Firewatch: Beautifully intriguing adventure

Firewatch has been on my radar for quite a while, but I've managed to avoid pretty much all information about its plot.

To my delight I found it on the PS4 sales for £4 (down from about £15), so I immediately hit purchase.

Developed by Campo Santo, Firewatch places you in the shoes of newly recruited fire lookout Henry.

As the game opens we find out a little about Henry's background (I wont go into the details) and see him settle into his watchtower for his first day.

The adventure unfolds in a first person perspective, so we see everything Henry sees.

And it has to be said - Firewatch is gorgeous. The mountainous wooded area where the story takes place is stunning and vibrant, changing throughout the day as the sun changes position in the sky.

There isn't a constant soundtrack playing  and I found the use of music to be just right - not taking away from the immersion by being too noticeable but just enough enhance the moments where it is used.

Throughout the game, your only real interaction will be with your boss Deliliah by radio.

With a combination of excellent writing and spot-on voice acting, their conversations were one of my absolute favorite things about Firewatch.

It's an absolute joy to listen to them get to know more about each other as you go about your tasks and the nice thing is that you choose much of how Henry responds, which can affect where the conversation goes.

While it can be fun to hear them joke around, their chats can take them to some really serious and emotional places which are voiced convincingly and tug at the heartstrings.

As well as the discussions which surround the main events of the plot, you'll have the choice of radioing Delilah when you find things of interest on your travels - which could be anything an outhouse to a particularly scenic spot, or the increasingly ominous evidence of strange ocurrances.

All is not as it seems in this idyllic place and of course I won't drop any spoilers, but I found myself becoming increasingly intrigued, unnerved and on edge as different things came to light.

By the end, which came after about five or so hours, I certainly felt fulfilled by the way the story wraps up and answers your questions.

This is a very nice game to watch or play. I ended up watching my wife play through it in the end and it was a nice story to experience and figure out together.

What took me slightly by surprise was the way you navigate.


You're handed a compass and a map - and while Henry does scribble points of interest and copy bits of known footpaths from other maps onto it, there are no flashy quest markers to follow here.

Your current position on the map is marked at all times, but we still both found ourselves backtracking after taking a wrong turn on more than one occasion.

That being said, it is a matter of getting used to it and once you've run around the routes a few times you start to recognise some landmarks which make it easier.

Overall, Firewatch is a stunning game which really keeps you guessing about what is going to happen next, while at the same time inviting you to really enjoy and take in all of your beautiful surroundings.

Have you played Firewatch? Let me know what you thought of it below!

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