#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
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.
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