Jokes that are created through chat will crop up later, and without hitting you over the head with it, Firewatch remembers what has happened before. When you’re stuck in the woods with only a radio for company, you’ll get to know the person on the other end of it, and that’s recreated here so well. What starts as a chat between two strangers who’ve never physically met, will eventually become a more relaxed, friendly relationship. For a change, it’s like listening to two real human beings. The aforementioned dialogue is performed exceptionally well. Don’t get me wrong, it’s entirely playable on PS4, but it’s also pretty noticeable.īut what you see is only matched by what you hear. As you’d expect, PC is way to go for this one if you can. Performance is actually much worse on PS4, which suffers from frame-rate problems. It’s a minor blemish, along with a few very occasional texture pop-in moments (on Ultra settings), that I really only mention for balance. While it’s clear the art style is all about chunky characters, he feels a little stunted. As you rappel down a rock face, he seems a little stumpy in the leg department. I will say, though, that I have a slight problem with Henry’s character model. Sense of scale is well-measured, and the temptation to force excessive wildlife into the area you explore is resisted, making it feel all the more special when you do encounter it. Sun bursts between the trees, and later will start to set in a manner that begs to be captured with the in-game camera, or even snapped for a PC wallpaper. Stylised, colourful, but also with enough real-world influence that it feels familiar yet exciting. Much has been made of the visual design, and the concept art by Olly Moss has been rendering exquisitely here. One minute you think it’s this type of game, then you think it’s another. While it’s not that long, plenty does happen: keeping it vague, my mind ran a mile a minute at one stage as I thought I’d worked out what was going to happen, only to realise I was wrong. It’s your job to observe the forest through the summer, hopefully preventing any fires and other shenanigans that may happen. All I’ll say is that Delilah is your boss, and you’re a Firewatch lookout. How you’ve ended up in the forest is something that’s quickly explained, but not something I’ll ruin here. It’s clever, and it peppers the atmosphere of the beautiful Wyoming wilderness in a way that will be copied elsewhere in the future. Ultimately, it’s about two people conversing via radio: Henry (you) and Delilah are the characters you’ll spend around three and a half hours listening to, but crucially, the entire dialogue system is interactive, and superbly coded, meaning the conversation flows throughout, even allowing for you to queue up the next part. Better still, it constantly makes you think, and that’s in large part thanks to the marriage of what you see and hear, combined with some of the most natural sounding dialogue I’ve ever heard. From the surprising introduction to the finale, you’ll never quite know what to expect and, brilliantly, none of the larger story beats are ones that’ll you see coming. As you explore the wilderness your ears will prick at the sound of the trees groaning beneath the wind, the soft birdsong breezing through the silence, and the quiet rustle of leaves dancing in the canopies above.įor all of its stylistic beauty, there’s something profoundly real about Campo Santo’s version of Yellowstone a sense of blissful solitude that awakens your most personal, escapist desires.If there’s one thing that Firewatch does exceptionally well above everything else, it’s play with your perception and expectation of what it is. Even if we did make make the trip, we doubt the real-world version of Wyoming could measure up to Campo Santo’s dreamy, surrealist vision. The fact that we live in England, have the combined survival skills of a lemming, and haven’t successfully used a compass since, well, ever, means that (probably) isn’t about to happen. Campo Santo’s breezy, fluid art style is so captivating that we can’t help but feel compelled to pack our bags, rent a bright red pick-up, and set up shop in our own rickety watchtower. To say that Firewatch is a looker is akin to claiming that Novak Djokovic has a passable forehand and British trains have issues with their timeliness. When you’re not caught up in the lives of others, you’ll no doubt be staring slack-jawed at the world around you.
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