Firewatch : A Movie in a Game

[Disclaimer: I am simply overwhelmed after playing the game, so I’m definitely biased to it. All expressed here is just my personal opinion. ]

When I say I play games (occasionally), people often tend to imagine an adult in his sweatpants either bashing his keyboard to perform a special move in Fifa, or trying to put bullets in enemies’ head through a wooden door in some pointless shooting game. But the truth is, I don’t really enjoy games of that genre that much. I play them sometimes to take a break or something, but never for a long time. It might be because of mostly it takes up a lot my time, also it might be because of a lacking in the Storytelling.

Now, sometimes, I come across a few games that really can’t be described as a mere Video Game, they are simply Art. In the past, I’ve loved “Silent Hill: Shattered Memories”, “Gone Home”, “Outlast” etc. And all they have in common is a beautiful narration, a story, that indulges me in them. I’ve loved playing, correction, experiencing each one of them, and after a long time, I’ve finally found one.

Firewatch.

Firewatch is a stunningly B-E-A-utiful game with an amazing story and direction. The game is set in a time around 1988, and it revolves around a person, Henry, seeking solitude. Henry is a loving husband who, after having a lovely affair and long marital life, starts losing her wife, Julia, to Alzheimer. He just can’t take it, and volunteers as a fire lookout in Shoshone Natural Forest to get away from everything.

This is where the game, I mean, the story begins. He gets to know another lookout there, Delilah. It’s actually not as much as meeting, he just gets to communicate with her in walkie-talkie. And from there, he starts to face weird events around him. If you want to know what happens next, you just have to play the game.

I am not going to talk about the game or it’s story. You can checkout tons of video walk-through and story-line anywhere on the net. I just want to say how much I am amazed by the game. The moment I started playing the game, there was something soothing, something wonderful in the game environment. The views from the lookout, the sunset, the lake, trees everything was fascinating. I felt like I was having an outing in a forest, all alone. And Delilah, the other lookout, who actually didn’t have an appearance in the game, created this amazing connection between her and Henry (me) just by talking and responding. Sometimes it felt like I was the one talking to her. The background score just clicked, you know, sometimes it just feels like it’s the perfect amount, that just builds up your tension, but also lets you feel like you are all alone in a forest.

And the story. It was a simple yet heart-touching story. I felt what the character felt, I flirted when he flirted, I was tensed when he was tensed. This is the part where the game becomes a novel, or a movie. The direction, along with the artwork , music and the narration made it an incredible experience. I haven’t felt like this from a game in a while.

I’m pretty sure, the whole dev team worked really hard to create this unique experience. Hats off to them!! This is the first game of the game studio Campo Santo, which shows a great promise. As I found from Wikipedia:

Development for Firewatch began with a single painting by Olly Moss. Jane Ng, lead environment artist at Campo Santo, was tasked with translating Moss’ key art into 3D environments while maintaining his stylized, elemental artistic vision. Moss, who had previously been known primarily for his graphic design work, joined Vanaman and Rodkin to found Campo Santo after spending many years working on the periphery of game development.

Also they have the same developers on the team that worked on Mark of the Ninja, Gone Home and more, along with, working in famous studios like Telltale Games. Man, this is an amazing team!!

Firewatch is a game, that you either just love, or you just feel ‘meh’. This is a game that makes you think about your life and your choices. This is a game that makes you fall in love without seeing someone, and just makes you forget her. This is a game that shows you that no one is perfect, and sometimes it’s just okay to let go, or to make mistakes.

This is a game that you remember for your life.