Firewatch | Chilled Out Game Review
Welcome to Chilled Out Game Reviews. If you’re looking to find a relaxing game to play to de-stress, you’ve come to the right place. Firewatch is a story-rich exploration game set in the 1980’s. You play as Henry, a new member of the firewatch team in the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming, USA.
The game primarily involves exploring the wilderness and making dialogue choices for the conversations you have over the radio with your boss, Delilah. The relationship that develops between the two characters over the course of the summer is really interesting to watch.
Both characters are so well written and voiced, at no point do their conversations feel forced. I like that, although you have some control over how Henry responds, often all options are pretty terrible. Henry is a flawed person and he is going to say the wrong thing and be a bit of an arse sometimes.
Henry: Who was that? Delilah: Who was who? Henry: "I- I don't think he has any idea." What- what was that? Were you talking about me? Delilah: Uh... What? Henry: You left your button pressed or something. Delilah: Henry, that call was work. I was just talking to- Delilah: Actually, it's not really your business.
Why are you freaking out? Henry: I'm not freaking out. Delilah: Good. Delilah: I'm gonna go quiet for a little bit. Call me if it's important. The plot is a bit of a weird one but it completely sucked me in. Things start out pretty simple, some teenagers are setting off fireworks and lighting campfires causing a fire risk, but it quickly turns into something much more sinister with conspiracies, paranoia and incredibly tense sequences.
I was hooked very quickly and frequently found myself torn between slowly exploring the world and hurriedly advancing the plot to know what the heck was going on! Once you’ve completed the story you are able to freely explore the map at your own pace.
So if you didn’t feel like you saw everything you don’t need to replay the story just to reach every corner of the map. This mode would definitely work as a nice relaxing session when you really need to unwind, and it lets you select which of the game’s atmospheric music you want to listen to as you explore.
Visually this game is absolutely beautiful. The rich colours and detailed forests are a joy to explore. Clearly a lot of time was put into creating the wilderness so you feel like you can freely explore whilst actually being constrained to a web of linear paths.
It feels like a real place, which since it’s modelled on a real place, does actually make sense. Wandering the forests and overgrown pathways really allowed me to take a step back and enjoy the experience of being in nature during a time when that’s not easy to do physically.
Turning a corner and discovering a new vista at sunset and taking a photograph with my disposable camera was exactly what I needed. The sound design makes the forest feel alive with birdsong and animal sounds surrounding you at every step. I thoroughly enjoyed playing Firewatch.
I loved the characters and found the plot to be both interesting and satisfying. I have heard a lot of people complain that the ending was anticlimactic, or comes out of nowhere, but I will just have to disagree with those people. It worked for me. I also think that the length was just perfect to keep the pacing going and not feeling padded for playtime.
Some parts of the game do get a little tense but I’d describe it as more atmospheric than actually threatening as you are never in any real danger, regardless of how the game makes you feel. Overall it’s a well written story in a gorgeous setting and absolutely earns the Chill Out Seal of Approval.
