These days it is very rare to experience any type of entertainment, be it games, movies or books, whilst knowing nothing about the story. Either you have talked to a friend or read a spoiler online. Hell, maybe you couldn’t wait and youtubed as much as you could get your hands on. Firewatch is best experienced when you know as little about it as possible, which is the way Campo Santo intended it to be. Fear not though, for excellent writing backed up by flawless voice acting provide the heart of this game. Pair that with its beautifully stylised environments, art direction and level design, and you have yourself one heck of a game. Welcome to Two Forks Woods.

From the very beginning, Firewatch sets up and delivers the tone for what you are about to experience. Rather than opting for a more traditional opening cutscene, Campo Santo have chosen to deliver it to the audience as text-based choices, similar to a choose your own adventure book. Giving any more details on this would take away from the experience, but I must say that the first five minutes had me jumping from laughter to thinking ‘Why God, why??’ in equal doses. Outside from being one of the most memorable openings of a game in recent years, it introduces our protagonist – Henry – and establishes the person you want him to be.

Once the text disappears however, the world – or woods rather – become your playground. A very safe playground in fact, as you inhabit the role of a fire lookout. This is where the game begins and it doesn’t take long before you’re put to work. The story takes place over an American summer, with you playing it out over a number of different ‘days’, the games way of breaking it up into chapters. From Day 1, its clear to see that the environment and locations are something special and quite unique. From the warmer reds and oranges when clambering through a canyon, to the blues and greens when discovering a meadow or stumbling upon a lake, every area feels unique and different from the one you just came through. The art style has a very Team Fortress 2 vibe and everything about it works. It is clear that some serious thought and talent went into the level design, to make it feel as real as any national park that exists today. Even the shift in atmosphere between day and night is something that can be quite confronting when alone with your thoughts in the middle of the woods.

Wind whistling its way around rocky formations, running water splashing through streams and the slight thud of your own footsteps is generally all the sound there is to penetrate the otherwise silent woods. This sound design paired with the colour pallet of night made me quite anxious on more than one occasion while navigating my first-person character about. Music is used sparingly, making it powerful and engaging when it appears. In most situations the score will play to help emphasise an emotion that you probably didn’t realise the game had already invoked in you. In those other situations, it is used to set the tone as the game begins to become more ominous. The most impressive part of the sound design however, are the performances delivered by its two leads. Henry can either be portrayed as quick-witted, honest or withdrawn, with each performance giving you another reason to replay the game. Delilah, Henry’s boss and primary point of contact, is playful and friendly, even if that is used primarily as a way to protect herself.

The relationship that develops between these two characters is left up to the player, with both actors delivering stellar performances. All the conversations between the two take place using a two-way radio, aka the closest you can come to having a best friend live in your pocket. Not having a face to match to the voice adds to the sense of isolation the game is trying to create, and thanks to that, it makes you want to use that radio as much as humanly possible. Fortunately for us, Delilah always has something to say, helping Firewatch turn from just another ‘walking simulator’ to something much more sophisticated. The banter between Henry and Delilah is a delight to witness, with more than a few laugh out loud moments between the pair. As the story progresses, their relationship evolves and changes to adapt to the mysteries they find themselves tangled in, and this is where the acting is at its best. While the choices you make in the branching dialogue aren’t ‘life and death’ decisions, a subtle timer on your responses does make choosing between being charming and being a jerk feel quite important. Let’s be real though, who really wants to be a jerk to the only person you have contact with for a whole summer?

No really, Delilah has something to say about everything…

When it comes down to it though, all the pretty graphics, nice sound and funny dialogue in the world generally won’t matter if the gameplay doesn’t match it. Thankfully, Firewatch gives you plenty to do and a very simple way to do it in. As you progress through Henry’s adventure, you will discover new tools that open up more and more of the environment as you move forward. The game provides many areas off the beaten path to discover new things, from notes to animals, even a turtle that you can adopt and name (Turt Reynolds will live forever). You will be climbing rocks, rappelling down cliffs and dropping from high ledges along the way, with three buttons to interact with almost everything you need. The simple controls make the game welcoming to people of all skill levels, and the mundane tasks of climbing, rappelling and dropping definitely feel intensified as the game continues.

Perhaps the most complicated system in Firewatch is the map and compass you use to navigate the woods and find these little hidden areas. Much like on a real hike, there are no giant arrows above your head or waypoints for you to follow. This leads to pulling out your map and compass every few minutes to confirm you are going the right way and are not in fact getting lost as all hell. Fortunately this doesn’t happen very much at all, thanks to the map always telling you where you are, so you can find your way back quite quickly if the need ever arose.

So I think that settles it, tapping on this map will definitely not get me un-lost

The ending of Firewatch is the only other area of the game that is not as polished as the rest of the package. A lot of it will come down to personal opinion, but regardless it will still divide players, à la the Breaking Bad finale or anything directed by Christopher Nolan. Without going into detail to avoid spoilers, lets just say it wasn’t quite the ending I was expecting given what I had just experienced throughout the four-five hour playtime. Thankfully the game leaves no cliff hangers or big plot points left untied, and the ending is satisfying, even if it wasn’t in the way the game was leading us to believe.

Verdict

Firewatch is a beautifully crafted game that makes you want to stop and enjoy every part of it. The voice acting is on par with some of the best I have heard in any medium and the stylised beauty of Two Forks Forrest is both calming, terrifying and exiting to be a part of. Aside from a slightly anticlimactic ending, the story tackles mature themes in mature ways, and exploring this world is a welcome breath of fresh air. I can see this game sitting with me for a long time to come and is definitely the sort of game I would show people who still believe video games are only for children. If you enjoy games like Gone Home, Life is Strange and the Stanley Parable, then do yourself a favour and check out Firewatch.