the situation but mostly, it was forced and laughable. And while this game did have some very adult themes that teens could learn from and the rest of the game is pretty teen friendly, the forced, excessive language is a huge demerit to the game, which for me, means a loss of a star.
The game ends on perhaps a dividing note. I won't give it away but if you keep the context of the game at the forefront, you should appreciate the ending.
Firewatch is one of the most involving, real and emotional games I've played. If they had toned the language down some, this could be close to game of the year for me.
The game is great at:
1. Creating an atmosphere using its setting (a large forest that can be at turn magnificient or spooky).
2. Creating an atmosphere using its dialogue.
3. Making you feel comfortable hiking around in that forest.
The game fails at:
1. Being an interesting game. Hiking can't be done outside of predetermined path. You can push forward, but you are quickly blocked by a 'Metroidesque" requirement (Do you have ropes? An axe? Python?)
2. Having a consistent story. And that's the main issue. The prologue set you up for one thing. The games looks like it is going to play you around it being a parabole for what happened in the prologue, or be a spooky story. And end up being something completely different.
It lasted 7 hours for me, and I bought it for 5€, so I wouldn't said you need to avoid it. But it's far from being a great, perfect game. Which is a shame, cause the game is REAL good at what it does best.
