The Verdict
Firewatch is truly more about the journey, than it is the destination. In the end, I didn't care all that much about the mystery being solved, however, I did care about Henry's overall progression. You not only feel for this character, but you more or less are this character.
My relationship with Delilah might be different from yours, as you might choose completely different conversation options than I did. And that's what makes Firewatch worth replaying, especially thanks to its relatively short playtime.
If games like Gone Home have caught your interest in the past, then Firewatch more or less delivers the same kind of premise; A walking simulator with a mystery you gradually uncover as you play, with a fantastically realized environment and some of the most honest and realistic voice-over work I've heard in a game. Just be wary of that PS4 performance.
The Positives
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The game starts out with a brilliant choose-your-own adventure style text sequence, which helps the game introduce us to Henry, the person we'll be playing as. Even though the entirety of this prologue plays out in text form, it successfully establishes a connection between the player and Henry. We learn of love very early on, with joys like picking out a dog and discussing children, but there are always hints at tragedy, and when it does strike, it hurts.
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The further connection and believability of Henry, as well as the secondary character on the walkie-talkie, Delilah, stem from some of the best and realistic conversation dialogue I've heard in a game. Henry is looking for solitude, and his sense of humor starts out rather dry. On the flipside, Delilah is funny and crass, almost right from the beginning, not only contrasting Henry's demeanor, but a great tool to help him get over his sadness and loneliness. Their constant back and forth banter, which ultimately relies on player input, evolves as the game progresses, and is certainly one of the game's main charms.
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There are a slew of conversation options as well as specific things you come across that you can inform her on. This is all up to you though, and is one of the more compelling things about the game. Do you trust Delilah and spill everything about yourself and your surroundings to her, or do you keep things to yourself? The game actively tries to make you think about these things, but doesn't give you a whole lot of time to do it, since conversations have a timer on them, similar to how Telltale handles conversations.
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The Wyoming forest is a small open-world, with sections gated off until you progress a bit further, but is still fun to explore nevertheless. There isn't a mini-map per se, but you do get a compass and a foldout map. The latter which I tried to use as little as possible, only to make the hiking experience a little more real, since the map does pinpoint your position on it.
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I won't give away too much of the story, since that's one of the game's main hooks, but on your first day, you end up coming across two teenage girls setting off fireworks. After scaring them off, you then spot a strange man who runs off, and then come back to your post to find it ransacked. The game sets up a rather interesting plot that starts with a minor act of vandalism, but then turns into a larger conspiracy that has both Henry and Delilah somehow involved.
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Even though you're constantly connected with Delilah, the game does a wonderful job at making you feel truly alone. Since Delilah is in the game only through her voice, you get a feeling of comfort and camaraderie every time she chimes in, but at the same time you feel an uncompromising sense of loneliness, since you never actually get to see this person you're growing closer to by the day.
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It's a short experience, about 3 to 4 hours. I'll also be putting this in the negatives section. This really just depends on whether you like short, to-the-point experiences. If so, you can certainly beat Firewatch in a single sitting.
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At one point in the game, you come across a disposable camera. Take some pictures of worthwhile moments, as they then retell the story during the credits, not to mention also reveal the rest of the pictures taken on them.
The Negatives
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The game progressively gives you access to new items, such as a flashlight, an axe (or a Pulaski as Delilah will point out), ropes, etc. Some end up being utilized often, like ropes, which allow you to descend from big heights, but items like the Pulaski I've only used only once or twice to clear a brush, and the flashlight I only turned on once for novelty, because I had it. The game never really forced me to utilize it, which was a shame.
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You can freely pick up items and then throw them wherever you want. While held, they could also be rotated to be fully examined. While this is a cool feature, visually, it's not utilized for any sort of puzzle solving.
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It's a shame that solving the mystery relies on simply playing through the game, and waiting for events to happen to you, instead of the other way around. You're not actively solving it by your actions, but facilitating the story by merely moving through each pre-set day.
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While I have never played Gone Home myself, what I learned through second-hand accounts, is that it sounds very similar to Firewatch in terms of set up and execution. Both games try and trick you by setting up a plot that seems much bigger than it is, only to deflate at the end. And while there are folks who loved Gone Home, there are also those who were quite disappointed by its ending. If you fall into the latter category, you might not enjoy Firewatch.
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The game is short, as I mentioned. It's $20 for a few hours of gameplay. Granted, Gone Home retails for the same is probably half as long, but if you're the type to equate the price of the game to how long the experience is, then you might want to wait for a sale.
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The performance on PS4 was horrible. Frequent stutters and drops in FPS pretty much plagued the entire experience. Had the experience been locked to 30fps, it might have performed a lot better, but the whole game has a variable framerate. That means some instances will be in 60fps, while the rest will be 30 or less. It's quite jarring. I'm really holding out for a patch to fix this.
Developer Campo Santo made a wise choice when marketing their game, Firewatch. Up until I finally played it, I had no idea what to expect. Was it a scary game? Was it a mystery? Was it a walking simulator with a whole lot of dialogue? Were there supernatural elements at play? What about those damn teenagers and their blasted fireworks? How does that fit in? Will I actually be putting out fires, or just watching out for them?
The fact that this game had me guessing so much prior to even booting it up, was actually thrilling. Nowadays, we're spoonfed information months prior to a game's release, not only with trailers, but with actual in-depth breakdowns on what to expect when you play said game. So it was a breath of fresh, virtual Wyoming forest air when Firewatch was basically the opposite of this.
But was it all worth it? Let's find out.
