Firewatch Reviews
Firewatch is truly something special. It tells a beautifully crafted, character-driven, engaging story with impeccable pacing. It’s deeply reflective and thought provoking, not only in the context of its characters and their situations, but in a broader context of player interaction with video games.
If you were expecting a video game replete with all the big budget thrills you're accustomed to, you might find Firewatch a lean, almost sparse affair. You wouldn't be wrong either. This isn't a game for everyone. In fact for some, it could barely pass off as a game, due to its narrow focus on telling an immersive tale. Nonetheless, it achieves what it set out to do. Namely, using well-worn video game elements to tell a story that stays with you long after you're done. And for that, Firewatch's a triumph.
You seriously need to play Firewatch. It's a five-star game, and an experience I will remember for a long, long time. Now that there's been a release on Xbox One, nobody has an excuse to miss out.
If you have experience exploring the outdoors, or want to better understand what it is to duality of feeling like a pioneer in an undiscovered location while simultaneously feeling secluded and vulnerable Firewatch might resonate as strongly with you as it did with me.
Immersive, unexpected, and beautiful – Firewatch stands out in my memory as one of all time favorites. Buy this game.
Firewatch is a breath of fresh air in the adventure game genre. While the game is primarily dialogue based like other adventure games, gameplay is more FPS-like as you will climb cliffs, rock faces, rappel, and cross over make shift bridges as you work to solve the mystery of the Shoshone National Forest. While some navigation issues make getting around the environment difficult, the real salt in the wound is the abrupt, and illogical revelation that makes no sense in the context of the events leading up to the finale.
A gorgeous, spellbinding game that plays with your thoughts and delivers a narrative throughline that you never see coming. An absolute must for fans of storytelling in games.
Firewatch is special and rare.
Even better than presenting its dangers, Firewatch presents the threat of danger. This is no feel-good summer beach read; this is a brutally beautiful and fragile story of people running from their problems—and problems running away from any tidy conclusions. This is the video game equivalent of a page turner, and adventure games have rarely been in finer form.
Firewatch pushes the still-forming first person exploration genre ahead several steps, with wonderful dialogue, sumptuous design, and a story that examines loneliness in unique ways.
Firewatch is truly a storytelling masterpiece. The mystery unfolds at a proper pace as you explore the beautiful Wyoming wilderness and the characters naturally grow as they encounter different experience. Rich Sommer and Cissy Jones did an exceptional job with the voice acting, bringing Henry and Delilah to life and making me form an emotional bond with them. I highly recommend this game to anyone who loves a great story.
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Firewatch is amazing for many reasons, but above all because it's an adult game that deals with serious issues, with realistic adult dialogue to match. And it deals with those issues just like actual adults would: sometimes with humor, sometimes with anger, and sometimes with sadness. It is among the very best of the first-person narrative genre, and it reminds us what video game storytelling is capable of in the right hands. It's a game I can see coming back to every year or two just to revisit its beautiful sights and memorable characters – just like a good book.
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 distinguishes itself through integrity of its structure and preservation of its characters. Allowing control over Henry and Delilah's perilous connection provides a sense of ownership over the narrative and creates an important bond between action and place. Other story-focused games suffer from a damaging disconnect between agency and intention, almost as if they don't trust the player to act reasonably in accountable situations. Firewatch proves this dynamic not only to be valuable, but necessary to go forward.
A stunning example of interactive storytelling, Firewatch's greatest success is making you feel like it's really happening to you. And the less you know about it going in, the more you'll enjoy it.
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.
I loved Firewatch, mostly, letdown with the ending notwithstanding.
Firewatch puts story first and delivers a compelling mystery that sends players into the Wyoming wilderness with nothing but a map, a walkie-talkie, and a lot of questions.
Firewatch is a beautiful story of escapism and loss, set against the beautiful Wyoming wilderness. The physicality of your interactions, the excellent radio conversations, and poignant writing and imagery are hindered only by slight issues in presentation and technical hitching. It's grounded, human, and one that you'll be eager to talk about for days after the credits roll.
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.