My 2016 Game of the Year: # 5 Firewatch

#5 Firewatch

When I first saw early builds of Firewatch I thought it was a different and new approach in an engaging narrative. The way you can interact with objects and the small clues you can find within the environment provides more life to the world.

Firewatch was the first game I played in the genre, but there are other games that have the same kind of first-person narrative. Gone Home is one of the recent and well-received first-person narrative game. The two games are similar in gameplay, you walk from objective to objective trying to put the pieces together in the world. Gone Home is set in a house, and in Firewatch’s case, you’re in an open forest.

Campo Santo are the developers of Firewatch and was formed by former Telltales: The Walking Dead developers. Once I knew about Campo Santo and the developers that were working on the game I had a sense of what to expect.

Character Building Makes You Sympathize with Henry

The game starts strong with a series of dialog choices before you take the job as a Fire Lookout. The choices you make doesn’t change any dialog during the game, but it sets up Henry’s story (Henry being the protagonist). During the first day of the job as a Fire Lookout, Delilah (Lookout Supervisor) via Walkie-Talkie accompanies Henry. After working in the forest for several weeks’ strange things start to occur. Over the course of the game Henry and Delilah tries to piece together the strange things they have been happening to them. All just with a Walkie-Talkie.

As Henry, you can bring-up the Walkie-Talkie and ask questions about Delilah, but she will also do the same if she is bored. Unlike the beginning, the dialog with Delilah will play a part of the game the more you progress. The Walkie-Talkies are important for the two characters, because it lets them open about their personal life.

The character building keeps the player engaged and invested. As the player, you want to see how Henry grows from the first night on the job to the last night. As for Delilah, her growth is coming from Henry. His past and present experience gives a new perspective for Delilah. The neat thing about all this is, Henry and Delilah has never seen each other face to face, just through Walkie-Talkie. It’s amazing how Campo Santo can present two character’s story just through a Walkie-Talkie.

Interaction between Henry and Delilah can be funny, but also unsettling

The only interaction with Delilah is through Walkie-Talkie. At first, it’s a little tense between her and Henry but the more they talked and asked questions the more the felt comfortable with each other. There are times that Delilah will say something funny at tense moments other times it’s the opposite.

The two voices that play Henry and Delilah are Mad Men’s Rich Sommer (Henry) and Cissy Jones (Delilah) from Life is Strange and the Walking Dead Season 1. Campo Santo wanted them both to record in separate rooms to capture the true feeling of talking to someone without seeing each others faces.

For the two of them to perform as they did, you wouldn’t believe that they did this without seeing one another’s facial expression. The way they speak to each other feels like they’re talking face to face, there is so much passion and emotion to every response.

Brightness and Cartoon Esthetics Can’t Seem More Beautiful

I’m not a huge fan of the cartoony art look, but the way Campo Santo presented the world got me taking a step back and gaze at the vibrant colors of the horizon.

There are moments where the developers will guide you to breathtaking vistas and locations, so take a seat and gaze at the amazing art work.

A Story of mystery, companionship, and self-reflection

In the shoes of Henry, you feel and care for the experiences he had to face prior and during the game. He faces, confusion, trust, pain, and content. Most of that comes from the interactions between him and Delilah. Delilah pushes Henry out of his comfort zone, in which it builds both characters.

Firewatch was the first game of its kind to appeal to me, the art style of the forest and mountains got me thinking about multiple art styles other than the realistic art.

If you’re looking for a five-hour well-thought out story, with relatable characters and a beautiful world, you can’t go wrong with Firewatch.