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REVIEW: FIREWATCH (PC, PS4, MAC)

11/2/2016

10 Comments

 
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Last summer I went on holiday to a place called Loch Tay in Scotland. It's probably one of the most beautiful areas of the UK, and one of the few to compete with the kind of iconic wilderness expanses you get in North America.

Hilariously, I thought it was the perfect place to ride a bicycle for the first time in over 15 years.

​I wasn't stupid though: a "gravity-assisted" downhill mountain bike ride sounded perfect for a couch potato such as myself. Sit on a bike, and let physics do all the donkey work.

Which would've been fine had I not gotten cocky ten minutes into the ride, steamed ahead of everyone else, and... well... allowed gravity to assist me a little too much. I came off the bike hard, snapping both my seat and my arm.

That would've been tolerable if we'd had any phone signal and could've called the organiser to come and pick me up; "Just call me if you get into any trouble!" he'd told us, shortly after revealing he'd moved to Scotland to get away from brown people.

Unfortunately, being in the literal middle of nowhere meant no phone signal whatsoever, and I had to cycle a further 30km across undulating terrain, with a saddle that would only stay put through 
judicious application of my inadequate buttock muscles - falling off roughly every 30 seconds - and only one functioning arm. 

To add insult to injury, when I managed to get to the rendezvous point some seven awful hours later, and asked the organiser whether he thought my arm was broken, his response was to adopt a camp voice and tell me "The only thing wrong with that, ducky, is your limp wrist". 

It was the worst day of my life. Though I thank Firewatch for putting it in some sort of perspective.

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FIRE STARTER
The opening moments of Firewatch unfurl as a sort of choose-your-own adventure detailing the path of a tragic relationship.

It's a series of surprisingly effective gut punches, rendered in minimalist style, and setting up a story and a character that you'll want to engage with.


This is how you, as Henry, end up as a fire lookout in a remote corner of Wyoming's Shoshone National Forest; a man running from guilt, from heartbreak, from regret. Someone taking himself out of a world that hasn't always been kind to him.

And if that all sounds a bit heavy, well, yeah... Firewatch is a game about redemption and learning to live with yourself, far more than it is about a bloke up a tower looking for fires. And yet there's a lightness of touch to it that never lets it get bogged down in the sort of humourless drama that typically loses me in so many story-based indie games.

The core of Firewatch is a first-person walk 'em up, as Henry goes about his day-to-day tasks in the forest. Much of this is soundtracked by his radio banter with Delilah, his supervisor, who stays in near-constant contact with Henry from a different tower. Though they never meet, their relationship is the core of the Firewatch story - one that rolls through being warm, flirtatious, funny, and suspicious.

So much of the game is about seemingly mundane character-building that it's almost a shame when the real plot kicks in. 

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FIRE WORKS
Almost everything about Firewatch works; the core walkie-talkie control system (you release a button to speak with Delilah) is genius.

The stylised art design is sublime - and shows all those wannabe photo-realistic open world games how it should be done.

​It even manages to avoid any issues with the uncanny valley by not letting Henry get too close to anyone.

Whether intentional or not, that's quite a metaphor for what's driving the main character.

Though the wilderness you're in is essentially a series of outdoor corridors (you drop in and out of each day at pre-determined times - which shows off the lighting system beautifully - and make your way around using a map and a compass), it never feels claustrophobic.

It makes incredible use of its setting. The dialogue and acting is sublimely naturalistic; it's impossible not to enjoy spending time with Henry and Delilah. Though both are hurting, both dealing with it in different ways, they're funny and fun. 

Unfortunately, the story - such as it is - never really delivers on the emotional set-up. It becomes a paranoid thriller with a conclusion that lands slightly out of nowhere, and is thrown away almost as abruptly as it's presented. This isn't a huge problem, because so much of the rest of the game is such a joy, but given its 4-5 hour running time, it did leave me feeling a little underwhelmed. 

With hindsight, however, that might simply be because everything else in Firewatch is so strong. You don't expect the game to drop the ball quite so acutely. Which is a shame, obviously, but it's the likes of Firewatch that are making me love games again. Coming in the same week as that Doom campaign trailer - which filled me with nothing but ennui - Firewatch shows off the broad potential of video games as a storytelling medium. 

SUMMARY: The great outdoors has rarely been so appealing. Become a firewatcher, (twisted firewatcher).
SCORE: Fahrenheit 451 out of Fahrenheit 460.

FROM THE ARCHIVE:
REVIEW: OXENFREE (PC/MAC)
REVIEW: THAT DRAGON, CANCER (PC/MAC)
​
REVIEW: THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE (PC/MAC)
10 Comments
Superbeast 37
11/2/2016 11:25:18 am

I found this game was barely average compared to similar titles.

Soma, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture etc were better.

Mediocre for the story telling genre.

Slightly baffled as to why this got such good reviews e.g. Comparing IGN's rating for this versus Soma is laughable.

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RG
11/2/2016 01:57:19 pm

I've only played a couple of hours of it so far, but it has me completely engrossed. Can't wait to put in another hour or two tonight.

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Superbeast 37
12/2/2016 01:22:50 am

This is where it goes wrong mate.

The game is 5 hours long.

The first four hours are amazing.

Then the final hour just totally drops the ball and takes a huge dump over what was GOTY material.

Biffo certainly mentioned that and yeah he called it right.

Where I disagree with his assessment is when he says it isn't a huge problem. That's his view and he is entitled to it, but compared to the endings of Gone Home, Soma, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and Life is Strange, I feel that it is an absolute disaster and ruins the entire game. It leaves me with a tainted memory.

Like eating a donut and then finding a dead slug in the middle where the jam should be! No matter how great the sponge bit was, you certainly won't be giving the shop a good review!

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Kelvin Green link
11/2/2016 06:25:55 pm

You're right about the graphics Biffster. More style, less "realism" please!

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Mr Biffo
11/2/2016 10:26:47 pm

Indeed! This shows better than anything I can think of in recent times how it can be done.

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gaijintendo
11/2/2016 09:23:28 pm

I don't want to sound racist, but I live in Scotland, and I can't get enough brown people. There are just 'hunners' of grey fuckers and it is such a delight to set eyes on someone with the non-pasty allele.
I worry when I see some awesome imported cheekbones or puffy cheeks for that matter, that the person thinks I am racistly staring at them - but I am just lapping up the diversity.
Confession over.

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Gaming Mill link
14/2/2016 06:05:46 pm

I really enjoyed Firewatch but the ending though...the ending! Bah.

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DirtyOldDingus
17/2/2016 05:31:52 pm

Wish I could get to the ending, had two game breaking bugs halfway through. As good as the start is,finding it hard to get the gumption to start again. I know I could have saved more the second time but for once my boy was in bed early and wanted a sit through experience with no breaks and get totally engrossed.
Having to check forum and walkthrough to see yup that's a bug sucked me right out.

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Kara Van Park
1/5/2016 11:48:03 pm

As nice as the game looked, there was quite a lot of pop-up and sluggish frame rate, considering how little was going on.

The flirtatiousness of your counterpart and eventual cold shoulder was completely realistic. The wilderness was escapism for both of you and the minute it got real, poof, she was away.

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Kara Van Park
1/5/2016 11:51:48 pm

...and another thing. Someone who cannot be arsed to report missing girls after you asked them to and tells you to burn shit down is someone Henry should be giving a wide berth to anyway. Flakey bitch.

Reply



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