I try to avoid anticipating things too much. I've been burnt before, and nothing tends to live up to the ridiculous expectations you build for yourself over that new movie or game. That said, I have been so damn excited to play Firewatch, more than anything in years. And guess what, this must be the first time in years that the excitement has paid off.
Firewatch is brilliant. Firstly, it also looks gorgeous, full of bright colours and glowing vistas - and unlike Life Is Strange, the painterly style feels a lot more appropriate to the story being told.
From its opening five minutes, where it emotionally gut punches you with all the brutal efficiency of a Pixar movie, to its climax, where you go into full tinfoil hat paranoia mode and clamber over yourself to figure out what the hell is going on, there is more story, drama and intrigue in this thing's six hour run time than a 100 hours of Skyrim.
Which is a shame, because some people will dismiss this title as the next arty farty walking simulator and skip it entirely, probably to go play more Fallout (aka, a walking simulator + guns). I've never felt that walking simulator has been an apt title to describe these things, even though that is what you are literally doing a lot of the time in Firewatch. Much of Firewatch is also spent with your brain engaged, cross-examining and scrutinising every bit of information given to you. Perhaps you find something were it shouldn't be. Perhaps some person takes a little too long to answer a pointed question you asked.
And speaking of that person, another great conceit of the game is that you barely ever see another human. All interaction is limited to a crappy walky talky, and whilst we are used to games giving us unseen voices to listen to, it is rare that we get to choose how we answer back to it. Delilah, the voice on the other end, is also perhaps the most human, relatable character I have ever encountered in a video game.
Walking simulator? Pah. How about walking, talking, flirting, lying, mystery, thriller, adventure simulator? Don't cheat yourself out of this game.
If You Go Down to the Woods Today
I try to avoid anticipating things too much. I've been burnt before, and nothing tends to live up to the ridiculous expectations you build for yourself over that new movie or game. That said, I have been so damn excited to play Firewatch, more than anything in years. And guess what, this must be the first time in years that the excitement has paid off.
Firewatch is brilliant. Firstly, it also looks gorgeous, full of bright colours and glowing vistas - and unlike Life Is Strange, the painterly style feels a lot more appropriate to the story being told.
From its opening five minutes, where it emotionally gut punches you with all the brutal efficiency of a Pixar movie, to its climax, where you go into full tinfoil hat paranoia mode and clamber over yourself to figure out what the hell is going on, there is more story, drama and intrigue in this thing's six hour run time than a 100 hours of Skyrim.
Which is a shame, because some people will dismiss this title as the next arty farty walking simulator and skip it entirely, probably to go play more Fallout (aka, a walking simulator + guns). I've never felt that walking simulator has been an apt title to describe these things, even though that is what you are literally doing a lot of the time in Firewatch. Much of Firewatch is also spent with your brain engaged, cross-examining and scrutinising every bit of information given to you. Perhaps you find something were it shouldn't be. Perhaps some person takes a little too long to answer a pointed question you asked.
And speaking of that person, another great conceit of the game is that you barely ever see another human. All interaction is limited to a crappy walky talky, and whilst we are used to games giving us unseen voices to listen to, it is rare that we get to choose how we answer back to it. Delilah, the voice on the other end, is also perhaps the most human, relatable character I have ever encountered in a video game.
Walking simulator? Pah. How about walking, talking, flirting, lying, mystery, thriller, adventure simulator? Don't cheat yourself out of this game.